1. Word Games
  2. Word of the Day
  3. New Words & Slang
  4. Video
 

frigate

2 ENTRIES FOUND:
  1. frigate (noun)
  2. frigate bird (noun)

frigate

/

Battle between the frigates HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake off Boston during the War …—The National Maritime Museum, London

Either of two different types of warships, of the 17th–19th centuries and of World War II and after. The sailing ship known as a frigate was a three-masted, fully rigged vessel, often carrying 30–40 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 charges 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.

This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise.
For the full entry on frigate, visit Britannica.com.

Learn More About FRIGATE

Seen & Heard

What made you look up frigate? Please tell us what you were reading, watching or discussing that led you here.

Test Your Vocabulary

Take Our 10-Question Quiz

Name That Thing

Take our visual vocab quiz

Test Your Knowledge »

True or False?

A quick quiz about stuff worth knowing

Take It Now »

Join Us on FB & Twitter

Get the Word of the Day and More

Facebook | Twitter

Get Our Free Apps

Voice Search, Favorites,
Word of the Day, and More

iPhone | iPad | Android | More