Chapter · 3:47-7:49

What made an interwar sloop

Interwar sloops were naval-standard small warships built for survey, policing, escort, and diplomatic work across the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and Royal Indian Navy.

Notes

Interwar sloops were naval-standard, ocean-going small warships rather than another name for commercially built corvettes. The Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and Royal Indian Navy ordered 51 between 1928 and 1939, or 73 when the Halcyon minesweepers are included. Their work ranged across surveying, policing, minesweeping, gunboat duties, convoy escort, and diplomatic presence. A commander-in-chief's yacht was a mobile diplomatic headquarters, able to entertain officials and carry a commissioned warship close inshore. This flexibility put useful presence wherever a cruiser-sized commitment was unnecessary or unaffordable.