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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, 9 July 2024
Russia’s Black Sea fleet currently has five frigates, some amphibious ships, dozens of coastal-defense craft, and most important, six new Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines.
—Mark Cancian, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2022
Sending a frigate or two on patrol is one thing; maintaining a sizable presence to deter Chinese aggression is quite another.
—Mark Hannah, The Mercury News, 11 July 2024
And in December that year, the frigate Talayieh rolled over in a dry dock in Bandar Abbas.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 10 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for frigate 
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“Frigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frigate. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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frigate
noun
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