Corvette

For the automobile, see Chevrolet Corvette.

French steam corvette Dupleix (1856-1887)

Canadian corvettes on antisubmarine convoy escort duty during World War II.

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate. Almost all modern navies use ships smaller than frigates for coastal duty, but not all of them use the term corvette. When referring to sailing ships, a corvette is a sloop-of-war.

During World War II most Allied navies had corvettes. The Flower class were usually Royal Navy vessels although a number were provided by the United Kingdom but manned by sailors from countries under Nazi occupation. The Royal Canadian Navy also operated both Castle and Flower Class corvettes which were named after Canadian cities and towns. Approximately 100 Flower class corvettes were built in Canada. Their chief duty was to protect convoys in the North Atlantic and on the route to Murmansk, USSR. The Royal Australian Navy built 60 corvettes, including 20 for the Royal Navy (but crewed by Australians) and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy. These were officially described as Australian Mine Sweepers, or Bathurst class corvettes and were named after Australian towns.

Later in World War II the Royal Navy introduced the Castle class, some of which remained in service until the mid-1950s.

Possibly the most advanced corvette today is the Swedish Navy's Visby-class corvette. It is the first operational warship to extensively utilize stealth technology, although other navies are developing similar vessels since then.

See also

• List of corvette and sloop classes of the Royal Navy
• HMAS Castlemaine -- a museum ship -- Bathurst class corvette
• HMCS Sackville -- a museum ship -- the sole remaining Flower class corvette

Further reading

• The collection Three Corvettes by Nicholas Monsarrat recounts the writer's World War II experiences on corvettes, starting as an inexperienced small-boat sailor and ending as captain.

• The novel The Cruel Sea also by Nicholas Monsarrat, which is about the life and death of a Flower class corvette and the men in her, is regarded as one of the classic naval stories of World War II.

External links

• battleships-cruisers.co.uk - lists of ships, historic info, pictures...
  • Argentine Navy
  • Brazilian Navy wooden Corvettes
  • Danish Navy
  • French Corvettes
  • Italian Corvettes
  • Royal Navy Corvettes
  • Uruguayan Navy
  • Other Navies Brunei, Moroccan Navy, Moroccan Navy corvettes
• Bathurst Class Corvettes