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Operators During World War II (Allies)
Royal Navy
United States Navy
After World War II
Royal Navy
United States Navy
Marina Militare Completed 10 (original), 15 (modified) Lost none during World War II | ||
The American Flower-class corvettes were those ships of the Flower class built for, or operated by, the United States Navy during World War II.
Construction history
In December 1941, after the US entry into World War II, the USN had a large building programme for anti-submarine warfare ships, but none nearing completion. To overcome this shortfall, the Royal Navy agreed to transfer a number of ASW ships to the USN, including ten Flower-class corvettes. These ships had already been in commission and had seen action during the Battle of the Atlantic.
These ships were classified as Patrol Gunboats, and numbered PG 62 to 71, and were referred to as the Temptress class, after the first ship to be re-commissioned.
The USN also placed orders for 15 more "Flowers" from Canadian shipyards. This was met by transferring a number of vessels on order for the RN to USN. These ships were of the Modified Flower type, a design which consolidated the various modifications developed in the course of building the original "Flowers".
In the event the USN only took charge of 8 of these ships; the other 7 were transferred back to the RN under Lend-Lease arrangements.
The US ships were numbered PG 86 to 100 and were referred to as the Action class.
The Temptress class were armed with a 4" gun forward, a 3"50 cal. DP gun aft, two 20mm.s, 2 DC racks, and 4 DC throwers. The Action class replaced the 4" with another 3"50 cal. DP gun, and added a Hedgehog ASW.