Frigate

Pirate Ship

The first frigates appeared in the 17th Century. It was a medium-sized class of a warship with an average weight of 1,000 tons. They were three-masted ships with the square sails, raised forecastle and quarterdeck. Also there were 24 to 40 mounted guns on a two and a half gun decks. The advanced, two decked versions had up to 70 guns. There were many purposes for the frigates like escort, patrols, scouting, shore bombardment… They were also used to hunt and defend against the pirates and privateers. Inside a ship, there was a space usually for 50 to 200 crewmembers. A big advantage of those ships was speed and great maneuverable abilities for its size, but the frigates could not stand a chance in the engagements against the larger warships like a ship-of-the-line.