The João Coutinho-class corvettes were a series of warships built for the Portuguese Navy for service in Portugal's African and Indian colonies.

They were designed in Portugal by naval engineer Rogério de Oliveira, but the urgent need of their services in the Portuguese Colonial War meant that the construction of the ships was assigned to foreign shipyards.

From 1970 until the end of the conflict in 1975, the corvettes were used for patrol and fire-support missions in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea and Cape Verde.

After the African colonies gained their independence, the corvettes were assigned to patrol duties in Portuguese territorial waters.

In the 1960s Portugal still retained an empire and used a series of smaller vessels, such as frigates and gunboats to patrol its territorial waters.

Though the vessels were designed in Portugal, the urgent need of their services in the Portuguese Colonial War meant that the construction of the ships was assigned to foreign shipyards.

[3] Three ships were constructed by Bazán at their shipyard in Cartagena, Spain and three by Blohm & Voss at their yard in Hamburg, West Germany.