Rare: Chris Craft Corvette

Latest update. I'm close to getting it put together the way I want it. There are still things I'd like to dress up, but it's mostly back in one piece now and runs really well. I've still got a bit if fine tuning to do on the fuel injection for the 427s, but my best run so far yielded 30 kts, which feels like flying on that size boat. It handles great, banking like an airplane in a hard turn, and it cuts through the water like butter. Very Fun! Here are a few pictures of it now.

Hey Now,, That looks great..

Thanks!

Just now seeing this. Sorry I wasn't following. Thank you C.Y. for documenting the refit for the rest of us to enjoy. Seems like Chris Craft should have built the Corvette out of fiberglass, for namesake.

Beautiful boat!

Thanks for the compliments! Here's a bit of Naval trivia to consider: The original Corvettes were actually made of wood. Chevrolet named their Corvette after a class of small, fast, sailing ships in the French Navy back in the early 1800's. Smaller than a Frigate, they were actually the smallest warship. Anything smaller was considered a patrol boat. So, making the CC Corvette out of wood is actually in keeping with Naval tradition!

And then the steel ones of WW2. Designed with one purpose in mind to protect convoys from U boat attacks. The original '"Flower Class", smaller than a frigate, was 205 feet long, 33 feet in beam and had an 11 foot draught. They did 16 knots and had a 3500 NM range, perfect for their function. With a crew of 80, they were hugely seaworthy but known as 'holy rollers' and were cold, crowded and damp. They carried a 4 inch naval gun, 3 Vickers Machine guns 40 depth charges and two launchers and were the first ships to be outfitted with operational sonar. Nonetheless they became deadly effective at their task, won the Battle of the Atlantic and came to be grudgingly loved and trusted by their crews. The Royal Navy had 174 of them, The Royal Canadian Navy had 122 and other navies, including the USN, a smattering.
Later in the war someone decided that a longer range corvette with anti aircraft capacity was needed and the 295 foot Castle Class appeared, with fewer depth charges, 4 anti aircraft batteries and an astonishing 9000 NM range. Less sturdy in heavy seas and hard to handle at low speeds and docking they were loved by almost nobody. Often called a 'poor man's frigate'.
As a 'one mission boat' most corvettes were scraped promptly after the war and most were gone by 1947. My dad served on them and frigates from 1940 to 1944.