n.
Either of two different types of warships, of the 17th19th centuries and of World War II and after.
The sailing ship known as a frigate was a three-masted, fully rigged vessel, often carrying 3040 guns in all. Smaller and faster than ships of the line , frigates served as scouts or as escorts protecting merchant convoys; they also cruised the seas as merchant raiders themselves. With the transition to steam, the term gradually gave way to cruiser . In World War II, Britain revived the term frigate to describe escort ships equipped with sonar and depth charge s and used to guard convoys from submarines. In the postwar decades frigates also adopted an antiaircraft role, adding radar and surface-to-air missiles. Modern frigates may displace more than 3,000 tons (2,700 metric tons), sail at a speed of 30 knots, and carry a crew of 200.
Battle between the frigates HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake off Boston during the War ...
The National Maritime Museum, London