Corvette
- For the automobile, see Chevrolet Corvette.
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, such as the Marine nationales La Fayette class Frigates, the Royal Navys Type 45"Daring" Class Destroyer and the US Navy's DD(X) family of ships.
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.