Aviso

An aviso (formerly also an "adviso"), a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy.

The "Dictionnaire de la Marine Française 1788 – 1792" (by Nicolas-Charles Romme) describes avisos as "small boats designed to carry orders or advices".

World War I avisos, used also during World War II, had displacement 300-700 tons, speed 13-20 knots, main armament usually of two 100 mm or 138 mm guns or four 100 mm guns [Basing upon: V. V. Ivanov, "Korabli Vtoroy Mirovoy voyny: VMS Francyi" (Корабли Второй Мировой войны: ВМС Франции), Morskaya Kollekcya 11/2004] . In English nomenclature they are often referred to as sloops. Bigger were colonial avisos "Bougainville" class, intended for overseas service.

Modern avisos have grown to become combat-capable ships, smaller in size than a corvette, but larger than patrol ships. They typically have roles in anti-submarine coastal defence. In NATO classification they are usually recognized as corvettes.

ee also

*D'Estienne d'Orves class