Wikipedia
For the automobile, see Chevrolet Corvette.'' steam corvette FS Dupleix (1861)''Dupleix'' (1856-1887)]] 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 Navynavies 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 corvetteFlower 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 class corvetteCastle and Flower Class corvettes which were named after CanadaCanadian 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 Indian NavyRoyal Indian Navy. These were officially described as Australian Mine Sweepers, or Bathurst class corvettes and were named after AustraliaAustralian towns. Later in World War II the Royal Navy introduced the Castle class corvetteCastle 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 United States NavyUS 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
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