French Flower-class corvettes were those ships of theFlower class built for, or operated by, theFrench Navy andFree French Naval Forces inWorld War II. At the outbreak of the war, fouranti-submarine warfare ships were ordered from a British shipyard, and a further 18 ships were later ordered from several British and French shipyards. Following theFall of France in June 1940, the ships in Britain were taken over by the Royal Navy, while those in France fell into German hands. Eight other Flowers were later transferred to the Free French Naval Forces.

At the outbreak of World War II theMarine nationale (French Navy) needed ships foranti-submarine warfare (ASW) and, following theRoyal Navy's example, placed orders fromSmiths Dock inSouth Bank, Middlesbrough, for four ASW corvettes. Smiths had developed plans for a basic ASW vessel, using merchant ship equipment and machinery, that could be mass-produced in Merchant shipyards.

Following this theMarine nationale ordered a further 18 ships, to be built at a number of British and French shipyards. These were identical to the British "Flowers" except that French 100 mm (3.9 in) and 13.2 mmAA guns were to be fitted.^[3]

TheFall of France in June 1940 brought a drastic change to these building programmes. Of the original four, only one,La Bastiaise, was completed. On 22 June 1940, the day of France's capitulation, she was undergoingsea trials in theNorth Sea when she struck a mine offHartlepool^[2] and sank. Of the others,La Malouine was taken over as she was by the Royal Navy (RN) on completion, while the other two were taken over and renamed.

Of the second order, the 12 ships under construction in Britain were taken over by the RN; all were renamed and given Flower names in keeping with the class.^[4]

The six ships under construction in France all fell into German hands. Building continued slowly, and by 1944, three had been completed for use by the GermanKriegsmarine. These ships underwent a number of changes to reflect changes in role and circumstances. They were rated as patrolgunboats and commissioned asPA 1 to4.^[5]

After the creation of the Free French Naval Forces (FNFL) the RN transferred a number of ships to the FNFL. These included eight Flowers, all transferred and renamed on completion. Some retained a Flower name while others took the names that honoured French naval heroes.^[4][6]

These ships, in French and in British service, saw action throughout theAtlantic campaign and performed sterling work. Two of the French, and one of the British vessels were lost in action, while three of them, two French and one British, were successful in sinking U-boats.

• La Bastiaise, mined in North Sea, 22 June 1940 (on trials).^[2] The engineer manager of Smith's Dock and several of his staff were lost with the ship.^[7]
• La Dieppoise /HMS Fleur de Lys, torpedoed and sunk byU-206, 14 October 1941.^[2]
• Alysse, torpedoed and sunk byU-654 on 10 February 1942^[8] while escorting convoy ON 60, approximately 420 nautical miles (780 km) east ofCape Race at46°00′N44°00′W / 46.000°N 44.000°W /46.000; -44.000. 36 crew were killed.
• Mimosa, torpedoed and sunk on 9 June 1942 byU-124^[9] while escorting convoy ONS 100 at52°12′N32°37′W / 52.200°N 32.617°W /52.200; -32.617. 58 French and six British crew were killed; the French crew being largely fromSaint Pierre and Miquelon. Four survivors were rescued byHMCS Assiniboine.

• La Paimpolaise /Nasturtium, and others sankU-556 27 June 1941.
• Lobelia sankU-609 on 7 February 1943.
• Aconit and others sankU-432 andU-444 on 11 March 1943.

• Blair, Clay (2000) [1996].Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942. Vol. 1. London: Cassell.ISBN 0-304-35260-8.
• Blair, Clay (2000) [1998].Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. Vol. 2. London: Cassell.ISBN 0-304-35261-6.
• Chesneau, Roger (1980).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London:Conway Publishing.ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Elliott, Peter (1977).Allied Escort Ships of World War II. Macdonald and Jane's.ISBN 0-356-08401-9.
• Kemp, Paul (1997).U-Boats Destroyed. Arms & Armour.ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
• Le Masson, Henri (1969).The French Navy. Navies of the Second World War. Vol. 2. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. pp. 25–30.ISBN 9780356023847.
• Neistle, Axel (1998).German U-Boat Losses during World War II. Greenhill.ISBN 1-85367-352-8.

• Flower-class corvettes of the Free French Naval Forces
• World War II corvettes of France
• Flower-class corvettes
• Ship classes of the French Navy

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