S3 – Flower Class Corvette
Escort ships of the Flower Class were derived from the collaboration of the British Admiralty and the Smiths Dock Company, which in 1938 had a successful design for a commercial whaler called the Southern Pride. The main feature of this original design was that in accordance with merchant shipping practice it could easily be built in many small British dockyards and its basic engines could be handled by civilian dockyards. Sixty Flower Class corvettes had been ordered before war broke out and by the end of 1940 a total of 141 of the original design had been ordered. The first vessel (launched on 24.01.1940) was completed in 5 months, the subsequent ones at a rate of one every 23 days. Once it had been decided that corvettes were no longer to be used as coastal escort ships, but on high seas, some modifications had to be made.
Available Scale Model Kits
- H.M.S. Bluebell (K 80), 1:72 Revell 05179
- H.M.C.S. Snowberry (K 166), 1:72 Revell 05161
- U.S.S. Saucy (PG-65), 1:72 Revell 05079
- S3 – Flower Class Corvette, 1:600 SKYTREX CF30
Technical Specifications
- Displacement: 940 t
- Power Plant: 4-cylinder triple-expansion/Scotch boiler
- Capacity: 2750 WPS
- Speed: 16 kn
- Cruising Range: 4000 miles at 12 kts
- Armament:
- 4″ SL gun
- 2 pdr pom-pom gun
- Radar
- Two 20 mm Oerlikon cannons (AA)
- Two .303 Lewis twin machine guns (AA)
- Anti-submarine depth charges
- Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon (late 1941)
- Modern electronics (1943)
- Crew: 47 men
- Production: 265 units
Wargamers will find the 1:72 scale Flower Class Corvette suitable for commando raids and small landings. These vessels served under British, Canadian, and American crews throughout the war.