Corvette Street was named on February 1, 1943, in honour of those who served in the Royal Canadian Navy on corvettes. During the Second World War, new types of vessels were constructed and scientists worked desperately to design new methods of locating and destroying the U-boats. Canada's fleet was augmented by several new types of vessels, of which the corvette was the most famous.
Designed on the pattern of a whaler, it was 63 metres long, displaced 935 tonnes and had a maximum speed of 16 knots. They could be produced quickly and cheaply and had the ability to outmanoeuvre a submarine. However, corvettes were known as "wet ships." They had been designed for coastal patrols and were pressed into transatlantic service only because there was nothing else available. As the seas broke over them, salty water seeped through seams, hatches and ventilators. They were intolerably crowded and living conditions on board for a crew of some 60 sailors were terrible. Nevertheless, these small ships were invaluable in the anti-U-boat war. Of the 123 corvettes that served in the Royal Canadian Navy, ten were lost to enemy action.
Corvette Street is located on property that was acquired by War Time Housing Limited and was the first of many developments during the war years built to help house the influx of workers required in Welland for the war effort.