SPG2 Frigates

## Introduction

*Main Article: Ships & Classes*

Frigates, as a class, stand between the Corvettes and Destroyers and are designated semi Capital ships. They are the last class that isn't designed to be able to stand on its own as a "Ship of The Wall".

With the colonial wars expanding and Battleships becoming the main battle unit, the Imperial tacticians found themselves going back to an old doctrine known as the "Line of Battle", which meant that surface naval vessels formed a line end to end which allowed each ship in the line to fire its broadsides without fear of hitting a friendly ship on a two-dimensional plane, like that of an ocean.

They expanded the idea into 3D, finding that ships should be organized as a wall, each ship delivering its broadside outside of the plain of the wall, optimally providing fire from many angles to a single target. Every ship that had enough firepower to participate and enough armour to stand and not allow an enemy ship to punch through the wall is designated as a ‘Ship of The Wall’ or a capital ship; hence frigates are designated as semi-capital ships, because they can substitute a capital ship in the wall if it's absolutely necessary, but still unable to stand for long due to its weaker armour.

The origin of the class lies in the dire need for a ship that can provide covering fire for its larger sisters against incoming bomber craft fire, as the Carrier-class begun to emerge on the colonies, so the Empire actively sought for a solution against the new threat.

The Colonial Escort Force asked Sir Edward King at the Mars Shipping Dock Company to redesign his blueprint of the "Explorer", the first ship ever to venture outside known space, to fit for the new purpose. The derivatives of this ship were the first ones, which ventured far outside of the Solar System in real-space using Einsteinian relativistic reaction engines, and proved to be a useful design for a vessel operating as a long range escort for merchant convoys. The Empire set its shipyards to produce frigates in large numbers as it visioned the class as the all-rounder multi-purpose ship, and so, the class quickly became a common sight in human space.

Many have been captured, lost or destroyed and so, it also found itself as the main operational vessel of pirate organisations. Its speed, armour, cargo hold, trooper bunker, armament and flexibility proved to be useful as the centre of hit and run operations, and with ample modifications the pirates literally became the overlords of outer systems by their dreaded frigates.

## Additional Information

Frigates are good all-rounder combat vessels, but they cannot be under heavy fire for too long. In larger conflicts, they are usually taking the support roles and are designed for shooting down enemy fighter wings and smaller ships. Use their size, power and speed to focus down smaller ships first and then, if your weapon's system allows it, try to tear down the larger ships. Be aware of the heavier weapons shooting at you; you might survive a few well placed shots, but your hull will soon tear down under a constant fire.

## Basic Details

Only the basic stats are presented here. For full information, check out the specific page about each ship.

*Previous class: Corvettes*
*Next class Destroyers*