Frigate

**Frigates** are small naval warships, typically used in an escort role for larger vessels in a fleet. Modern frigates are typically smaller than destroyers, are are used in more ways than just ocean escort, such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) or air defense.

Frigates are commonly seen throughout the *Foxtrot: Foxes in Arms* series, as fairly common vessels aside from destroyers, appearing as both allied vessels and enemy vessels.

## Development

The term "frigate" has varied quite a bit when it referred to ships with different roles and capabilities, with the name itself going as far back as the 15th Century referring to a lighter galley-type warship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability.

Between the 1600s and the 1700s, frigates were generally seen as fully-rigged sailing ships which had some speed and maneuverability. Such ships were originally intended for escorting roles, patrolling, and scouting, though the term was also applied to ship designs that varied greatly. In the later 1700s, the French are credited with developing so called "true frigates", ships built with only one armed deck, with an unarmed deck below it used for berthing the crew. Other variants such as "heavy" and "super-heavy frigates" were also developed based on this design by the British Royal Navy and other naves.

Years later, in the 1850s, the British and French developed armored frigates as ironclad warships, still called frigates because of the single gun deck. Later developments in ironclad ships rendered the frigate designation obsolete and the term fell out of favor. Though quite a bit of time later, around the 1940s, frigates were officially reintroduced as a warship classification. This time, frigates were seagoing vessels larger than a corvette and smaller than a destroyer, as some navies also used the term "destroyer escort" for such vessels meant for escorting convoys of merchant marine ships. After the Second World War, the term has once again been used for a variety of different ships by different navies. While some navies have regarded frigates as principally 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.

Even with all this said, frigates are still commonly used by many navies today, and the general consensus is that frigates are generally about the size or smaller than most destroyers and are capable of being used in a variety of roles, from air defense to anti-submarine warfare.

## History

Within the series, the overall development of frigates are about the same. Large navies such as the British Royal Navy or the French Navy had been using frigates for centuries since their initial development, and have been used in a large variety of conflicts.

The United States Navy has had frigates since the very beginning, with the construction of the six original frigates. Of those, the USS *Constitution* is still around, being the oldest ship in the world still afloat. Since then, various frigates have been in use in almost every conflict the US has participated in, from the War of Independence, Civil War, the World Wars, and many more.

Similarly, for almost as long as the Navy's been in existence, Urocyia has also seen used frigates during many of their own conflicts. They'd seen extensive use during the Urocyan Civil Wars, where most were used by both sides of these conflicts, and some have been sunk during the conflicts.

More recently, both the US and Urocyia utilize frigates during the Urocyan War. American frigates were of the *Oliver Hazard Perry*-class, having been retrofitted to match Urocyan vessel numbers (while the new *Constellation*-class is still in development) and make up for losses incurred by the Urocyan attacks of Operation Tidal Wave. Several frigates were also a part of Battle Group Delta, centered around the battleship USS *Missouri*, prior to the war officially beginning. And several more such ships were integrated to Battle Group Foxtrot during subsequent actions.

## Named Units

### United States Navy

* USS *Curts* (FFG-38)
* USS *Klakring* (FFG-42)
* USS *De Wert* (FFG-45)
* USS *Nicholas* (FFG-47)
* USS *Vandegrift* (FFG-48)
* USS *Robert G. Bradley* (FFG-49)
* USS *Kauffman* (FFG-59)
* USS *Rodney M. Davis* (FFG-60)