French Flower-class corvette

French Flower-class corvettes were those ships of the Flower class built for, or operated by, the French Navy and Free French Naval Forces in World War II. At the outbreak of the war, four anti-submarine warfare ships were ordered from a British shipyard, and a further 18 ships were later ordered from several British and French shipyards. Following the Fall of France in June 1940, the ships in Britain were taken over by the Royal Navy, while those in France fell into German hands. Eight other Flowers were later transferred to the Free French Naval Forces.

Class overview
Operators
Completed22, plus 8 transferred
Lost4
General characteristics (Flower-class corvette (original))
TypeCorvette
Displacement925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 short tons)
Length205 ft (62.48 m) o/a
Beam33 ft 11+12 in (10.35 m)
Draught11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Propulsion
  • 1939–1940 program
    • single shaft
    • 2 × fire tube Scotch boilers
    • 1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
    • 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
  • 1940–1941 program
    • single shaft
    • 2 × 225 pounds per square inch (1,550 kPa) water tube boilers
    • 1 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine
    • 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range
  • 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 km) at 9 knots (16.7 km/h)
  • 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
  • 2,900 nautical miles (5,371 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h)
Complement79
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 × SW1C or 2C radar
  • 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament
  • 1 × 4 inch BL Mk.IX single gun
  • (Fr: 1 × 100 mm naval gun, single)
  • 2 × Vickers .50 machine guns (twin)
  • (Fr: 2 × 13.2mm AA)
  • 2 × .303 inch Lewis machine gun (twin)
  • 2 × Mk.II depth charge throwers
  • 2 × depth charge rails with 40 depth charges
  • originally fitted with minesweeping gear, later removed
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