The V and W destroyers' second life as escorts

Would retaining older V and W destroyers be worthwhile under the treaty system?

Yes; they became useful escort assets, and treaty definitions offered more room for smaller vessels that no longer carried torpedoes.

The V and W class proved useful in the Second World War mainly as escorts rather than frontline destroyers. A number of late First World War orders were cancelled, making their later value a reminder that hulls discarded at demobilisation could have answered an early-war shortage. Treaty definitions also mattered: a vessel below 2,000 tons without torpedoes had more room to serve as a sloop or coast-guard ship than as a counted destroyer. Removing torpedo capability and assigning a genuine peacetime role could preserve useful speed, machinery, and crews without pretending the ship remained a modern fleet destroyer.