![]() The Flower-class was modest but effective. (Image source: WikiMedia Commons) They were “ broad, chunky, and graceless” HMCS Kitchener bounds over North Atlantic swells. However, there were notable exceptions to this naming convention for Canadian corvettes built in British yards and initially intended for the Royal Navy, such as HMCS Snowberry. Conversely, Canadian Flower-class vessels primarily assumed the names of Canadian cities and towns as a means to instill national pride and forge a connection between the population and the country’s relatively young navy. The corvettes’ odd naming convention also retained an element of British cheekiness: It was thought “that one of Hitler’s sea wolves (U-boats) been destroyed by a vessel named for a flower” would be a public relations victory in Britain and an embarrassment to the Nazis. Originally, vessels in the class were named after types of flowers, such as HMS Gladiolus and HMS Tulip. The term corvette is derived from the French word for “sloop,” a name suggested by Winston Churchill, who while filling the role of First Lord of the Admiralty remembered such a ship from the days of fighting sail. (Image source: WikiMedia Commons) They were inspired by fast sloops from the Age of Sail The classic fast fighting sloops were the inspiration for WW2 corvettes. French corvettes in action against the Royal Navy off Dieppe in 1812. The corvette emerged as a perfect solution that would meet the needs of both the British and Canadian fleets. Canadian shipbuilders lacked the expertise to build sophisticated warships, so a simple and stout design was required. Meanwhile across the Atlantic, Canada’s small-yet-professional navy also saw the looming threat of war and sought to expand its fleet quickly. ![]() The British government turned to Middlesbrough shipbuilders, Smith’s Dock Company, to design an inexpensive and easy-to-produce escort ship for immediate emergency production. The Royal Navy, understanding that supplies from North America would be vital in any coming struggle, needed a ship that could guard shipping convoys. Following the Munich Crisis of 1938, Britain’s Admiralty was convinced that war with Germany was inevitable. (Image source: WikiMedia Commons) They were designed to be discount escorts ![]() Here are nine important facts about the tiny but mighty Flower-class corvette. By keeping these shipping lanes open, the Flower-class in turn played a key role in the Allied victory. Their battlegrounds were the icy waters of the North Atlantic, where they would become the principle maritime weapon protecting the convoys that supplied the United Kingdom and Soviet Union from Hitler’s U-boats. The more than 250 that were manufactured during World War Two would go on to serve in a dozen Allied navies. THE FLOWER-CLASS corvette may have been a smaller warship, but she was perhaps the most successful escort ever built. (Image source: WikiMedia Commons) “She was a class of ship which could be produced quickly and cheaply in the future, to meet the urgent demands of convoy escort.” A sight no German U-boat skipper would ever want to see through his periscope: an approaching Allied Flower-class corvette. ![]()
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