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In the 17th–19th centuries, a frigate was a three-masted, fully rigged sailing ship, often carrying 30–40 guns in all. Smaller and faster than ships of the line (the principal vessels of naval warfare), frigates served as scouts or as escorts protecting merchant convoys; they also cruised the seas as merchant raiders themselves. In World War II, Britain revived the term frigate using it to describe escort ships equipped with sonar and depth charges, and used these ships to guard convoys from submarines. In the postwar decades, the frigate also adopted an antiaircraft role, adding radar and surface-to-air missiles. Modern frigates can sail at a speed of 30 knots and carry a crew of 200.
Examples of frigate in a Sentence
Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 26 Nov. 2025
Drones have ripped away hiding spaces for expensive, sophisticated kit like frigates, and peeled back the role manned systems will have going forward, said Ciemnyjewski.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Nov. 2025
When the Russian ship later sailed through the English Channel in January, it was followed by HMS Somerset, a frigate assigned to homeland defense in the waters around Britain.
—CBS News, 19 Nov. 2025
Taiwan has resumed the frigate at a time when China has warned Japan over its officials visit to the island nation.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Nov. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.
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frigate
noun
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