A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate.
When referring to sailing ships, a corvette is a sloop-of-war.
Almost all modern navies use ships smaller than frigates for coastal duty, but not all of them use the term 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 that had been occupied by Hitler's forces, while the Royal Canadian Navy named theirs after Canadian cities and towns. 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.
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.
External links
battleships-cruisers.co.uk - lists of ships, historic info, pictures...
Argentine Navy (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/argentine_navy.htm)
Brazilian Navy (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/brazilian_navy.htm) wooden Corvettes
Danish Navy (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/danish_navy.htm)
French Corvettes (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/french_corvettes.htm)
Italian Corvettes (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/italian_corvettes.htm)
Royal Navy Corvettes (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/corvettes.htm)
Uruguayan Navy (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/uruguayan_navy.htm)
Other Navies (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/other_navies.htm) Brunei, Moroccan Navy, Moroccan Navy corvettes
Bathurst Class Corvettes http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mildura/Corvette_links.htm
Corvette Racing drivers Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell are on a roll in the American Le Mans Series.
Corvette Racing will have a high profile on the town and on the track when motor racing returns to the Motor City for this weekend's Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.
John Fitch and Walt Hansgen drove a Corvette to a ninth-place finish overall and a Class B victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1956, the first step onto the world stage that established Chevy's sports car as a contender in top-level competition.
Older generations of the Corvette have been criticized for being crude and lacking in refinement by European sports car standards and their on-limit handling is a devisive issue; garnering both praise and reproach.
The vehicle went on sale in 1990 and was distinguishable from other Corvette coupes by its wider tail section, 11 inch wide rear wheels, and its new convex rear fascia with four square shaped taillights and a CHMSL (center high mounted stop lamp) attached to the top of the hatch glass instead of between the taillights.
Corvette faced stiff competition from the new Prodrive Ferrari 550, which led many laps at Le Mans, but the Ferraris suffered problems late in the race, resulting in another Corvette victory.
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