American Flower-class corvettes


The American Flower-class corvettes were those ships of the Royal Navy's built for, or operated by, the United States Navy during World War II. These were ten ships of the original Flower class, known as the Temptress class in US service, and fifteen Modified Flowers, as the Action class. They were classified as Patrol Gunboats

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 s. 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 recommissioned.
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 eight of these ships; the other seven 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-inch gun forward, a 3"/50 caliber gun|/50 dual-purpose gun aft, two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, two depth charge racks, and four depth charge throwers. The Action class replaced the 4-inch gun with another 3-inch/50 cal. DP gun, and added a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar.

''Temptress'' class

The ten ships of the Temptress class were originally built for the Royal Navy and saw service there before transfer to the USN.
USN nameNumberRN namePennantBuilderCompletedTransferredFateNotes
USS TemptressPG-62K37Smiths Dock Co., South Bank-on-Tees18 Feb 194116 Feb 1942Returned to RN 26 Aug 1945
USS SurprisePG-63K03John Crown & Sons Ltd, Sunderland12 Sept 194024 Mar 1942Returned to RN 26 Aug 1945
USS SpryPG-64K24Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast21 May 19402 May 1942Returned to RN 26 Aug 1945
USS SaucyPG-65K73Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast5 Apr 194030 Apr 1942Returned to RN 26 Aug 1945 and recommissioned as Snapdragon
USS RestlessPG-66K55Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast8 Apr 194015 Mar 1942Returned to RN 26 Aug 1945
USS ReadyPG-67K28Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast6 May 194012 Mar 1942Returned to RN 23 Aug 1945
USS ImpulsePG-68K66Cook, Welton & Gemmell, Beverley8 Mar 194110 Mar 1942Returned to RN 22 Aug 1945
USS FuryPG-69K82Fleming & Ferguson Ltd., Paisley4 Jan 194117 Mar 1942Returned to RN 22 Aug 1945
USS CouragePG-70K15Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast4 Jun 19403 Apr 1942Returned to RN 23 Aug 1945
USS TenacityPG-71K09Grangemouth Dry Dock Co., Grangemouth16 Oct 19404 Mar 1942Returned to RN 26 Aug 1945

''Action'' class

The fifteen ships of the Action class were originally ordered for the Royal Navy but transferred before completion to the United States Navy. On completion eight entered service with the USN while the other seven were transferred back to the RN under Lend-lease.

Served in USN

Transferred to RN