Misplaced Pages

#240759

114-543: The SKL was established on August 27, 1918, on the initiative of Admiral Reinhard Scheer , who became its first commander, simultaneously to being the Chief of the German Imperial Admiralty Staff . It led the planning and execution of naval combat and directed the distribution of naval forces. Up to this point, that was done by several staffs and the individual theater commanders. When the war ended,

228-599: A corruption of aphractus , a Latin word for an open vessel with no lower deck. Aphractus , in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς ( aphraktos naus ) – "undefended ship" . In 1583, during the Eighty Years' War of 1568–1648, Habsburg Spain recovered the southern Netherlands from the Protestant rebels. This soon resulted in the use of the occupied ports as bases for privateers ,

342-496: A bombardment by the I Scouting Group battlecruisers under the command of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper . Scheer planned the operation for 17 May, but damage to the battlecruiser SMS  Seydlitz from the previous month, coupled with condenser trouble on several of the battleships of III Battle Squadron caused the plan to be delayed, ultimately to 31 May. Admiral Scheer's fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts, six light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats departed

456-716: A continuous line of guns from bow to stern at the level of the quarterdeck/forecastle), were built, which were an almost exact match in size and firepower to the American 44-gun frigates. Frigates were perhaps the hardest-worked of warship types during the Age of Sail . While smaller than a ship-of-the-line , they were formidable opponents for the large numbers of sloops and gunboats , not to mention privateers or merchantmen. Able to carry six months' stores, they had very long range; and vessels larger than frigates were considered too valuable to operate independently. Frigates scouted for

570-409: A greater chance of glory, promotion, and prize money . Unlike larger ships that were placed in ordinary , frigates were kept in service in peacetime as a cost-saving measure and to provide experience to frigate captains and officers which would be useful in wartime. Frigates could also carry marines for boarding enemy ships or for operations on shore; in 1832, the frigate USS  Potomac landed

684-419: A last attempt being made to bring help to the hard-pressed Wiesbaden , or at least of rescuing her ship's company. This maneuver again put Scheer in a dangerous position; Jellicoe had turned his fleet south and again crossed Scheer's "T." A third 16-point turn followed, which was covered by a charge by Hipper's mauled battlecruisers. Scheer then ordered the fleet to adopt the night cruising formation, which

798-507: A partially armed lower deck, from which it was known as a 'half-battery' or demi-batterie ship. Removing the guns from this deck allowed the height of the hull upperworks to be lowered, giving the resulting 'true-frigate' much improved sailing qualities. The unarmed deck meant that the frigate's guns were carried comparatively high above the waterline; as a result, when seas were too rough for two-deckers to open their lower deck gunports , frigates were still able to fight with all their guns (see

912-461: A party of 282 sailors and Marines ashore in the US Navy's first Sumatran expedition . Frigates remained a crucial element of navies until the mid-19th century. The first ironclads were classified as "frigates" because of the number of guns they carried. However, terminology changed as iron and steam became the norm, and the role of the frigate was assumed first by the protected cruiser and then by

1026-738: A sea command, in the form of squadron commander for the six battleships of the II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet in January 1913. On 9 December 1913, Scheer was promoted to Vizeadmiral . He remained with the II Battle Squadron until January 1915, by which time World War I had begun. He thereafter took command of the III Battle Squadron, which consisted of the most powerful battleships in

1140-495: A standard design averaging a hull length of 135 ft (41 m) and an average draught of 13 ft (4.0 m). The new frigates recorded sailing speeds of up to 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph), significantly faster than their predecessor vessels. In 1778, the British Admiralty introduced a larger "heavy" frigate, with a main battery of twenty-six or twenty-eight 18-pounder guns (with smaller guns carried on

1254-508: A weaker British squadron, Scheer remarked, "[Ingenohl] had robbed us of the opportunity of meeting certain divisions of the enemy according to the prearranged plan, which was now seen to be correct." Following the loss of SMS  Blücher at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915, the Kaiser removed Ingenohl from his post on 2 February. Admiral Hugo von Pohl replaced him as commander of

SECTION 10

#1732776460241

1368-407: Is also invaluable for search and rescue operation and has largely replaced the use of small boats or the jackstay rig for such duties as transferring personnel, mail and cargo between ships or to shore. With helicopters these tasks can be accomplished faster and less dangerously, and without the need for the frigate to slow down or change course. Frigates designed in the 1960s and 1970s, such as

1482-530: Is an example of a specialised anti-submarine warfare frigate, though it also has Sea Wolf surface-to-air missiles for point defense plus Exocet surface-to-surface missiles for limited offensive capability. Especially for anti-submarine warfare, most modern frigates have a landing deck and hangar aft to operate helicopters , eliminating the need for the frigate to close with unknown sub-surface threats, and using fast helicopters to attack nuclear submarines which may be faster than surface warships. For this task

1596-677: Is the Iver Huitfeldt class of the Royal Danish Navy . Stealth technology has been introduced in modern frigate design by the French La Fayette class design. Frigate shapes are designed to offer a minimal radar cross section , which also lends them good air penetration; the maneuverability of these frigates has been compared to that of sailing ships. Examples are the Italian and French Horizon class with

1710-585: Is the U.S. littoral combat ship (LCS). As of 2015, all Oliver Hazard Perry -class frigates in the United States Navy have been decommissioned, and their role partially being assumed by the new LCS. While the LCS class ships are smaller than the frigate class they will replace, they offer a similar degree of weaponry while requiring less than half the crew complement and offering a top speed of over 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph). A major advantage for

1824-478: The California and Virginia classes – were nuclear-powered (DLGN). These "frigates" were roughly mid-way in size between cruisers and destroyers. This was similar to the use of the term "frigate" during the age of sail during which it referred to a medium-sized warship, but it was inconsistent with conventions used by other contemporary navies which regarded frigates as being smaller than destroyers. During

1938-606: The De Zeven Provinciën -class air defence and command frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy . These ships are armed with VL Standard Missile 2 Block IIIA , one or two Goalkeeper CIWS systems, ( HNLMS  Evertsen has two Goalkeepers, the rest of the ships have the capacity for another one.) VL Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles , a special SMART-L radar and a Thales Active Phased Array Radar (APAR), all of which are for air defence. Another example

2052-634: The Queen Elizabeth -class battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron . By 18:30, the Grand Fleet had arrived on the scene, and was deployed into a position that would cross Scheer's "T" from the northeast. To extricate his fleet from this precarious position, Scheer ordered a 16-point turn to the south-west. At 18:55, Scheer decided to conduct another 16-point turn to launch an attack on the British fleet; he later explained his reasoning: It

2166-461: The 1975 ship reclassification , the large American frigates were redesignated as guided-missile cruisers or destroyers (CG/CGN/DDG), while ocean escorts (the American classification for ships smaller than destroyers, with hull symbol DE/DEG ( destroyer escort )) such as the Knox -class were reclassified as frigates (FF/FFG), sometimes called "fast frigates". In the late 1970s, as a gradual successor to

2280-581: The Age of Sail . Constitution and her sister ships President and United States were created in a response to deal with the Barbary Coast pirates and in conjunction with the Naval Act of 1794 . Joshua Humphreys proposed that only live oak , a tree that grew only in America, should be used to build these ships. The British, wounded by repeated defeats in single-ship actions, responded to

2394-1457: The Aster 15 and Aster 30 missile for anti-missile capabilities, the German F125 and Sachsen -class frigates, the Turkish TF2000 type frigates with the MK-41 VLS , the Indian Shivalik , Talwar and Nilgiri classes with the Brahmos missile system and the Malaysian Maharaja Lela class with the Naval Strike Missile . The modern French Navy applies the term first-class frigate and second-class frigate to both destroyers and frigates in service. Pennant numbers remain divided between F-series numbers for those ships internationally recognised as frigates and D-series pennant numbers for those more traditionally recognised as destroyers. This can result in some confusion as certain classes are referred to as frigates in French service while similar ships in other navies are referred to as destroyers. This also results in some recent classes of French ships such as

SECTION 20

#1732776460241

2508-550: The British Royal Navy were rated as Captain-class frigates. The U.S. Navy's two Canadian -built Asheville -class and 96 British-influenced, American-built Tacoma -class frigates that followed originally were classified as "patrol gunboats " (PG) in the U.S. Navy but on 15 April 1943 were all reclassified as patrol frigates (PF) . The introduction of the surface-to-air missile after World War II made relatively small ships effective for anti-aircraft warfare:

2622-530: The Dutch Republic became the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates. The Dutch navy had three principal tasks in the struggle against Spain: to protect Dutch merchant ships at sea, to blockade the ports of Spanish-held Flanders to damage trade and halt enemy privateering , and to fight the Spanish fleet and prevent troop landings. The first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for

2736-657: The Eurosam Aster 15 ) allow modern guided-missile frigates to form the core of many modern navies and to be used as a fleet defence platform, without the need for specialised anti-air warfare frigates. Modern destroyers and frigates have sufficient endurance and seaworthiness for long voyages and so are considered blue water vessels, while corvettes (even the largest ones capable of carrying an anti-submarine warfare helicopter) are typically deployed in coastal or littoral zones so are regarded as brown-water or green-water vessels. According to Dr. Sidharth Kaushal of

2850-656: The Horizon class being among the largest in the world to carry the rating of frigate. The Frégates de Taille Intermédiaire (FTI), which means frigates of intermediate size, is a French military program to design and create a planned class of frigates to be used by the French Navy. At the moment, the program consists of five ships, with commissioning planned from 2023 onwards . In the German Navy , frigates were used to replace aging destroyers; however in size and role

2964-518: The Kaiser -class battleships were to maintain a state of readiness just outside Wilhelmshaven. After the battle was finished, Scheer wrote an assessment of the engagement for the Kaiser; in it, he strongly urged for the resumption of the unrestricted submarine warfare campaign in the Atlantic. He argued that it was the only option to defeat Great Britain. Scheer spent the majority of the remainder of

3078-509: The Knox frigates, the US Navy introduced the 51-ship Oliver Hazard Perry -class guided-missile frigates (FFG), the last of which was decommissioned in 2015, although some serve in other navies. By 1995 the older guided-missile cruisers and destroyers were replaced by the Ticonderoga -class cruisers and Arleigh Burke -class destroyers . One of the most successful post-1945 designs was

3192-640: The Kyan Sittha-class frigate . Before the Kyan Sittha class, the Myanmar Navy also produced an Aung Zeya -class frigate . Although the size of the Myanmar Navy is quite small, it is producing modern guided-missile frigates with the help of Russia, China, and India. However, the fleets of the Myanmar Navy are still expanding with several on-going shipbuilding programmes, including one 135 m (442 ft 11 in), 4,000-tonne frigate with

3306-667: The RIM-2 Terrier missile, upgraded to the RIM-67 Standard ER missile in the 1980s. This type of ship was intended primarily to defend aircraft carriers against anti-ship cruise missiles , augmenting and eventually replacing converted World War II cruisers (CAG/CLG/CG) in this role. The guided-missile frigates also had an anti-submarine capability that most of the World War II cruiser conversions lacked. Some of these ships – Bainbridge and Truxtun along with

3420-574: The Seekriegsleitung were: The Chiefs of Staff of the Seekriegsleitung were: Reinhard Scheer Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer (30 September 1863 – 26 November 1928) was an Admiral in the Imperial German Navy ( Kaiserliche Marine ). Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet and progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships , as well as senior staff positions on land. At

3534-577: The Type 41 ( Leopard -class) air-defence frigates built on the same hull. Multi-role frigates like the MEKO 200 , Anzac and Halifax classes are designed for navies needing warships deployed in a variety of situations that a general frigate class would not be able to fulfill and not requiring the need for deploying destroyers . At the opposite end of the spectrum, some frigates are specialised for anti-submarine warfare . Increasing submarine speeds towards

Seekriegsleitung - Misplaced Pages Continue

3648-582: The United States Navy 's destroyer escorts (DE), although the latter had greater speed and offensive armament to better suit them to fleet deployments. The destroyer escort concept came from design studies by the General Board of the United States Navy in 1940, as modified by requirements established by a British commission in 1941 prior to the American entry into the war, for deep-water escorts. The American-built destroyer escorts serving in

3762-521: The action of 13 January 1797 , for an example when this was decisive). The Royal Navy captured a number of the new French frigates, including Médée , during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and were impressed by them, particularly for their inshore handling capabilities. They soon built copies (ordered in 1747), based on a French privateer named Tygre , and started to adapt

3876-457: The broadside tactic in naval warfare. At this time, a further design evolved, reintroducing oars and resulting in galley frigates such as HMS  Charles Galley of 1676, which was rated as a 32-gun fifth-rate but also had a bank of 40 oars set below the upper deck that could propel the ship in the absence of a favorable wind. In Danish, the word "fregat" often applies to warships carrying as few as 16 guns, such as HMS  Falcon , which

3990-524: The light cruiser . Frigates are often the vessel of choice in historical naval novels due to their relative freedom compared to ships-of-the-line (kept for fleet actions) and smaller vessels (generally assigned to a home port and less widely ranging). For example, the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series , C. S. Forester 's Horatio Hornblower series and Alexander Kent 's Richard Bolitho series. The motion picture Master and Commander: The Far Side of

4104-583: The vertical missile launch systems . The four planned Tamandaré -class frigates of the Brazilian Navy will be responsible for introducing ships with stealth technology in the national navy and the Latin American region, with the first boat expected to be launched in 2024. Some new classes of ships similar to corvettes are optimized for high-speed deployment and combat with small craft rather than combat between equal opponents; an example

4218-575: The " Dunkirkers ", to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this the Dunkirkers developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates. The success of these Dunkirker vessels influenced the ship design of other navies contending with them, but because most regular navies required ships of greater endurance than the Dunkirker frigates could provide,

4332-662: The "guided-missile frigate". In the USN, these vessels were called " ocean escorts " and designated "DE" or "DEG" until 1975 – a holdover from the World War II destroyer escort or "DE". While the Royal Canadian Navy used similar designations for their warships built in the 1950s, the British Royal Navy maintained the use of the term "frigate"; in the 1990s the RCN re-introduced the frigate designation. Likewise,

4446-479: The 'frigate' designation obsolete and the term fell out of favour. During the Second World War , the name 'frigate' was reintroduced to describe a seagoing escort ship that was intermediate in size between a corvette and a destroyer . After World War II, a wide variety of ships have been classified as frigates, and the reasons for such classification have not been consistent. While some navies have used

4560-500: The 'true frigate' was developed in France. This type of vessel was characterised by possessing only one armed deck, with an unarmed deck below it used for berthing the crew. Late in the 19th century (British and French prototypes were constructed in 1858), a type of powerful ironclad warships was developed, and because they had a single gun deck , the term 'frigate' was used to describe them. Later developments in ironclad ships rendered

4674-627: The 9,137 ton vessel to speeds of up to 14 knots and rifled breechloading 110-pdr guns, Warrior is the ancestor of all modern warships. During the 1880s, as warship design shifted from iron to steel and cruising warships without sails started to appear, the term "frigate" fell out of use. Vessels with armoured sides were designated as " battleships " or " armoured cruisers ", while " protected cruisers " only possessed an armoured deck, and unarmoured vessels, including frigates and sloops, were classified as " unprotected cruisers ". Modern frigates are related to earlier frigates only by name. The term "frigate"

Seekriegsleitung - Misplaced Pages Continue

4788-582: The American destroyer escort , frigates are usually less expensive to build and maintain. Small anti-submarine escorts designed for naval use from scratch had previously been classified as sloops by the Royal Navy, and the Black Swan -class sloops of 1939–1945 (propelled by steam turbines as opposed to cheaper triple-expansion steam engines) were as large as the new types of frigate, and more heavily armed. 22 of these were reclassified as frigates after

4902-760: The British Leander -class frigate, which was used by several navies. Laid down in 1959, the Leander class was based on the previous Type 12 anti-submarine frigate but equipped for anti-aircraft use as well. They were used by the UK into the 1990s, at which point some were sold onto other navies. The Leander design, or improved versions of it, were licence-built for other navies as well. Nearly all modern frigates are equipped with some form of offensive or defensive missiles, and as such are rated as guided-missile frigates (FFG). Improvements in surface-to-air missiles (e.g.,

5016-474: The British classified as a sloop. Under the rating system of the Royal Navy , by the middle of the 18th century, the term "frigate" was technically restricted to single-decked ships of the fifth rate , though small 28-gun frigates classed as sixth rate . The classic sailing frigate, or 'true frigate', well-known today for its role in the Napoleonic Wars , can be traced back to French developments in

5130-514: The British navy, to achieve a better bargaining position for Germany regardless of the cost to the navy. The plan involved two simultaneous attacks by light cruisers and destroyers, one on Flanders and another on shipping in the Thames estuary ; the five battlecruisers were to support the Thames attack while the dreadnoughts remained off Flanders. After both strikes, the fleet was to concentrate off

5244-508: The Dutch coast, where it would meet the Grand Fleet in battle. While the fleet was consolidating in Wilhelmshaven, however, war-weary sailors began deserting en masse. As Von der Tann and Derfflinger passed through the locks that separated Wilhelmshaven's inner harbor and roadstead, some 300 men from both ships climbed over the side and disappeared ashore. On 24 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven. Starting on

5358-694: The East Africa Squadron as a torpedo officer aboard the corvette SMS  Sophie . This tour lasted until early summer 1890, at which point Scheer returned to Germany, where he was made an instructor at the Torpedo Research Command in Kiel. Thus far in his career, Scheer had made a strong reputation for himself as a torpedo specialist. While stationed in Kiel, Scheer met Alfred von Tirpitz , who took note of his expertise. In 1897, following Tirpitz's promotion to State Secretary of

5472-577: The English and Spanish to the lighter frigates, carrying around 40 guns and weighing around 300 tons. The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most evident in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs. The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as "frigates",

5586-606: The French Navy refers to missile-equipped ships, up to cruiser-sized ships ( Suffren , Tourville , and Horizon classes ), by the name of "frégate", while smaller units are named aviso . The Soviet Navy used the term "guard-ship" ( сторожевой корабль ). From the 1950s to the 1970s, the United States Navy commissioned ships classed as guided-missile frigates ( hull classification symbol DLG or DLGN, literally meaning guided-missile destroyer leaders ), which were actually anti-aircraft warfare cruisers built on destroyer -style hulls. These had one or two twin launchers per ship for

5700-536: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The British produced larger, 38-gun, and slightly smaller, 36-gun, versions and also a 32-gun design that can be considered an 'economy version'. The 32-gun frigates also had the advantage that they could be built by the many smaller, less-specialised shipbuilders. Frigates could (and usually did) additionally carry smaller carriage-mounted guns on their quarterdecks and forecastles (the superstructures above

5814-555: The German fleet: the dreadnoughts of the Kaiser and König classes . Scheer advocated raids on the British coast to lure out portions of the numerically superior Royal Navy so they could be overwhelmed by the German fleet. He was highly critical of Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , who he felt was overcautious. Following the bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby , during which Ingenohl had withdrawn instead of attacking

SECTION 50

#1732776460241

5928-511: The Grand Fleet out. In this case, however, Scheer's reconnaissance worked as intended, and warned him of the Grand Fleet's approach in time to retreat back to Germany. In later 1917, Scheer began to use light elements of the fleet to raid British convoys to Norway in the North Sea. This forced the British to deploy battleships to escort the convoys, which presented Scheer with the opportunity to attempt to isolate and destroy several battleships of

6042-415: The Grand Fleet. On 23 April 1918, Scheer sent the entire High Seas Fleet to intercept one of the convoys. However, Hipper's battlecruisers crossed the convoy's path several times without sighting any ships; it was later discovered that German intelligence had miscalculated the date the convoy would depart Britain. The German fleet turned south and reached their North Sea bases by 19:00. In June 1918, Scheer

6156-475: The Great War in 1919, which were translated into English the following year. In October 1920, an intruder broke into Scheer's house and murdered his wife, Emillie, his maid, and injured his daughter Else. The man then committed suicide in the cellar. Following the incident, Scheer retreated into solitude. He wrote his autobiography, entitled Vom Segelschiff zum U-Boot ( From Sailing Ship to Submarine ), which

6270-655: The Imperial Navy Office, he transferred Scheer to the Reichsmarineamt (RMA) to work in the Torpedo Section. After promotion to Korvettenkapitän , Scheer commanded the light cruiser SMS  Gazelle . Scheer was promoted to Kapitän zur See in 1905 and took command of the battleship SMS  Elsass in 1907, a command he held for two years. A report dated 1 December 1909 recommended Scheer for promotion; he became chief of staff to

6384-432: The Jade early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats. The British navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation, and so sortied the Grand Fleet, totaling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, the night before in order to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet. At 16:00 UTC,

6498-467: The LCS ships is that they are designed around specific mission modules allowing them to fulfill a variety of roles. The modular system also allows for most upgrades to be performed ashore and installed later into the ship, keeping the ships available for deployment for the maximum time. The latest U.S. deactivation plans mean that this is the first time that the U.S. Navy has been without a frigate class of ships since 1943 (technically USS  Constitution

6612-418: The North Sea , which outlined his strategic plans. His central idea was that the Grand Fleet should be pressured by higher U-boat activity and zeppelin raids as well as increased fleet sorties. The Grand Fleet would be forced to abandon the distant blockade and would have to attack the German fleet; the Kaiser approved the memorandum on 23 February 1916. Now that he had approval from the Kaiser, Scheer could use

6726-444: The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, describing the difference between 21st century destroyers and frigates, the larger "destroyers can more easily carry and generate the power for more powerful high-resolution radar and a larger number of vertical launch cells. They can thus provide theatre wide air and missile defence for forces such as a carrier battle group and typically serve this function". By contrast

6840-416: The SKL was absorbed into the admiralty. The SKL was reestablished in 1937 and deeply linked in the Naval High Command , the Commander-in-Chief also being the commander of the SKL with the Commander of the Naval Command Department ( Marinekommandoamt ) as the Chief of Staff. Though the competences of the SKL initially were equal to their role in World War I, they were narrowed when the Naval Command Department

6954-411: The Sea Cadet's Exam the following year. Following his graduation from the Naval School, Scheer embarked on a six-month-long special training program for gunnery, torpedo warfare, and infantry training. Afterward, he was assigned to the gunnery training ship SMS  Renown . Scheer was for a short time assigned to the armored frigate SMS  Friedrich Carl . For his last year in cadet training, he

SECTION 60

#1732776460241

7068-478: The US Navy's Knox -class frigate , West Germany's Bremen -class frigate , and Royal Navy's Type 22 frigate were equipped with a small number of short-ranged surface-to-air missiles ( Sea Sparrow or Sea Wolf ) for point defense only. By contrast newer frigates starting with the Oliver Hazard Perry -class frigate are specialised for "zone-defense" air defence , because of the major developments in fighter jets and ballistic missiles . Recent examples include

7182-445: The World features a reconstructed historic frigate, HMS Rose , to depict Aubrey's frigate HMS Surprise . Vessels classed as frigates continued to play a great role in navies with the adoption of steam power in the 19th century. In the 1830s, navies experimented with large paddle steamers equipped with large guns mounted on one deck, which were termed "paddle frigates". From the mid-1840s on, frigates which more closely resembled

7296-528: The battle line in an emergency. In the 1790s the French built a small number of large 24-pounder frigates, such as Forte and Egyptienne , they also cut-down (reduced the height of the hull to give only one continuous gun deck) a number of older ships-of-the-line (including Diadème ) to produce super-heavy frigates; the resulting ship was known as a rasée . It is not known whether the French were seeking to produce very potent cruisers or merely to address stability problems in old ships. The British, alarmed by

7410-489: The commanding officer of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Holtzendorff, under whom Scheer had served on the cruiser SMS Prinzess Wilhelm . Scheer reached flag rank less than six months after taking his post on Holtzendorff's staff, at the age of 47. He held the Chief of Staff position until late 1911, when he was transferred back to the RMA under Tirpitz. Here, he held the position of Chief of the General Naval Department through 1912. Following this appointment, Scheer returned to

7524-576: The corvette, allowing manufacture by yards unused to warship construction. The first frigates of the River class (1941) were essentially two sets of corvette machinery in one larger hull, armed with the latest Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon. The frigate possessed less offensive firepower and speed than a destroyer , including an escort destroyer , but such qualities were not required for anti-submarine warfare. Submarines were slow while submerged, and ASDIC sets did not operate effectively at speeds of over 20 knots (23  mph ; 37  km/h ). Rather,

7638-441: The deteriorating war situation. The three agreed that the U-boat campaign would be the sole hope for a German victory, as the German army had been pushed to the defensive. Scheer then called for a crash program to build a vastly increased number of U-boats. He stipulated that, at a minimum, at least 16 additional U-boats be constructed per month in the last quarter of 1918. This was to increase to at least an additional 30 per month by

7752-584: The end of World War II (see German Type XXI submarine ) greatly reduced the margin of speed superiority of frigate over submarine. The frigate could no longer be slow and powered by mercantile machinery and consequently postwar frigates, such as the Whitby class , were faster. Such ships carry improved sonar equipment, such as the variable depth sonar or towed array , and specialised weapons such as torpedoes , forward-throwing weapons such as Limbo and missile-carried anti-submarine torpedoes such as ASROC or Ikara . The Royal Navy's original Type 22 frigate

7866-456: The firepower, measured in weight of metal (the combined weight of all projectiles fired in one broadside), of these vessels. The disadvantages of the carronade were that it had a much shorter range and was less accurate than a long gun. The British quickly saw the advantages of the new weapon and soon employed it on a wide scale. The US Navy also copied the design soon after its appearance. The French and other nations eventually adopted variations of

7980-418: The fleet more aggressively. Following the Kaiser's order forbidding unrestricted submarine warfare on 24 April 1916, Scheer ordered all of the U-boats in the Atlantic to return to Germany and abandon commerce raiding. Scheer intended to use the submarines to support the fleet by stationing the U-boats off major British naval bases. The U-boats would intercept British forces leaving the ports when provoked by

8094-441: The fleet, went on commerce-raiding missions and patrols, and conveyed messages and dignitaries. Usually, frigates would fight in small numbers or singly against other frigates. They would avoid contact with ships-of-the-line; even in the midst of a fleet engagement it was bad etiquette for a ship of the line to fire on an enemy frigate which had not fired first. Frigates were involved in fleet battles, often as "repeating frigates". In

8208-415: The fleet. Pohl was exceedingly cautious; in the remainder of 1915, he conducted only five ineffective fleet actions, all of which remained within 120  nautical miles of Helgoland . Vice Admiral Scheer became Commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet on 18 January 1916 when Pohl became too ill to continue in that post. Upon promotion to the position, Scheer wrote Guiding Principles for Sea Warfare in

8322-539: The frigate was an austere and weatherly vessel suitable for mass-construction and fitted with the latest innovations in anti-submarine warfare. As the frigate was intended purely for convoy duties, and not to deploy with the fleet, it had limited range and speed. It was not until the Royal Navy's Bay class of 1944 that a British design classified as a "frigate" was produced for fleet use, although it still suffered from limited speed. These anti-aircraft frigates, built on incomplete Loch-class frigate hulls, were similar to

8436-402: The helicopter is equipped with sensors such as sonobuoys , wire-mounted dipping sonar and magnetic anomaly detectors to identify possible threats, and torpedoes or depth-charges to attack them. With their onboard radar helicopters can also be used to reconnoitre over-the-horizon targets and, if equipped with anti-ship missiles such as Penguin or Sea Skua , to attack them. The helicopter

8550-553: The largest naval battles in history. Following the battle, Scheer joined those calling for unrestricted submarine warfare against the Allies , a move the Kaiser eventually permitted. In August 1918, Scheer was promoted to the Chief of Naval Staff; Admiral Franz von Hipper replaced him as commander of the fleet. Together they planned a final battle against the British Grand Fleet , but war-weary sailors mutinied at

8664-410: The largest of which were two-decker "great frigates" of the third rate . Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as "great ships" of the time; however, most other frigates at the time were used as " cruisers ": independent fast ships. The term "frigate" implied a long hull -design, which relates directly to speed (see hull speed ) and which also, in turn, helped the development of

8778-450: The line and clear from the smoke and disorder of battle, could be more easily seen by the other ships of the fleet. If damage or loss of masts prevented the flagship from making clear conventional signals, the repeating frigates could interpret them and hoist their own in the correct manner, passing on the commander's instructions clearly. For officers in the Royal Navy, a frigate was a desirable posting. Frigates often saw action, which meant

8892-407: The line, and after a series of losses at the outbreak of the War of 1812 , Royal Navy fighting instructions ordered British frigates (usually rated at 38 guns or less) to never engage the large American frigates at any less than a 2:1 advantage. USS  Constitution , preserved as a museum ship by the US Navy, is the oldest commissioned warship afloat, and is a surviving example of a frigate from

9006-482: The name of this type of ship. The term "frigate" (Italian: fregata ; Dutch: fregat ; Spanish/Catalan/Portuguese/Sicilian: fragata ; French: frégate ) originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galley -type warship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word remains uncertain, although it may have originated as

9120-499: The new German frigates exceed the former class of destroyers. The future German F125-class frigates are the largest class of frigates worldwide with a displacement of more than 7,200 tons. The same was done in the Spanish Navy , which went ahead with the deployment of the first Aegis frigates, the Álvaro de Bazán -class frigates. The Myanmar Navy is producing modern frigates with a reduced radar cross section known as

9234-488: The news and the operation was abandoned. Scheer retired after the end of the war. A strict disciplinarian, Scheer was popularly known in the Navy as the "man with the iron mask" due to his severe appearance. In 1919, Scheer wrote his memoirs; a year later they were translated and published in English. He wrote his autobiography in 1925. Scheer died at Marktredwitz . He is buried in the municipal cemetery at Weimar . The admiral

9348-502: The night of 29 October, sailors on several battleships mutinied ; three ships from the III ;Squadron refused to weigh anchors, and acts of sabotage were committed on board the battleships Thüringen and Helgoland . In the face of open rebellion, the order to sail was rescinded and the planned operation was abandoned. In an attempt to suppress the mutiny, the High Seas Fleet squadrons were dispersed. Scheer wrote his memoirs of

9462-540: The outbreak of World War I , Scheer was the commander of the II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet . He then took command of the III Battle Squadron , which consisted of the newest and most powerful battleships in the navy. In January 1916, he was promoted to Admiral and given control of the High Seas Fleet. Scheer led the German fleet at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, one of

9576-723: The prospect of these powerful heavy frigates, responded by rasée-ing three of their smaller 64-gun battleships, including Indefatigable , which went on to have a very successful career as a frigate. At this time the British also built a few 24-pounder-armed large frigates, the most successful of which was HMS  Endymion (1,277 tons). In 1797, three of the United States Navy 's first six major ships were rated as 44-gun frigates, which operationally carried fifty-six to sixty 24-pounder long guns and 32-pounder or 42-pounder carronades on two decks; they were exceptionally powerful. These ships were so large, at around 1,500 tons, and well-armed that they were often regarded as equal to ships of

9690-422: The quarterdeck and forecastle). This move may reflect the naval conditions at the time, with both France and Spain as enemies the usual British preponderance in ship numbers was no longer the case and there was pressure on the British to produce cruisers of individually greater force. In reply, the first French 18-pounder frigates were laid down in 1781. The 18-pounder frigate eventually became the standard frigate of

9804-441: The quarterdeck and forecastle. Technically, 'rated ships' with fewer than 28 guns could not be classed as frigates but as " post ships "; however, in common parlance most post ships were often described as "frigates", the same casual misuse of the term being extended to smaller two-decked ships that were too small to stand in the line of battle. A total of fifty-nine French sailing frigates were built between 1777 and 1790, with

9918-400: The roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuverability, intended to be used in scouting, escort and patrol roles. The term was applied loosely to ships varying greatly in design. In the second quarter of the 18th century, what is now generally regarded as

10032-486: The same strategic role. The phrase "armoured frigate" remained in use for some time to denote a sail-equipped, broadside-firing type of ironclad. The first such ship was the revolutionary Marine Nationale wooden-hulled Gloire , protected by 12 cm-thick (4.7 in) armour plates. The British response was HMS  Warrior of the Warrior-class ironclads, launched in 1860. With her iron hull, steam engines propelling

10146-446: The second quarter of the 18th century. The French-built Médée of 1740 is often regarded as the first example of this type. These ships were square-rigged and carried all their main guns on a single continuous upper deck. The lower deck, known as the "gun deck", now carried no armament, and functioned as a "berth deck" where the crew lived, and was in fact placed below the waterline of the new frigates. The typical earlier cruiser had

10260-523: The shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. The third task required heavy armament, sufficient to stand up to the Spanish fleet. The first of the larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland . By the later stages of the Eighty Years' War the Dutch had switched entirely from the heavier ships still used by

10374-579: The single word skagerrak (the German name for the Battle of Jutland). The heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer was named after Reinhard Scheer and christened by his daughter Marianne. The ship was ordered and funded by the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic and launched in 1933. Frigate A frigate ( / ˈ f r ɪ ɡ ɪ t / ) is a type of warship . In different eras,

10488-492: The smaller "frigates are thus usually used as escort vessels to protect sea lines of communication or as an auxiliary component of a strike group". The largest and powerful destroyers are often classified as cruisers, such as the Ticonderoga -class cruisers , due to their extra armament and facilities to serve as fleet flagships. The Royal Navy Type 61 ( Salisbury class) were "air direction" frigates equipped to track aircraft. To this end they had reduced armament compared to

10602-432: The smoke and confusion of battle, signals made by the fleet commander, whose flagship might be in the thick of the fighting, might be missed by the other ships of the fleet. Frigates were therefore stationed to windward or leeward of the main line of battle , and had to maintain a clear line of sight to the commander's flagship. Signals from the flagship were then repeated by the frigates, which themselves standing out of

10716-474: The success of the American 44s in three ways. They built a class of conventional 40-gun, 24-pounder armed frigates on the lines of Endymion . They cut down three old 74-gun Ships-of-the-Line into rasées , producing frigates with a 32-pounder main armament, supplemented by 42-pounder carronades. These had an armament that far exceeded the power of the American ships. Finally, Leander and Newcastle , 1,500-ton spar-decked frigates (with an enclosed waist, giving

10830-458: The term soon came to apply less exclusively to any relatively fast and elegant sail-only warship. In French, the term "frigate" gave rise to a verb – frégater , meaning 'to build long and low', and to an adjective, adding more confusion. Even the huge English Sovereign of the Seas could be described as "a delicate frigate" by a contemporary after her upper decks were reduced in 1651. The navy of

10944-493: The third quarter of 1919. In total, the plan called for 376 to 450 new U-boats. However, German naval historian Holger Herwig suggested the program was "a massive propaganda effort designed to have an effect at home and abroad." In October, with the war largely lost, Scheer and Hipper envisioned one last major fleet advance to attack the British Grand Fleet. Scheer intended to inflict as much damage as possible on

11058-572: The traditional sailing frigate were built with steam engines and screw propellers . These " screw frigates ", built first of wood and later of iron , continued to perform the traditional role of the frigate until late in the 19th century. From 1859, armour was added to ships based on existing frigate and ship of the line designs. The additional weight of the armour on these first ironclad warships meant that they could have only one gun deck, and they were technically frigates, even though they were more powerful than existing ships-of-the-line and occupied

11172-457: The two battlecruiser forces encountered each other and began a running gun fight south, back towards Scheer's battle fleet. Upon reaching the High Seas Fleet, Vice Admiral David Beatty's battlecruisers turned back to the north to lure the Germans towards the rapidly approaching Grand Fleet, under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe . During the run to the north, Scheer's leading ships engaged

11286-444: The type to their own needs, setting the standard for other frigates as the leading naval power. The first British frigates carried 28 guns including an upper deck battery of twenty-four 9-pounder guns (the remaining four smaller guns were carried on the quarterdeck ) but soon developed into fifth-rate ships of 32 or 36 guns including an upper deck battery of twenty-six 12-pounder guns, with the remaining six or ten smaller guns carried on

11400-505: The upper deck). In 1778 the Carron Iron Company of Scotland produced a naval gun which would revolutionise the armament of smaller naval vessels, including the frigate. The carronade was a large calibre, short-barrelled naval cannon which was light, quick to reload and needed a smaller crew than a conventional long gun. Due to its lightness it could be mounted on the forecastle and quarterdeck of frigates. It greatly increased

11514-478: The war, as were the remaining 24 smaller Castle-class corvettes. The frigate was introduced to remedy some of the shortcomings inherent in the Flower-class corvette design: limited armament, a hull form not suited to open-ocean work, a single shaft which limited speed and maneuverability, and a lack of range. The frigate was designed and built to the same mercantile construction standards ( scantlings ) as

11628-591: The weapon in succeeding decades. The typical heavy frigate had a main armament of 18-pounder long guns, plus 32-pounder carronades mounted on its upper decks. The first 'super-heavy frigates', armed with 24-pounder long guns, were built by the naval architect F H Chapman for the Swedish navy in 1782. Because of a shortage of ships-of-the-line, the Swedes wanted these frigates, the Bellona class, to be able to stand in

11742-410: The word 'frigate' principally for large ocean-going anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants, others have used the term to describe ships that are otherwise recognizable as corvettes, destroyers, and even nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers . Some European navies use the term for ships that would formerly have been called destroyers, as well as for frigates. The rank " frigate captain " derives from

11856-590: The year debating the issue with the naval command. Ultimately, Scheer and his allies prevailed and the unrestricted submarine campaign was resumed in February 1917. Despite his conviction that only the U-boats could defeat Britain, Scheer continued to utilize the surface fleet. On 18–19 August 1916, the High Seas Fleet again sortied in an attempt to draw out and defeat Admiral Beatty's battlecruiser squadron. The Royal Navy again intercepted German communications and sent

11970-606: Was aboard the sail-frigate SMS  Niobe . His first cruise aboard Niobe lasted from June to September 1879. During the cruise he was trained in navigation and engineering. Following his return to Germany in September, Scheer was assigned to the Naval School in Kiel to continue his officer training. He received only a "satisfactory" rating on his cadet evaluation in 1879, but received the second highest grade in his class for

12084-464: Was as yet too early to assume 'night cruising order.' The enemy could have compelled us to fight before dark, he could have prevented our exercising our initiative, and finally he could have cut off our return to the German Bight. There was only one way of avoiding this: to inflict a second blow on the enemy with another advance carried through regardless of cost...It also offered the possibility of

12198-557: Was assigned to the frigate SMS  Hertha , which conducted a world tour. The ship sailed to Melbourne , Australia, Yokohama , Kobe , and Nagasaki in Japan, and Shanghai , China during the trip. Following his commission into the German navy, he was transferred to the East Africa Squadron ; his first tour with the unit lasted from 1884 to 1886. He was assigned to the crew of the frigate SMS  Bismarck . Here he

12312-551: Was commemorated in the renascent Kriegsmarine by the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer , built in the 1930s. Scheer was born in Obernkirchen , present-day Lower Saxony . He came from a middle-class background, which initially hampered his naval career, as the Kaiserliche Marine was dominated by wealthy families. Reinhard Scheer entered the navy on 22 April 1879 aged 15 as a cadet. His first sea assignment

12426-474: Was completed by 23:40. A series of ferocious engagements between Scheer's battleships and Jellicoe's destroyer screen ensued, though the Germans managed to punch their way through the destroyers and make for Horns Reef . The High Seas Fleet reached the Jade between 13:00 and 14:45 on 1 June; Scheer ordered the undamaged battleships of the I Battle Squadron to take up defensive positions in the Jade roadstead while

12540-575: Was informed that the state of Admiral Holtzendorff's health would not permit him to remain in his post as chief of the naval staff much longer. On 28 July, Scheer was informed that Holtzendorff had submitted his resignation to the Kaiser. Two weeks later, on 11 August 1918, Scheer was promoted to the Chief of Naval Staff ; his subordinate Franz von Hipper succeeded him in command of the High Seas Fleet. The following day, Scheer met with Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff to discuss

12654-679: Was promoted to Leutnant . He also made important connections in Africa; among those he befriended was Leutnant Henning von Holtzendorff , who would later serve as commander of the High Seas Fleet. During the assignment, in December 1884, Scheer participated in a landing party that suppressed a pro-British indigenous chieftain in Kamerun . After his return to Germany in 1886, Scheer took part in torpedo training aboard SMS  Blücher , from January to May 1888. In May 1888, Scheer returned to

12768-571: Was published on 6 November 1925. In 1928, Scheer accepted an invitation to meet his adversary from Jutland, Admiral of the Fleet Jellicoe, in England. However, at the age of 65, Scheer died at Marktredwitz before he could make the trip. He was buried in the municipal cemetery at Weimar. His tombstone reads: hier ruht admiral reinhard scheer [Here rests Admiral Reinhard Scheer] — with the dates of his life, his flag in metal applique and

12882-514: Was readopted during the Second World War by the British Royal Navy to describe an anti-submarine escort vessel that was larger than a corvette (based on a mercantile design), while smaller than a destroyer . The vessels were originally to be termed "twin screw corvettes" until the Royal Canadian Navy suggested to the British re-introducing the term "frigate" for the significantly enlarged vessels. Equal in size and capability to

12996-640: Was split from it. The command was limited to except-domestic sea-areas, where the naval group commands did not possess the operational guidance. Also, the submarine war split and were, under the Commander of the submarines ( Befehlshaber der U-Boote ), directly subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief. In 1944, the SKL was tasked with the command of fleet units operating as transports, blockade runners, auxiliary cruisers and supply shipping. The Commanders of

#240759