A frigate is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied greatly.
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two columns of opposing warships maneuvering to volley fire with the cannons along their broadsides. In conflicts where opposing ships were both able to fire from their broadsides, the opponent with more cannons firing – and therefore more firepower – typically had an advantage. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying more of the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time.
Steam frigates, the larger steam ships of the line and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were paddle steamers. Later on the invention of screw propulsion enabled construction of steam-powered versions of the traditional ships of the line, frigates, corvettes, sloops and gunboats.
The Type 14 Blackwood class were a ship class of minimal "second-rate" anti-submarine warfare frigates. Built for the Royal Navy during the 1950s at a time of increasing threat from the Soviet Union's submarine fleet, they served until the late 1970s. Twelve ships of this class served with the Royal Navy and a further three were built for the Indian Navy.
USS Merrimack, also improperly Merrimac, was a steam frigate, best known as the hull upon which the ironclad warship CSS Virginia was constructed during the American Civil War. The CSS Virginia then took part in the Battle of Hampton Roads in the first engagement between ironclad warships.
Jylland is one of the world's largest wooden warships, and is both a screw-propelled steam frigate and a sailship. She took part in the Battle of Heligoland on 9 May 1864, and is preserved as a museum ship in Denmark.
The Type 41 or Leopard class were a class of anti-aircraft defence frigates built for the Royal Navy and Indian Navy in the 1950s. The Type 41, together with the Type 61 variant introduced diesel propulsion into the Royal Navy, the perceived benefits being long range, low fuel use, reduced crew, and reduced complexity.
The Type 61 Salisbury class was a class of the Royal Navy aircraft direction (AD) frigate, built in the 1950s. The purpose of the aircraft direction ships was to provide radar picket duties at some distance from a carrier task force and offer interception guidance to aircraft operating in their area.
The Phutthayotfa Chulalok-class frigates are two of forty-six Knox-class frigates originally laid down for the United States Navy as ocean escorts, but were all redesignated as frigates on 30 June 1975, in the USN 1975 ship reclassification and their hull designation changed from DE to FF. The Thai Navy acquired them between 1994 and 1996.
HMS Glasgow was a wooden screw frigate, the fifth ship of the name to serve in the Royal Navy.
USS Wanaloset, also spelled USS Wanalosett, was a proposed United States Navy screw sloop-of-war or steam frigate that appears never to have been laid down.
USS Watauga was a proposed United States Navy screw frigate that was never built.
USS Arapahoe was a proposed United States Navy screw sloop-of-war or steam frigate that was cancelled in 1866 without being completed.
USS Keosauqua was a proposed United States Navy screw sloop-of-war or steam frigate that was cancelled in 1866 without being completed.
USS Willamette was a proposed United States Navy screw sloop-of-war or steam frigate that was cancelled in 1866 without ever having been laid down.
HMS Bristol was the name ship of her class of wooden screw frigates built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s.
HMS Undaunted was a wooden screw frigate, the fifth ship of the name to serve in the Royal Navy.
Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a ship of the sixth rate that was smaller than a frigate, but by virtue of being a rated ship, had to have as its captain a post captain rather than a lieutenant or commander. Thus ships with 20 to 26 guns were post ships, though this situation changed after 1817.
HMS Teme was a River-class frigate of the Royal Navy that was built during the Second World War. The frigate was named for the River Teme, a river that flows along the English-Welsh border. She was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and served as HMCS Teme. She was torpedoed by a German submarine on 29 March 1945 and subsequently declared a constructive total loss. The ship was broken up in Wales in 1946.
United Kingdom