The Twilight class sloop, commisioned from 1934 onwards (though the drawing depicts the class in 1939):
Initially conceived as a cheap class of vessels for gunboat diplomacy and surveying, the design that eventually became the Twilight class sloops grew in capability to encompass convoy escort, coastal defence and anti-submarine warfare. The increased size of the resulting vessels compared to the original specifications became advantageous during World War II when they were used in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres with great success.
They were constantly deployed in high intensity areas and during the course of the war HMR Ships Arid and Orleans were lost resupplying Tobruk while HMRS Thistle was lost during the evacuation of Singapore. Their utility resulted in them being highly sought after in the desperate early days of the war, and they continued to operate post war stripped of their armament surveying the still largely uncharted waters around Recherche.