between august 1931 and 7 september 1932, seven preliminary schemes, lettered a thru g, were drawn up. the general board recommend at its november 1932 meeting that a 2,000-ton gunboat be built based on a modified version of scheme g. the ship would feature a clipper bow with a counter stern. the main batteries would be four single mounted 6-inch guns of either 47 or 48 caliber with two mounted fore and two mounted aft. a single floatplane, located amidships, which would be offloaded and retrieved by crane, was also added at adm pratt's insistence.