The modern corvette was developed by the Royal Navy in the late 1930s; the Flower-class corvette becoming the primary escort vessel in the Battle of the Atlantic. Britain had 145 of them and the Royal Canadian Navy built 121 of a modified version.
In the late 1930s, the Royal Australian Navy needed an escort minesweeper and designed the Australian Minesweeping Sloop, which became known as the Bathurst-class corvette (they were named after Australian towns). The keel of the first corvette was laid in February 1940 and launched as HMAS Bathurst six months later, in August.
Some 56 Bathurst-class corvettes were built in eight Australian yards during the Second World War, including 20 for the Royal Navy (which were crewed by Australians and designated HMA Ships) and four for the Royal Indian Navy. The 750-tonne corvettes were 57 metres in length, had a 4-inch gun, two or three machine guns, two to five Oerlikons, and Asdic (early sonar). They had twin screws, a top speed of 15.5 knots, and a range of approximately 4000 nautical miles. The typical complement was five officers and 70 to 80 sailors—usually reservists.
At present, the Royal Australian Navy has no corvettes (the last of the Bathurst-class was decommissioned in 1960) and uses instead offshore patrol and similar vessels.