Corvette 21st

2020 Frigate (Warship) Fleet Strength by Country (2020) - Mega > .

21-9-27 Royal Navy Ships And Subs Explained > .

All Types of Warships Explained - nwyt > .

What's The Difference Between Warships (USN)? - Defense > .

A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or "rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war. The modern types of ships below a corvette are coastal patrol craft, missile boat and fast attack craft. In modern terms, a corvette is typically between 500 tons and 2,000 tons, although recent designs may approach 3,000 tons, which might instead be considered a small frigate.

The word "corvette" is first found in Middle French, a diminutive of the Dutch word corf, meaning a "basket", from the Latin corbis.

The rank "corvette captain", equivalent in many navies to "lieutenant commander", derives from the name of this type of ship. The rank is the most junior of three "captain" ranks in several European (e.g., France, Spain, Italy, Croatia) and South American (e.g., Argentina, Chile, Brazil) navies, because a corvette, as the smallest class of rated warship, was traditionally the smallest class of vessel entitled to a commander of a "captain" rank.

The Corvette vessel type was born during the 'Age of Sail'. Modern Corvettes are typically dimensionally smaller than Frigates though larger than Coastal Patrol Craft. Differences between modern Frigates and Corvettes are blurred - some navies consider certain vessels to be Corvettes when they could technically be defined as Frigates. Corvettes supply a balanced mix of firepower, ocean-going capabilities, and rotary-wing support while presenting reasonable economic benefits in terms of construction and procurement costs. Not every major naval power emphasizes the Corvette as part of its surface fleet - though they are consistently found in numerically smaller navies.