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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
Brendan Cole, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024
The main warship in the Russian deployment is the Admiral Gorshkov, a state-of-the-art frigate that is the lead ship in a new class of six combat vessels Moscow has commissioned through 2025.
—Michael Wilner, Miami Herald, 6 June 2024
According to Anton Gerashchenko, a former advisor to the interior ministry in Kyiv, the explosion damaged three ships, including two Gepard-class frigates—the fleet’s biggest ships—as well as a smaller Buyan corvette.
—David Axe, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
The Russian vessels consisted of two submarines, a frigate and tug boat, the Coast Guard said.
—CBS News, 17 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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frigate
noun
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