A frigate was a fast, three-masted, square-rigged warship, which was used by European and American navies in the 18th and 19th century. Bristling with guns, this naval vessel was second in size after a ship of the line. Frigates had two gun decks with a total of up to 60 guns. Not only were they very stable seagoing craft but they also surpassed ships of the line in speed. Therefore, they were generally used for cruising and reconnaissance. In the mid-19th century, steam frigates appeared, both wheel-driven and propeller-driven; they were made of wood, iron, or a combination of both. Some frigates had armor plating and were called ironclad frigates. Steam frigates were used by the warring parties during the Crimean War (1853–56) and the American Civil War (1861–65).
During World War II, frigates were warships of a transitional type, being in size between light cruisers and destroyers (USA) or the analogous patrol vessels (Great Britain). During that armed conflict, they were used for antisubmarine and anti-aircraft defense in formations of warships and in convoys of transport ships. Frigates in the US Navy had a displacement of 3,500–5,000 tons and a speed of approximately 35 knots (65 km/hr). They were armed with two all-purpose 127-mm cannons, four automatic guns of 76 and 20 mm, four torpedo launchers, and four depth-charge launchers. Frigates in the British Navy had a displacement of up to 2,500 tons and lighter armament. Thus, they were larger and a corvette. The frigate was designed and produced to the same mercantile construction standards (scantlings) as the corvette, allowing manufacture by yards unused to warship construction. It was introduced as a solution to some of the shortcomings inherent in the Flower-class corvette design, which had limited armament and was not fit for open sea navigation.
Modern frigates are specially designed and built ships used for locating, tracking, and destroying nuclear submarines at sea and for protecting aircraft carriers from naval, aircraft, and rocket attack. Frigates in the US Navy have a displacement of up to 6,000 tons, a speed of 34 knots (63 km/hr), and a range of 8,000 nautical miles. They are armed with long- and short-range anti-ship missiles as well as surface-to-air missiles, conventional torpedoes, naval drones, and naval artillery— usually one 127-mm all-purpose automatic cannon and two 76-mm antiaircraft guns. They have a crew of 350–370 men. Today, the British Royal Navy has sixteen Type-23 frigates; the Russian Navy is equipped with 14 modern frigates, with the Admiral Gorshkov class frigates being the latest ones to be launched, while the US Navy has only two frigates, the Constellation class.
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| Above, a modern Type-23 frigate of the Royal Navy. |
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| A daguerreotype photograph of a French frigate in the docks of Brest taken around 1870. |
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| A painting of a British frigate in Sydney Harbour in the first half of the 19th century. |
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