How the Frigate Compares to the Destroyer warship -A frigate is the smallest of the three and in modern usage, is mainly used to hunt submarines. In previous centuries, they were used for scouting, commerce raiding, and serving as communication relays in the line of battle. It was convention in those days, that ships of the line did not fire on frigates, unless the frigate fired first.

A destroyer is generally the next size up from the frigate. Their initial purpose was to destroy torpedo boats, which in the late 19 C were vessels about the same size, armed primarily with torpedoes. At the time, they were called “torpedo boat destroyers” or contre-torpilleurs in French. In the 20th C, the roles were merged. By WWII, they had acquired significant anti-aircraft and anti-submarine vessels as well. They were used as escorts for merchant convoys and for large warships to protect them against submarines or aircraft and radar pickets for a fleet.

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