The first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for the shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. 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 navy of the Dutch Republic became the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates. 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. In French, the term "frigate" gave rise to a verb – frégater, meaning 'to build long and low', and to an adjective, adding more confusion. 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, the term soon came to apply less exclusively to any relatively fast and elegant sail-only warship. To achieve this the Dunkirkers developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates. 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. In 1583, during the Eighty Years' War of 1568–1648, Habsburg Spain recovered the southern Netherlands from the Protestant rebels. Aphractus, in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς ( aphraktos naus) – "undefended ship". 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. 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 rank " frigate captain" derives from the name of this type of ship. Some European navies use the term "frigate" for both their destroyers and frigates. 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 recognisable as corvettes, destroyers, and even nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers. Often there has been little consistency in usage. After World War II, a wide variety of ships have been classified as frigates. During the Second World War the name 'frigate' was reintroduced to describe a seagoing escort ship intermediate in size between a corvette and a destroyer. Later developments in ironclad ships rendered the frigate designation obsolete and the term fell out of favour. Late in the 19th century (British and French prototypes were constructed in 1858), armoured frigates were developed as powerful ironclad warships, the term frigate was used because of their single gun deck. This type of vessel was characterised by possessing only one armed deck, with an unarmed deck below it used for berthing the crew. In the second quarter of the 18th century, the 'true frigate' was developed in France. The term was applied loosely to ships varying greatly in design. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and manoeuverability, intended to be used in scouting, escort and patrol roles. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. Baden-Württemberg, lead ship of her class of frigates of the German Navy currently the biggest frigates worldwide.Ī frigate ( / ˈ f r ɪ ɡ ə t/) is a type of warship. For other uses, see Frigate (disambiguation).Ī sailing frigate of 1802.
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