A
corvette is a small, manoeuvrable, lightly armed
warship, originally smaller than a
frigate (2000+ tons) and larger than a
coastal patrol craft or
Fast Attack Craft (500 or less tons), although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role. During the
Age of Sail, corvettes were smaller than frigates and larger than
sloops-of-war, usually with a single gun deck. Although almost all modern
navies use ships smaller than frigates for coastal duty, not all of them use the term
corvette (from the French
corvair) or equivalent. The rank
Corvette Captain derives from the name of this type of ship.
Sailing vessels
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, but described them as sloops rather than corvettes. The first reference to a corvette was with the
French Navy in the 1670s, which is where the term itself possibly originated. The
Royal Navy did not use the term until after the
Napoleonic Wars to describe a small
unrated vessel similar to a sloop.
Most corvettes and sloops of the 17th century were around 40 to 60 feet (12 to 18 meters) in length and measured 40 to 70
tons burthen. They carried four to eight smaller guns on a single deck. Over time vessels of increasing size and capability were called corvettes; by 1800 they reached lengths of over 100 feet (30 m) and measured from 400 to 600 tons burthen. One of the largest corvettes during the Age of Sail was the American ship
USS Constellation, built in 1855; at 176 feet (54 m) long, she carried 24 guns. She was so large that some naval experts consider her a
frigate.
Steam ships
Ships during the steam era became much faster and more maneuverable than their sail ancestors. Corvettes during this era were typically used alongside
gunboats during colonial missions.
Battleships and other large vessels were unnecessary when fighting the indigenous people of the
Far East and Africa.
World War II
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 the single-
shaft Smiths Dock Company whale catcher Southern Pride, whose simple design and mercantile construction standards lent itself to rapid production in large numbers in small yards unused to naval work.
First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, later Prime Minister, had a hand in reviving the name "corvette".
During the arms buildup leading to World War II the term "corvette" was almost attached to the
Tribal class destroyer. The Tribals were so much larger than and sufficiently different from other British destroyers that some consideration was given to resurrecting the classification of "corvette" and applying it to them. This idea was dropped, and the term applied to small, mass-produced anti-submarine escorts such as the "Flower" class of World War Two.
The first modern corvettes were the
Flower class (
Royal Navy corvettes were named after
flowers, and ships in
Royal Canadian Navy service took the name of smaller Canadian cities and towns). 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 Flower-class corvette was originally designed for offshore patrol work, and was not ideal as an anti-submarine escort; they were really too short for open ocean work, too lightly armed for anti-aircraft defence, and little faster than the merchantmen they escorted, a particular problem given the faster
German U-boat designs then emerging. They were very seaworthy and maneuverable, but living conditions for ocean voyages were appalling. Because of this the corvette was superseded in the Royal Navy as the escort ship of choice by the
frigate, which was larger, faster, better armed and had two shafts. However, many small yards could not produce vessels of frigate size, so an improved corvette design, the
Castle class, was introduced later in the war, some remaining in service until the mid-1950s.
The
Royal Australian Navy built 60
Bathurst-class 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 as Minesweeping Sloops by the Royal Navy, and were named after
Australian towns.
The
Bird-class minesweepers or trawlers were referred to as corvettes in the
Royal New Zealand Navy, and two, the
Kiwi and
Moa, rammed and sank a much larger Japanese submarine, the
I-1, in 1943 in the Solomons.
Modern corvettes
Modern navies began a trend in the late 20th and early 21st century towards smaller, more maneuverable surface capability. Corvettes have a displacement between 540 and 2,750 long tons (550 and 2,800 metric tons) and measure 180–330 feet (55–100 meters) in length. They are usually 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
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter.
Current corvette classes
Many countries today operate corvettes; some include
Sweden,
Germany,
Denmark,
Italy,
India,
China,
Israel,
Romania,
Bulgaria,
Poland,
Turkey,
Brazil,
Greece, and
Russia. Countries that border smaller seas, such as the
Baltic Sea or the
Persian Gulf, are more likely to build the smaller and more maneuverable corvettes.
Arguably, one of the most advanced corvettes in service today is the
Swedish Navy's
Visby class. It is the first operational warship to extensively utilize
stealth technology.
The United States is developing a
Littoral Combat Ship, which will be very similar to a corvette, but their larger hulls permit space for mission modules, allowing them to undertake tasks formerly assigned to specialist classes such as minesweepers or the anti-submarine
Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate.
The new
German Braunschweig class is designed to supplement Germany's
fast attack craft and also incorporates stealth technology and land attack capabilities.
Turkey began construction on the first of twelve
Milgem class stealth corvettes in July 2005. The lead ship, named
TCG Heybeliada, is scheduled to begin
sea trials in October 2010. The design concept and mission profile of Milgem is similar to the
LCS-1 Littoral Combat Ship of the United States. The first eight ships of the
Milgem class will be classified as corvettes, while the last four will be named the
F-100 class and will be classified as
frigates. The F-100 class will be slightly larger in terms of dimensions and will be equipped with the
Mk.41 VLS and
ESSM, along with other additional systems for improved multi-role combat capabilities.
The Hellenic Navy has categorised the class as
fast attack missile craft. A similar vessel is the
Kilic-class fast attack missile craft of the
Turkish Navy, which is classified as a corvette by
Lürssen Werft, the German designer of the ship.
The
Indonesian Navy will receive indigenously designed corvettes, called 104 M corvettes, in 2008. The corvette may be armed with the Chinese
C-802 anti-ship missile, already installed in the locally-built FPB 57 class
fast patrol boats.
See also
