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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
Sarah Dean, CNN, 27 Jan. 2025
In Helsinki on Tuesday, members of the defense bloc with access to the Baltic Sea agreed at a summit on regional security threats — including Russian cable sabotage — to deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 14 Jan. 2025
Surprise: Built 1970 as a replica of the 18th century British frigate Rose; acquired 2004; 135 feet long.
—Roger Showley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Jan. 2025
The recent drills in the Mediterranean, which lasted for three days, involved two Russian frigates performing practice launches of a new hypersonic Zircon cruise missile, as well as a submarine that fired Kalibr cruise missiles.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
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frigate
noun
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