FRIGATE (probably connected with the Gothic fargod, a row-galley, and also with the Latin aphractus, an undecked galley), formerly a lqng narrow vessel propelled by oars and sails, used in the Mediterranean on occasions when speed was requisite. The name then came to be applied to men-of-war, of a class smaller than line-of-battle ships, and carrying from 20 to 50 guns, which were employed in the great wars of the 18th and early part of the 19th centuries as scouts and cruisers. The frigate was usually swift, easily managed, and capable of bearing well up to the wind. She became, there fore, the favorite ship in war-time, and bore off a large proportion of the prize-money. Frigates also served to obtain information as to the movements of hostile fleets, and to guide the sailing of their own; but it was unusual for them to join in the line of battle, their exploits ordinarily occurring in engagements with single ships of their own class.
One of Nelson's commonest complaints was that he had not a larger number of swift frigates to intercept the enemy's cruisers; it having then been notorious that the.French built faster and finer craft than those our dockyards could turn out, although it must be added that most of these rapid frigates had changed their flag before the war closed.
With steam, and the growth of the fleet in later times, frigates were developed more than any other men-of-war, and many of the largest ships in the navy belonged to this class, such as the Diadem, Mersey, Orlando, and the iron-plated Warrior, of 6,000 tons. three times the burden of any ship of the line in Nelson's fleet. Now, however, these are all ships of the past, incapable of contending with the turreted monsters which carry modern artillery.