Community Vessel Corvette

Corvettes are the smallest surface ships in the CDF Naval Service of Sober Thought. Even more so than their larger siblings the frigates, corvettes are exclusively dedicated to anti-submarine warfare (ASW) while escorting merchant ships, naval ships or conducting anti-submarine sweeps. They pack nearly as much anti-submarine punch as a frigate, the smallest peacetime ship but not vessel, with about a third of the crew. Except for a few test and training boats, the Community Defence Forces do not build corvettes in peacetime.

In wartime, these inexpensive but effective ocean going vessels are manufactured in large numbers using assembly line and modular construction techniques. They bear hull numbers in the K series, e.g., K-2, K-9, K-67. Recent naval veterans and new recruits chosen for their civilian experiences as mariners crew the ships which require only three actual naval officers: the skipper, the weapons officer and the engineering officer.

Reductions in size but not anti-submarine effectiveness are accomplished in the Naval Weapons Section by combining the anti-ship and anti-aircraft capabilities into a single dual purpose turret with twin 40 mm cannon, and by reducing the number of launchers but not missiles. Furthermore, the marine landing party normally supplied by the CDF Land Service is eliminated entirely. Similarly, the air detachment supplied by the CDF Air Service is dramatically scaled back and devoted fulltime to ASW, and even it has only one fewer air officers than there are naval officers on the ship.