Corvette
For the automobile, see Chevrolet Corvette.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.
During the
Age of Sail, corvettes were one of many types of smaller warships. They were very closely related to
sloops-of-war. The role of the corvette consisted mostly of coastal patrol, fighting minor wars, supporting large fleets, or participating in show-the-flag missions. The British Navy began using small ships in the 1650s, which were referred to as sloops. The first reference to a corvette was with the French Navy in the 1670s.
Most corvettes and sloops of the 17th century were around 40 to 60 feet (12 to 18 meters) in length and weighed 40 to 70 tons. They carried 4 to 8 smaller guns. Corvettes slowly increased in size and capability, until 1800 when they reached lengths over 100 feet (30 meters) and weight ranging from 400 to 600 tons (365 to 544 metric tons). One of the largest corvettes during the Age of Sail was the American ship,
USS Constellation, built in 1855. The ship was 176 feet (54 meters) long and carried 24 guns. It was so large that some naval experts consider it a
frigate. It has also been referred to as a sloop-of-war.
The modern corvette appeared during
World War II as an easily built patrol and
convoy escort vessel. The British naval designer William Reed drew up a small ship based on a
whale catcher design which could be produced quickly in large numbers. Future
Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill, then
First Lord of the Admiralty, had a hand in it reviving the name "corvette". The first were the
Flower class (because the
Royal Navy ships were named after flowers) though ships in
Royal Canadian Navy service took the name of smaller Canadian cities. Their chief duty was to protect
convoys in the
North Atlantic and on the routes from the UK to
Murmansk carrying supplies to the
Soviet Union. The
Royal Australian Navy built 60 corvettes, including 20 for the Royal Navy (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.
|
South African frigate referred to by the SAN as a corvette SAS Mendi |
After the attack on the
USS Cole, modern navies began to see the importance of smaller, more maneuverable vessels that could operate close to shore, as well as at sea. These ships could defend a country's assets and interests far away from its own shores, with sophisticated weapons and surveillance equipment. But since they were smaller and cheaper than frigates and destroyers, they could more effectively combat the kind of small attack craft utilized in the attack on the USS Cole. Around the same time, navies operated by smaller countries, such as the
United Arab Emirates, began to realize that their
offshore patrol vessels were lacking the ability to defend themselves in a modern war, especially against air attacks.
Typical corvettes today are between
patrol vessels and
frigates in both size and capability. They have a displacement between 540 and 2,750 tons (490 and 2,500 metric tons) and measure 180-330 feet (55-100 meters) in length. They usually are armed with medium and small caliber guns, surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and underwater warfare weapons. Many can accommodate a small or medium
ASW helicopter.
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 countries, such as
Germany,
Poland,
Russia, and
Israel, are developing similar vessels. The
United States is developing a
Littoral Combat Ship, which will be very similar to a corvette.
*
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* 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.
* The two books
The Corvette Navy and
On the Triangle Run by
James B. Lamb give an autobiographical and historical perspective of life on
Royal Canadian Navy corvettes in World War II. The author served on them for 6 years from Halifax to the beaches of D-Day.
*
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
