Frigate / Legends A frigate was a type of military spaceship . Recorded usage of the term varies extensively , but it typically denoted a capital ship designed to serve in a skirmishing role to protect larger ships , or more generally , a ship designed to serve in some sort of support role . Standard designation . According to the standard system of ship - classifications , a frigate was a ship with a crew of between 200 and 1 , 000 beings , and an approximate size of 200 - 400m long , defined by the maximum size of smaller system patrol craft and the minimum size of larger cruisers . This was the definition that was officially used by the Old Republic , the Galactic Empire , the Alliance to Restore the Republic , and the New Republic , although formal exceptions were made for ships like the heavily - armed 350m " Carrack " - class light cruiser , and many other classification systems were used simultaneously throughout the Galaxy . Frigates were armed to defend themselves effectively against smaller and more maneuverable warships , and with a limited attack capacity against larger capital ships ; they could sometimes carry up to three squadrons of starfighters , and were often deployed in small groups to protect larger vessels . Some frigate types , like the anti - starfighter " Lancer " design , were specifically designed to support larger warships , but others were intended primarily to defend unarmed freighters and transports , including the most famous frigate type of the Galactic Civil War , the Nebulon - B escort frigate . The escort frigate was designed by the Empire to combat Rebel " piracy " , with the dual role of protecting Imperial transport ships and hunting down Alliance forces ; but captured ships also came to be used extensively by the Rebellion against Imperial Forces during the Galactic Civil War , where they were used as raiders , and as screening vessels within combat squadrons . Escort frigates had a stark , stripped - down hull form , not particularly fast or maneuverable , but carrying a typical frigate armament and two squadrons of TIE Fighters . However , because they were designed to operate independently of larger capital ships , they were also equipped with powerful HoloNet transmitters and impressive command facilities , and this led to them becoming popular as command ships for squadrons containing more powerful warships . On both sides of the war , escort frigates are recorded as the flagships of task forces containing ships as large as 600m heavy cruisers . On one side or the other , escort frigates saw action in countless engagements throughout the Galactic Civil War , and they were still in use during the Yuuzhan Vong War and the Corellian secession crisis . Although primarily designed for a combat role , frigate - sized warships could be adapted to carry out a wide variety of duties . Some types , such as the Imperial Navy ' s " Star Galleon " , were purpose - designed as armed cargo ships , while others were modified for cargo duty as military transports . Some Nebulon - B frigates were also known to have been converted into hospital ships , such as the one that Luke Skywalker was treated on after having lost his hand in dueling Darth Vader ; these ships were known as Medical Frigates , although this term was also applied to ships that in no way conformed to the standard definition of a combat frigate — a reminder that there were many ships in the Galaxy which were described as frigates even though they fell outside the standard designation . Other types of frigates . Historically , space frigates evolved from aquatic war vessels called Frigates . Their purpose was to protect aquatic transports from the Destroyer warships . Ships described as " medical frigates " range from the thirty - meter " Sprint " - class rescue craft to the two - kilometer hospital ship " Mercy " , and a " winged " variant of the MC80 Star Cruiser , probably the same type as the " Liberty " , which must have been at least 1200m long . Other small frigates are known , such as the 35m Imperial Customs Frigate and the 150m " Interceptor " - class frigate , an adaptation of a civilian design ; but the term was in rather more widespread use as a designation for relatively large ships that would be designated as cruisers under the standard system , such as later variants of the " Acclamator " - class assault ship . Some ships in larger size brackets are called frigates rather than cruisers . The 825m " Munificent " - class star frigates were designed around high - powered HoloNet transceivers to ensure secure interstellar communications for the InterGalactic Banking Clan , but came to be used as combat warships by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars . The Rebel Alliance rebuilt 600m " Dreadnaught " - class heavy cruisers as Assault Frigates , powerful , brawling combat warships that remained in use for many years under the New Republic . Apart from large hospital ships , the largest ship to be described as a " frigate " is probably the " Home One " , used as the fleet flagship of the Alliance and New Republic by Admiral Gial Ackbar , which was widely known as the Headquarters Frigate . It is possible that other large command ships were also described as headquarters frigates , but no definite references are known . Whilst not a specific frigate type of ship the " Derriphan " - class battleship was later used by Darth Revan ' s / Darth Malak ' s Sith Empire as a frigate analogue , due to its speed and size . Behind the scenes . In origin , the term " frigate " referred to a fast , long - hulled sailing warship . In the seventeenth century , the term could be applied to even the most powerful battleships , like the " " , but in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries , it came to denote less powerful ships which carried their main guns along a single gun deck , rather than in multiple tiers like a . The classic frigates of the age of sail served as cruisers , capable of scouting and raiding ahead of a battlefleet , or carrying out long - range operations on their own . In the late eighteenth century , big frigates began to appear which were about as large and as heavily armed as small ships of the line , although they were mostly designed as very large cruisers , and kept out of the line of battle . The earliest seagoing , which entered service around 1860 , were based on the wooden frigate design , as the old ship - of - the - line with its multiple gun decks was generally seen as too top - heavy for adaptation as an armored warship . The first ironclad , " " , launched in 1859 , was a wooden ship - of - the - line redesigned with iron armor and a single main gun deck , but in 1860 was designed from the outset as an armored iron frigate . This type of frigate was the most powerful warship of its day , and developed rapidly into the steam - powered , steel - hulled battleship , but the term " frigate " quickly passed out of use as changes in armament and technology rendered the old classifications obsolete . In 1941 , the British Royal Navy revived the name of " frigate " for a class of anti - submarine warship , larger than the , but , in a reversal of the historical pre - 1860 usage , smaller than ; the United States Navy generally called ships of this type , but the British - influenced were designated as " patrol frigates " . The key distinction from contemporary was that frigates , with a more defensive role , required less powerful and complex engines . In 1950 , both the British and Americans revised their designations , but whereas the RN reclassified all its escorts as frigates , the United States Navy renamed them as " ocean escorts " , and adopted the term frigate instead for larger and faster cruiser - sized warships with hull - numbers , harking back to the exceptionally large frigates which had been the centerpiece of the early US Navy in the age of sail . The discrepancy was ended in 1975 , when the USN redesignated its large frigates as cruisers , and the ocean escorts were renamed as frigates . Today , there is a general agreement that frigates should be smaller than destroyers , and perhaps specifically tasked with an anti - submarine role , but whether a ship is designated as a frigate or a destroyer often depends on the subjective decisions of the naval architects , uniformed officers and politicians involved . The " standard " usage of the frigate designation in Star Wars combines elements of the historical cruiser role with the modern picket concept ; larger " frigates " have more in common with ironclad frigates and the 1950 - 1975 USN usage , although they could also be seen as " small " ships in terms of a designation system which restricts designations such as " dreadnaught " to multi - kilometer cruisers .