During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the British Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all unrated warships, including gun-brigs and cutters . In technical terms, even the more specialised bomb vessels and fire ships were classed by the Royal Navy as sloops-of-war, and in practice these were employed in the role of a sloop-of-war when not carrying out their specialised functions.
126-723: USS Brandywine (formerly named Susquehanna ) was a wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy bearing 44 guns which had the initial task of conveying the Marquis de Lafayette back to France. She was later recommissioned a number of times for service in various theaters, such as in the Mediterranean, in China and in the South Atlantic Ocean. During several instances she served as
252-716: 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
378-600: A famous tour of the 24 states in the United States . At many stops on this tour, he was received by the populace with a hero's welcome, and many honors and monuments were presented to commemorate and memorialize Lafayette's visit. Susquehanna —a 44-gun frigate—was laid down on September 20, 1821, at the Washington Navy Yard . Shortly before she was to be launched in the spring of 1825, President John Quincy Adams decided to have an American warship carry
504-409: 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
630-628: A last state dinner to celebrate his 68th birthday on the evening of September 6 and then embarked in the steamboat Mount Vernon on September 7 for the trip downriver to join Brandywine . On September 8, the frigate stood out of the Potomac River and sailed down Chesapeake Bay toward the open ocean. After a stormy three weeks at sea, the warship arrived off Le Havre , France, early in October; and, following some initial trepidation about
756-544: A light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word remains uncertain, although it may have originated as 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
882-507: 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
1008-461: 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
1134-650: A physical dimension to Nelson's legal arguments. When Nelson first raised the issue of the debts, King Ferdinand refused even to consider the question. This prompted the American minister to write to Commodore Patterson asking for naval support. The commodore divided his squadron into two groups. The first contingent—headed by Brandywine and including Constellation —reached Naples on July 23, 1832, and anchored near Ferdinand's palace. This group remained in port until late in August when it returned to Port Mahon. Beginning with Concord , that arrived on September 17, however,
1260-670: A relief crew for the schooner Dolphin that had been slated to remain on the Pacific Station . By the time the frigate joined the squadron on January 6, 1827, Spain had abandoned her efforts to re-conquer her empire in the Western Hemisphere, so Brandywine ' s tour of duty in the Pacific proved far less troubled than that of her predecessor. She directed her efforts to protecting American citizens, especially merchant seamen who were being impressed into service by
1386-471: A role player in American gunboat diplomacy , a role she was well suited for with her large long-range 32-pounder guns and her short-range carronades which produced fragmentation and fire damage to the ship fired upon, as well as splinter and shrapnel injury to its crew. From July 1824 to September 1825, the last surviving French General of the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette , made
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#17327934184621512-495: 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
1638-468: A three-masted (ship) rig. The third mast afforded the sloop greater mobility and the ability to back sail. In the 1770s, the two-masted sloop re-appeared in a new guise as the brig sloop , the successor to the former snow sloops. Brig sloops had two masts, while ship sloops continued to have three (since a brig is a two-masted, square-rigged vessel, and a ship is a square-rigger with three or more masts, though never more than three in that period). In
1764-427: A treaty promising to pay 2,100,000 ducats to the U.S. over the next nine years. Her remaining months in the Mediterranean proved less dramatic; and Brandywine sailed for the United States late in the spring of 1833, returning to New York on July 9 and going out of commission two days later. Reactivated in the spring of 1834, on April 4, Capt. David Deacon in command, and set sail on June 2 to replace Vincennes as
1890-426: 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 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
2016-407: 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
2142-530: 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
2268-417: Is notable as the final evolution of the 44-gun frigate design that began by USS Constitution and her sisters a quarter-century earlier; while ships such as Raritan were launched in the 1840s and differed in details, their basic design was identical to Brandywine . Brandywine was also the very first warship ever built with an innovative elliptical stern which reduced the chronic vulnerability of
2394-578: Is rated as a frigate and is still in commission, but does not count towards Navy force levels). The remaining 20 LCSs to be acquired from 2019 and onwards that will be enhanced will be designated as frigates, and existing ships given modifications may also have their classification changed to FF as well. A few frigates have survived as museum ships. They are: These ships are classified by their respective nations as frigates, but are considered destroyers internationally due to size, armament, and role. Sloop of war In World War I and World War II ,
2520-677: 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
2646-585: 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
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#17327934184622772-478: 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
2898-606: 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
3024-632: The Grimsby and Kingfisher classes, were built in the interwar years. Fleet minesweepers such as the Algerine class were rated as "minesweeping sloops". The Royal Navy officially dropped the term "sloop" in 1937, although the term remained in widespread and general use. During World War II , 37 ships of the Black Swan class were built for convoy escort duties. However, the warship-standards construction, propulsion and sophisticated armaments of
3150-461: 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
3276-581: 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
3402-1457: 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
3528-595: The Battle of Brandywine , in which Lafayette was wounded fighting with American forces. Launched on June 16, 1825, and christened by Sailing Master Marmaduke Dove, Brandywine was commissioned on August 25, 1825, Captain Charles Morris in command. As an honor to the Marquis, officers were selected from as many States as possible and, where practicable, from descendants of persons who had distinguished themselves in
3654-638: The Bermuda sloop , both as a cruiser against French privateers , slavers, and smugglers, and also as its standard advice vessels, carrying communications, vital persons and materials, and performing reconnaissance duties for the fleets. Bermuda sloops were found with gaff rig, mixtures of gaff and square rig, or a Bermuda rig . They were built with up to three masts. The single masted ships had huge sails and harnessed tremendous wind energy, which made them demanding to sail and required large, experienced crews. The Royal Navy favoured multi-masted versions, as it
3780-550: 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:
3906-530: 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
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4032-563: The East Indies on 24 May. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope , she reached Bombay, India on October 24 to pick up the special envoy to China, Caleb Cushing , and took him to Macau where he went ashore and began negotiations for a treaty. While Cushing was working to develop contacts with the Chinese government, Brandywine visited Manila , Hong Kong and Whampoa . On June 16, 1844,
4158-657: 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
4284-656: 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
4410-526: The Hunt class of "minesweeping sloops", those intended for minesweeping duty. The Royal Navy continued to build vessels rated as sloops during the interwar years. These sloops were small warships intended for colonial " gunboat diplomacy " deployments, surveying duties, and acting during wartime as convoy escorts. As they were not intended to deploy with the fleet, sloops had a maximum speed of less than 20 knots (37 km/h). A number of such sloops, for example
4536-509: 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
4662-640: 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
4788-468: The Peruvian Navy . Her own relief—the frigate Guerriere —arrived in the summer of 1829 bringing Commodore Charles C. B. Thompson , the squadron's new commander, along with another crew for Dolphin ; and Brandywine set sail for home. She reached New York City on October 8 and was decommissioned soon thereafter. Placed back in commission on January 10, 1830, Capt. Henry E. Ballard in command,
4914-667: 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
5040-577: 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
5166-514: 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
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5292-521: 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
5418-457: 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
5544-524: 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
5670-566: The ship of the line North Carolina and sloop of war Erie . Following an 11-day passage, the trio reached Port Mahon , Minorca; and Brandywine spent the next three months refitting. In February 1826, Porpoise arrived in Port Mahon with orders recalling Brandywine to the U.S., and the frigate set sail for home late in the month. She stopped at Gibraltar early in March and finally entered New York City in mid-April. After passing
5796-673: The southern Netherlands from the Protestant rebels. This soon resulted in the use of the occupied ports as bases for privateers , 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
5922-583: 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
6048-662: 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,
6174-627: 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"
6300-525: 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
6426-613: The American Revolution. One of these young men selected as an officer on the Brandywine ' s maiden voyage was 19-year-old Virginian Matthew Fontaine Maury , who would eventually make great influences in the science of oceanography. After fitting out at the Navy Yard, the frigate traveled down the Potomac River to await her passenger at St. Mary's, Maryland , not far from the river's mouth. Lafayette enjoyed
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#17327934184626552-598: The Atlantic Ocean. The frigate continued on westward and entered New York Harbor on May 12, 1841. Later that summer, the crisis with Great Britain abated somewhat, and Brandywine headed back to the Mediterranean on June 29. She completed her originally scheduled tour there under the command of Capt. David Greisinger and then returned to New York on July 12, 1842, to be decommissioned on July 30, 1842. Brandywine went back into commission on February 16, 1843, Lieutenant Charles W. Chauncey in command, and set sail for
6678-760: 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.,
6804-529: 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
6930-553: The Dunkirker frigates could provide, 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
7056-577: 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",
7182-606: 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
7308-464: 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
7434-402: The Isle of Wight in England to re-caulk seams that had opened rather badly during the Atlantic crossing. Then, after being rendered more seaworthy, she resumed her voyage to Gibraltar on October 22, reaching the famed British bastion guarding the Mediterranean Sea's Atlantic entrance on November 2. At the end of a fortnight in port, Brandywine sailed for the Balearic Islands in company with
7560-467: 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
7686-404: The Marquis de Lafayette back to Europe, in the wake of his visit to the land he had fought to free almost 50 years before. The general had expressed his intention of sailing for home sometime in the late summer or early autumn of 1825. Adams selected Susquehanna for this honor, and accordingly—as a gesture of the nation's affection for Lafayette—the frigate was renamed Brandywine to commemorate
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#17327934184627812-404: The Mediterranean lest war break out and his squadron be trapped there. Upon receiving this warning, Hull ordered his ships to get underway and head for Gibraltar. Not knowing what faced them when they reached the strait, Brandywine and her consorts were prepared for the worst. Steady pilots manned the helms on both sides, and peace persisted unbroken when the warship passed the strait and entered
7938-400: The Napoleonic period, Britain built huge numbers of brig sloops of the Cruizer class (18 guns) and the Cherokee class (10 guns). The brig rig was economical of manpower – important given Britain's chronic shortfall in trained seamen relative to the demands of the wartime fleet. When armed with carronades (32-pounders in the Cruizer class, 18-pounders in the Cherokee class), they had
8064-407: The Orient until departing Macau for Honolulu, Hawaii on December 2, carrying word of the Chinese privy council's approval of the treaty. From Hawaii, she sailed to the west coast of South America where she made calls at several ports before setting out to double Cape Horn on her way home. At the end of a long and successful cruise, Brandywine stood into Norfolk, Virginia on September 17, 1845, and
8190-486: The Peruvian ship Limena off Callao , Peru , while Limena was on a voyage from Callao to Igargue , Peru; Limena suffered severe damage and put back into Callao for repairs. Finally, expiring enlistments signaled the time for Brandywine to sail for home, and she departed Callao in January 1837, bringing Commodore Wadsworth back home at the conclusion of his own tour of duty. After a relatively quiet 94-day passage, she reached Norfolk, Virginia, on April 22, 1837, and
8316-406: The Royal Navy reused the term "sloop" for specialised convoy -defence vessels, including the Flower class of the First World War and the highly successful Black Swan class of the Second World War, with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities. They performed similar duties to the destroyer escorts of the United States Navy , and also performed similar duties to the smaller corvettes of
8442-424: The Royal Navy. A sloop-of-war was quite different from a civilian or mercantile sloop , which was a general term for a single-masted vessel rigged in a way that would today be called a gaff cutter (but usually without the square topsails then carried by cutter-rigged vessels), though some sloops of that type did serve in the 18th century British Royal Navy , particularly on the Great Lakes of North America. In
8568-444: 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
8694-478: 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
8820-445: 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
8946-528: 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
9072-529: The classifications of sloops, corvettes and frigates. Instead a classification based on the intended role of the ship became common, such as cruiser and battleship . During the First World War , the sloop rating was revived by the British Royal Navy for small warships not intended for fleet deployments. Examples include the Flower classes of "convoy sloops", those designed for convoy escort, and
9198-627: 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,
9324-458: The danger posed by the Confederate ironclad had waned considerably. Later moved to Norfolk, she also assumed the role of receiving ship for the squadron. She remained so employed until a fire broke out in her paint locker on September 3, 1864, and destroyed her. She sank at her moorings at Norfolk but was later raised and sold to Maltby & Co., of Norfolk on March 26, 1867. Brandywine
9450-635: 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
9576-474: The equivalent of British post-ships. The Americans also occasionally used the French term corvette. In the Royal Navy , the sloop evolved into an unrated vessel with a single gun deck and three masts, two square rigged and the aft-most fore-and-aft rigged (corvettes had three masts, all of which were square-rigged). Steam sloops had a transverse division of their lateral coal bunkers in order that
9702-456: 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
9828-443: The first half of the 18th century, most naval sloops were two-masted vessels, usually carrying a ketch or a snow rig. A ketch had main and mizzen masts but no foremast. A snow had a foremast and a main mast immediately abaft which a small subsidiary mast was fastened on which the spanker was set. The first three-masted, i.e., " ship rigged ", sloops appeared during the 1740s, and from the mid-1750s most new sloops were built with
9954-577: The flagship of the Pacific Squadron . She reached Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 22 and stayed until August 14, when she resumed her journey down the coast and around Cape Horn. Brandywine arrived at Valparaiso on October 3 after a stormy passage of the cape, and Commodore Alexander S. Wadsworth broke his flag in her on November 1. For the next three years, the warship plied the waters along South America's west coast protecting U.S. citizens and commerce. On November 3, 1836, she collided with
10080-441: 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
10206-564: The former warship supported the operations of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for almost three years. She spent much of that time anchored near Fort Monroe , her most conspicuous absence coming in the wake of CSS Virginia 's attempt to break the Union blockade early in the spring of 1862. Towed to Baltimore, Maryland by Mount Vernon , Brandywine remained there until early June 1862, by which time
10332-539: 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
10458-440: The government's attitude toward Lafayette's return to a France now ruled by the ultra-royalist King Charles X , Brandywine ' s passenger and her captain disembarked, the former to return home and the latter to tour the country for six months to study shipyards, ship design and other naval matters. Brandywine left Le Havre that same day to join the United States' Mediterranean Squadron . En route, she stopped at Cowes on
10584-402: 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
10710-556: The high commissioner appointed by the Chinese emperor to deal with Cushing, Ch'i-ying , arrived at Macau; and negotiations opened on the 21st. Following 12 days of discussions, the Treaty of Wang Hsia was signed on July 3 providing for the establishment of five American treaty ports in China. It also granted protection to American sailors shipwrecked on Chinese shores and guaranteed that both civil and criminal law cases involving Americans would be adjudicated in consular courts. In effect,
10836-500: The highest ratio of firepower to tonnage of any ships in the Royal Navy, albeit within the short range of the carronade. The carronades also used much less manpower than the long guns normally used to arm frigates. Consequently, the Cruizer class were often used as cheaper and more economical substitutes for frigates , in situations where the frigates' high cruising endurance was not essential. A carronade-armed brig, however, would be at
10962-410: 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
11088-450: 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
11214-407: 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
11340-625: The lower division could be emptied first, to maintain a level of protection afforded by the coal in the upper bunker division along the waterline. During the War of 1812 sloops of war in the service of the United States Navy performed well against their Royal Navy equivalents. The American ships had the advantage of being ship-rigged rather than brig-rigged, a distinction that increased their manoeuvrability. They were also larger and better armed. Cruizer- class brig-sloops in particular were vulnerable in one-on-one engagements with American sloops-of-war. In
11466-465: The mercy of a frigate armed with long guns, so long as the frigate maneuvered to exploit its superiority of range. The other limitation of brig sloops as opposed to post ships and frigates was their relatively restricted stowage for water and provisions, which made them less suitable for long-range cruising. However, their shallower draught made them excellent raiders against coastal shipping and shore installations. The Royal Navy also made extensive use of
11592-499: 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
11718-461: The next, showing the flag to maintain and enhance American prestige. However, President Andrew Jackson —determined to collect indemnities owed to the U.S. for merchant ships that had been confiscated by several European nations while under Napoleon Bonaparte 's governments during the Napoleonic Wars —decided to begin with the Kingdom of Naples . While Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte , sat on
11844-723: 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
11970-422: 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
12096-441: 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
12222-484: The rest of spring and much of the summer in repairs and outfitting for duty in the Pacific Ocean, Brandywine departed New York City on September 3, 1826, as the flagship of Commodore Jacob Jones who was sailing around Cape Horn for the Pacific coast of South America to take over command of the American squadron in the region from Commodore Isaac Hull and his flagship, USS United States . She also carried
12348-486: 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
12474-409: The second half of the 19th century, successive generations of naval guns became larger and with the advent of steam-powered sloops , both paddle and screw, by the 1880s even the most powerful warships had fewer than a dozen large calibre guns, and were therefore technically sloops. Since the rating system was no longer a reliable indicator of a ship's combat power, it was abolished altogether and with it
12600-446: 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
12726-523: 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
12852-417: The ships of the second contingent began standing into the harbor at Naples singly. Soon, the frigate United States arrived, followed in rapid succession by John Adams and Boston . Not a shot was fired and no explicit reference to the squadron was made during the negotiations; nevertheless, the unspoken message of power helped the king to see the justice of the American claims and prompted him to sign
12978-531: The sixth rate of the British Navy). The name corvette was subsequently also applied to British vessels, but not until the 1830s. American usage, while similar to British terminology into the beginning of the 19th century, gradually diverged. By about 1825 the United States Navy used "sloop-of-war" to designate a flush-deck ship-rigged warship with all armament on the gun deck; these could be rated as high as 26 guns and thus overlapped "third-class frigates,"
13104-414: The sloop of that time shared bottlenecks with destroyers and did not lend themselves to mass production on commercial shipyards, thus the sloop was supplanted by the corvette , and later the frigate , as the primary escort vessel of the Royal Navy. Built to mercantile standards and with (initially) simple armaments, these vessels, notably the Flower and River classes, were produced in large numbers for
13230-492: 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
13356-432: 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
13482-677: The steamboat Caroline from the American side of the Niagara River . In November 1840, a Canadian had been arrested and charged with murder in Lewiston, New York , after drunkenly boasting that he had taken part in the cutting out of Caroline and had killed an American. Feelings on both sides of the Atlantic deepened during the spring of 1841, and the American minister to the Court of St. James's wrote to Commodore Hull urging him to leave
13608-474: 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
13734-480: The term for ships that would formerly have been called destroyers, as well as for frigates. The rank " frigate captain " derives from 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
13860-509: The throne there, Naples had seized several American merchantmen; and the most recent successor to the throne, King Ferdinand II , had repudiated the debts. Jackson sent former Maryland congressman John Nelson to Naples as U.S. minister to negotiate the payment of these debts. He also dispatched Commodore Daniel Patterson to the Mediterranean with reinforcements for the squadron already there and with orders to take overall command of American forces from Commodore James Biddle . The frigate gave
13986-572: 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
14112-470: The traditional square stern ship to enemy fire and allowed her to carry stern-mounted guns. Frigate A frigate ( / ˈ f r ɪ ɡ ɪ t / ) is a type of warship . In different eras, 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
14238-471: The treaty extended to the U.S. the privileges that Great Britain had extracted from China in the Treaty of Nanking that ended the Opium War , though with one important exception. The American treaty expressly forbade the opium traffic, but the British treaty did not. Cushing set sail in the brig Perry on August 29 to return to the U.S. with the new treaty. Brandywine , on the other hand, remained in
14364-444: 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
14490-505: 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
14616-478: 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
14742-478: The warship set out for the Gulf of Mexico two months later to gather information concerning conditions in that area. She returned to the east coast at Norfolk, Virginia on July 7 and began preparations for another European deployment. Brandywine departed Hampton Roads, Virginia on October 22, 1830, and headed for Gibraltar. At first, this deployment was devoted almost exclusively to sailing from one peaceful port to
14868-591: 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
14994-481: Was (by virtue of having too few guns) outside the rating system . In general, a sloop-of-war would be under the command of a master and commander rather than a post captain , although in day-to-day use at sea the commanding officer of any naval vessels would be addressed as "captain". A ship sloop was generally the equivalent of the smaller corvette of the French Navy (although the French term also covered ships up to 24 guns, which were classed as post ships within
15120-483: Was applied loosely to ships varying greatly in design. In the second quarter of the 18th century, what is now generally regarded as 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
15246-546: Was decommissioned 10 days later. Laid up in ordinary for more than a decade, Brandywine finally resumed active service as a result of the American Civil War . She was recommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on October 27, 1861, Commander Benjamin J. Totten in command, and set sail immediately for Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she arrived on October 29. Housed over and converted to a storeship ,
15372-483: Was decommissioned there eight days later. After nearly two years in ordinary, the frigate was recommissioned once more on August 30, 1847, Capt. Thomas Crabbe in command. On September 13, Brandywine set sail for the Brazil Station where she cruised for more than three years protecting United States interests in the region. The warship then returned to the United States at New York City on December 4, 1850, and
15498-476: Was developed, and because they had a single gun deck , the term 'frigate' was used to describe them. Later developments in ironclad ships rendered 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,
15624-473: Was perennially short of sailors at the end of the 18th century, and its personnel received insufficient training (particularly in the Western Atlantic, priority being given to the continuing wars with France for control of Europe). The longer decks of the multi-masted vessels also had the advantage of allowing more guns to be carried. Originally a sloop-of-war was smaller than a sailing frigate and
15750-504: Was placed in ordinary on May 9, 1837. After being laid up for more than two years, the frigate was recommissioned on August 2, 1839, Capt. William C. Bolton in command; and, once outfitted, sailed for the Mediterranean on October 22. This cruise was enlivened by tension with Great Britain over the Caroline incident . In 1837, when many people in the United States had sympathized with Canadian rebels, some Canadian loyalists had captured
15876-514: 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
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