The Gabbiano-class corvettes were a group of 59 vessels built for the Regia Marina of Italy for service during the Second World War.

The Gabbianos were designed to be built quickly and in large numbers and began to enter service in May 1942.

The ships were fitted with sonar and hydrophones, but the Regia Marina did not consider removing features such as torpedo tubes to reduce topweight or allow the vessels to carry more anti-submarine weapons.

[2] These ships were equipped with electric 'creep' motors with an endurance of 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) for silent running while engaged in anti-submarine searches,[3] Overall, they were well-designed for operations in the Mediterranean and were successful in their role.

The Germans seized many of these vessels after the Italian surrender in 1943, and operated them under new names until the end of the war.