Like all the Flowers, the Aubrietia class were originally designed as single-screw fleet sweeping vessels, with triple hulls at the bows and an above-water magazine located aft, to give extra protection against loss from mine damage when working.

However, the utility of the design was found to be as a convoy escort, and as such other classes took over the minesweeping role.

Unlike the preceding Flowers of the Acacia, Azalea and Arabis classes, with their unmistakable warship appearance, the Aubrietias were designed to look like small merchantmen, in the hope of deceiving U-boat commanders, a tactic known as the Q-ship.

These vessels were built by commercial shipbuilders to Lloyd's Register standards, to make use of vacant capacity, and the individual builders were asked to use their existing designs for merchantmen, based on the standard Flower-type hull.

President was sold in 1988 and preserved, and is now one of the last three surviving warships of the Royal Navy built during the First World War, (along with the 1914 light cruiser HMS Caroline in Belfast, and the 1915 monitor HMS M33 in Portsmouth dockyard).