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Edward...

The original Smith's Dock whaler design which became the flower class corvette had the fo'c'sle end at the back of the 4 inch gun platform.

As use of the corvettes moved from inshore ship protection to oceanic convoy duty, it became plain that an extended fo'c'sle was necessary to make them more seaworthy. Most of the original ships were retrofitted, however, the work was done in so many different yards around the globe, they may not have been entirely standard... much like the bridge modifications, each ship seems to have a different one! As well, you need to be aware of the date of each photograph, as there are many photos of each ship in varying configurations...

There is one website which lists the date the focsle extension was done, but I believe it refers strictly to Canadian flowers. Here is a prime example, a 1939 program short fo'c'sle corvette is pictured with its extension:

www.readyayeready.com/cgi...index=1002

In the second generation of corvette, the extended fo'c'sle was incorporated into the design at construction, and in the "increased endurance" version, late in the war, the flare and height of the bows were increased again.

You can see this evolution clearly if you can refer to the book: "Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939-1945," (Macpherson, Ken ; Milner, Marc. -- St. Catharines, Ont. : Vanwell Pub., 1993. -- 174 p.)

Another thing you may find interesting is that the Canadian ships were originally ordered with mine-sweeping duty in mind, so ships constructed for the RCN all came with a squared-off stern to accomodate the extra gear, although I believe only the first 54 (RCN) ships were delivered with mine-sweeping gear installed. Note that I said constructed FOR the RCN. Not all Canadian-built ships had this feature.


I wonder if anyone out there has any actual specifications, plans or blueprints of the different versions of this ship?

David