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Understanding Frigates: History, Design, and Function

This quiz assesses your knowledge about frigates, including their history, features, and classification in naval warfare.

#Frigates #Naval History #Military #Maritime Warfare #Ship Design

1 Frigates could also carry ________ for boarding enemy ships or for operations on shore.

2 The fleets built by the ________ in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as 'frigates', the largest of which were two-decker 'great frigates' of the third rate.

3 All such ships were reclassified as guided missile cruisers (CG / CGN) or, in the case of the smaller Farragut-class, as ________ (DDG) in 1975.

4 In the ________, the term was used for any warship built for speed and manoeuvrability, the description often used being 'frigate-built'.

5 Because of the ________ their displacement was officially limited to 600 tons, although in reality they exceeded this by about 100 tons.

6 The classic sailing frigate, well-known today for its role in the ________, can be traced back to French developments in the second quarter of the 18th century.

7 For this task, the helicopter is equipped with sensors such as sonobuoys, wire-mounted dipping sonar, and magnetic anomaly detectors to identify possible threats, and torpedoes or ________ to attack them.

8 What does the following picture show? A Loch class frigate The fictitious, but representative, ironclad frigate USS Abraham Lincoln, from Jules Verne's the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea A Magicienne class frigate Sailing frigate

9 The Royal Navy's original ________ is an example of a specialised ASW frigate.

10 Frigate shapes are designed to offer a minimal ________, which also lends them good air penetration; the maneuverability of these frigates has been compared to that of sailing ships.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the Russian frigate Oryol was completed in 1669 as the first Russian naval ship, and flew the earliest recorded white, blue, and red Russian flag.
  • the frigate HMS Alarm was the first ship of the Royal Navy ever to have a fully copper-sheathed hull.
  • the HMS Inconstant, a Royal Navy frigate, captured three French warships during the French Revolutionary Wars.
  • the anti-smuggling activities of the British frigate HMS Rose in 1775, provoked the Rhode Island government to commission the first warship, the Sloop-of-war Providence, in what became the U.S. Navy.
  • the first Wabash was a steam screw frigate in the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War.
  • the capture of the French frigate Modeste by the British in the neutral port of Genoa in 1793 created a diplomatic incident.
  • the frigate HMNZS Canterbury was decommissioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy, sold to a trust for a symbolic NZ$1, and scuttled in the Bay of Islands by a former crewmember.
  • in capturing the Spanish frigate Santa Dorotea Captain Manley Dixon had two men wounded on his ship, compared to 20 killed and 32 wounded on the Santa Dorotea.
  • Royal Navy frigate HMS Castor was captured by the French in 1794, but was retaken (pictured) just 20 days later.
  • Captain William Mounsey, in command of the much smaller HMS Bonne Citoyenne, captured a frigate and later commanded her as HMS Furieuse.
  • Captain Henry Trollope (1756–1839) of the Royal Navy, commanding the frigate Glatton, defeated a French squadron that outnumbered him six to one.
  • after an engagement (pictured) initiated by HMS Cleopatra, captained by Sir Robert Laurie, the larger French frigate Ville de Milan captured her attacker, but was so badly damaged in the battle that both ships were later captured in turn by HMS Leander.
  • despite being built for the Spanish Navy, the frigate Santa Margarita spent just five years in service with them, but served for nearly 60 years with the Royal Navy.
  • after the Australian light destroyer project was canceled, the Australian Government ordered frigates which the Royal Australian Navy had previously assessed as being "second rate escorts".
  • Captain James Young's capture of a Spanish frigate in 1799 (illustrated) brought each of his seamen the equivalent of ten years' pay in prize money.
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