Following an ATL Washington treaty where secondary ships (cruiser and destroyer) total tonnage is limited, while the UK is allowed a larger quantity then the US, it killed any Canadian hope to have any capital ships as the Dominions navy's were added with UK. Canadian navy focused in making a ship capable of ''hitting above its weight'', preparing a torpedoe platform capable of limited ocean-going capacity. Corvette were the only type of ships that the military Canadian docks could produce, so the Hometown Class was made, making sure to pack as much punch as it could on such small platform.
The K1 was the first and initially only planned variant, with 3X4in gun and 4X21in Torpedoe tube. However, very early in production, the K1 was forced to remove the 2 stern-side 21in Tube due to limited space but also price and availablility, it was replaced by a smaller 18in torpedoe tube. 10 K1 would be produced during the first years but with the emergence of the Great European War, the main Canadian supply of 4in gun would become scarcer due to the RN needs.
The K2 was made with the replacement of 2 4in by Twin 2pdr AA guns. Cheap and easily available (the UK had so much reserve since they had began to switch to 40mm Bofor that their old 2pdr were laying in warehouses), it allowed an acceleration of production since the 4in guns had been the main choke-point. A small 10.5in Vicker machinegun was added mainly because the redesign of the superstructure permitted its addition. While the K1 production was never stopped, the fact that for every K1 you could made 3 K2 explained why the K2 quickly became the main production.
The K3 saw birth with the failure of the RN to prevent ennemy submarines from wrecking havoc on the Atlantic ''life-line''. At first, the Canadian navy was only supposed to be a support element for the RN, mostly with its limited ASW Destroyers, but with the need to assume the protection of entire convoy from the submarine threat, the Hometown Corvette is the only ship built quickly enough and in enough numbers to save the merchant navy. The Canadian navy quickly started a native production line for sonar and redesigned the hull for fitting one. Due to the limited space in the small ship, they removed all the torpedoe tube and the aft-sided 2pdr, replaced with 1 deep charge rail and 2 side charge launcher. With the ever increasing convoy trying to meet the ever increasing demand for Canadian and American war material, this meant that the K3 was produced in greater numbers then K1 and K2 togheter.
While more than two hundreads of Hometown Corvette were made before and during the war, its small size and simplicity that allowed it to be so successful in most roles it was burdened with (be torpedoe boat, AA ship or ASW ship) was also its downfall. To small to be refitted with modern equipments, its production stopped shortly after the war and its numbers only declined from there. While kept into activity all the way through the 60s (mostly in the Great Lakes), the end of the Washington treaty and the improvement in the Canadian naval industry capacity allowing the production of dedicated Frigates and Destroyers clearly meant the end of its operational career. But for many Canadian, its distinguishable silhouette, its heroic service and the numerous museum ship kept, imortalized it as the most famous RCN representant.