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A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate. Almost all modern navies use ships smaller than frigates for coastal duty, but not all of them use the term corvette.During the Age of Sail, corvettes were one of many types of smaller warships. They were very closely related to sloops-of-war. The role of the corvette consisted mostly of coastal patrol, fighting minor wars, supporting large fleets, or participating in show-the-flag missions. The British Navy began using small ships in the 1650s, which were referred to as sloops. The first reference to a corvette was with the French Navy in the 1670s.
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