Sailing frigate

A frigate ( /ˈfrɪɡɨt/) is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.

In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built". These could be warships carrying their principal battery of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks (with further smaller carriage-mounted guns usually carried on the forecastle and quarterdeck of the vessel). The term was generally used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle, although early line-of-battle ships were frequently referred to as frigates when they were built for speed.

In the 18th century, the term referred to ships which were usually as long as a ship-of-the-line and were square-rigged on all three masts (full rigged), but were faster and with lighter armament, used for patrolling and escort. In the definition adopted by the British Admiralty, they were rated ships of at least 28 guns, carrying their principal armament upon a single continuous deck—the upper deck, while ships-of-the-line possessed two or more continuous decks bearing batteries of guns.

Frigates did not carry any guns (or have any gunports) on their lower decks; confusingly, the lower deck was often referred to as the "gun deck" in the Royal Navy (in the US Navy, it was usually called the "berth deck"), even for frigates, where it did not carry any guns or have gunports. Both types could (and usually did) additionally carry smaller carriage-mounted guns on their quarter decks and forecastles (the superstructures above the upper deck). Technically, rated ships with fewer than 28 guns could not be classed as frigates but as "post ships"; however, in common parlance most post ships were often described as "frigates", the same casual misuse of the term being extended to smaller two-decked ships that were too small to stand in the line of battle.

In the late 19th century (beginning about 1858 with the construction of prototypes by the British and French navies), the armoured frigate was a type of ironclad warship and for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term "frigate" was used because such ships still mounted their principal armament on a single continuous upper deck. The later 19th century battleship thus developed from the frigate rather than from the ship of the line.

In modern navies, frigates are used to protect other warships and merchant-marine ships, especially as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys. Ship classes dubbed "frigates" have also more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers and even battleships.

The rank "frigate captain" derives from the name of this type of ship.

Age of sail[link]

Origins[link]

Boudeuse, of Louis Antoine de Bougainville

The term "frigate" (Italian: fregata; Spanish/Catalan/Portuguese/Sicilian: fragata; Dutch: fregat; French: fregate) originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galleass type ship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability.^[1]

In 1583, during the Eighty Years' War, Habsburg Spain recovered the Southern Netherlands from the rebellious Dutch. This soon led to the occupied ports being used as bases for privateers, the Dunkirkers, to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this they developed small, maneuverable, sail-only vessels that came to be referred to as frigates. The success of these Dunkirker vessels influenced the ship design of the Dutch and other navies contending with them but because most regular navies required ships of greater endurance than the Dunkirker frigates could provide, the term was soon applied less exclusively to any relatively fast and elegant sail-only war ship. Even the mighty English Sovereign of the Seas was described as 'a delicate frigate' after modifications in 1651.^{[citation needed]}

The navy of the Dutch Republic was the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates. 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 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 third task required heavy armament, sufficient to fight against the Spanish fleet. The first of these larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland.^[2] By the later stages of the Eighty Years War the Dutch had switched entirely from the heavier ships still used by the English and Spanish to the lighter frigates, carrying around 40 guns and weighing around 300 tons.

The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most visible in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs.

The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as "frigates", the largest of which were two-decker 'great frigates' of the third rate. Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as 'great ships' of the time; however, most other frigates at the time were used as 'cruisers': independent fast ships. The term "frigate" implied a long hull design, which relates directly to speed (see hull speed) and also, in turn, helped the development of the broadside tactic in naval warfare.

At this time a further design evolved, reintroducing oars to create the galley frigate such as the Charles Galley of 1676 which was rated as a 32-gun fifth rate but also had a bank of 40 oars set below the upper deck which could be used to propel the ship in the absence of a favourable wind.

In French, the term "frigate" became a verb, meaning 'to build long and low', and an adjective, adding further confusion.^[3]
In Danish, the word "fregat" is often applied to warships carrying as few as 16 guns,such as HMS Falcon (1802) which the British classified as a sloop.

Under the rating system of the Royal Navy, by the middle of the 18th century, the term "frigate" was technically restricted to single-decked ships of the fifth rate, though small 28-gun frigates were classed as sixth rate.^[1]

Classic design[link]

A Magicienne-class frigate

Gun deck of the Pallas class frigate Méduse.

The classic sailing frigate, well-known today for its role in the Napoleonic wars, can be traced back to French developments in the second quarter of the 18th century. The French-built Médée of 1740 is often regarded as the first example of this type. These ships were square-rigged and carried all their main guns on a single continuous upper deck. The lower deck, known as the "gun deck", now carried no armament, and functioned as a "berth deck" where the crew lived, and was in fact placed below the waterline of the new frigates.

The new sailing frigates were able to fight with all their guns when the seas were so rough that comparable two-deckers had to close the gun-ports on their lower decks (see the Action of 13 January 1797, for an example when this was decisive). Like the larger 74 which was developed at the same time, the new frigates sailed very well and were good fighting vessels due to a combination of long hulls and low upperworks compared to vessels of comparable size and firepower.

The Royal Navy captured a handful of the new French frigates during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and were impressed by them, particularly for their inshore handling capabilities. They soon built copies and started to adapt the type to their own needs, setting the standard for other frigates as a superpower. The first British frigates carried 28 guns including an upper deck battery of twenty-four 9-pounder guns (the remaining four smaller guns were carried on the quarter deck) but soon developed into fifth-rate ships of 32 or 36 guns including an upper deck battery of twenty-six 12-pounder guns, with the remaining six or ten smaller guns carried on the quarter deck and forecastle. From around 1778, a larger "heavy" frigate was developed with a main battery of twenty-six or twenty-eight 18-pounder guns (again with the remaining ten smaller guns carried on the quarter deck and forecastle).

Royal Navy frigates of the late 18th century included the 1780-vintage Perseverance class, which measured around 900 tons burthen and carried 36 guns; this successful class was followed by numerous other classes that measured over 1,000 tons burthen and carried 38 guns.

USS Constitution

In 1797, three of the US Navy's first six major ships were rated as 44-gun frigates (or "super-frigates"), which operationally carried fifty-six to sixty 24-pounder long guns and 32-pounder or 42-pounder carronades on two decks; by all regards they were exceptionally powerful and tough. These ships were so well-armed that they were often regarded as equal to ships of the line, and after a series of losses at the outbreak of the War of 1812, Royal Navy fighting instructions ordered British frigates (usually of 38 guns or less) to never engage American frigates at any less than a 2:1 advantage. USS Constitution, preserved as a museum ship by the US Navy, is the oldest commissioned frigate afloat, and is a surviving example of a frigate from the Age of Sail. Constitution and her two sister ships (USS President and USS United States) were created in a response to deal with the Barbary Coast pirates and in conjunction with the Naval Act of 1794. The three big frigates, when built, had a distinctive building pattern which minimised "hogging" (in which the centre of the keel rises while both ends drop) and improves hydrodynamic efficiency.^[4]

The hull was designed so that all the weight from the guns was upon the keel itself. Joshua Humphreys proposed that only live oak, a tree that grew only in America, should be used to build these ships. The method was to use diagonal riders, eight on each side that sat a 45 degree angle. These beams of live oak were about two feet wide and around a foot thick and helped to maintain the shape of the hull, serving also to reduce flexibility and to minimize impacts.^[4] These ideas were considered revolutionary in the late 18th and early 19th century. A three-layer method was used in which the planks along the sides of the hull were laid horizontally across the ribs, making a crossing or checker board pattern. The sides of the ship could be as thick as 25 inches, and were able to absorb substantial damage. The strength of this braced construction earned USS Constitution the nickname "Old Ironsides".

Role[link]

The fictitious, but representative, ironclad frigate USS Abraham Lincoln, from Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Frigates were perhaps the hardest-worked of warship types during the Age of Sail. While smaller than a ship-of-the-line, they were formidable opponents for the large numbers of sloops and gunboats, not to mention privateers or merchantmen. Able to carry six months' stores, they had very long range; and vessels larger than frigates were considered too valuable to operate independently.

Frigates scouted for the fleet, went on commerce-raiding missions and patrols, and conveyed messages and dignitaries. Usually frigates would fight in small numbers or singly against other frigates. They would avoid contact with ships-of-the-line; even in the midst of a fleet engagement it was bad etiquette for a ship of the line to fire on an enemy frigate which had not fired first.^[5] Frigates were involved in fleet battles, often as 'repeating frigates'. In the smoke and confusion of battle, signals made by the fleet commander, whose flagship might be in the thick of the fighting, might be missed by the other ships of the fleet.^[6] Frigates were therefore stationed to windward or leeward of the main line of battle, and had to maintain a clear line of sight to the commander's flagship. Signals from the flagship were then repeated by the frigates, which themselves standing out of the line and clear from the smoke and disorder of battle, could be more easily seen by the other ships of the fleet.^[6] If damage or loss of masts prevented the flagship from making clear conventional signals, the repeating frigates could interpret them and hoist their own in the correct manner, passing on the commander's instructions clearly.^[6]

For officers in the Royal Navy a frigate was a desirable posting. Frigates often saw action, which meant a greater chance of glory, promotion, and prize money.

Unlike larger ships that were placed in ordinary, frigates were kept in service in peacetime as a cost-saving measure and to provide experience to frigate captains and officers which would be useful in wartime. Frigates could also carry marines for boarding enemy ships or for operations on shore.

Common armament was one gundeck with 32 to 44 long guns, from 8- to 24-pounders (3.6 to 11 kg), plus a few carronades (large bore short-range guns).

Frigates remained a crucial element of navies until the mid-19th century. The first ironclads were classified as "frigates" because of the number of guns they carried. However, terminology changed as iron and steam became the norm, and the role of the frigate was assumed first by the protected cruiser and then by the light cruiser.

Frigates are often the vessel of choice in historical naval novels due to their relative freedom compared to ships of the line (kept for fleet actions) and smaller vessels (generally assigned to a home port and less widely ranging). For example the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series, C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series and Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series. The motion picture Master and Commander features a reconstructed historic frigate, HMS Rose, to depict Aubrey's frigate HMS Surprise.

Preservation and replication[link]

On display in Portsmouth is a sail-and-steam-powered ship HMS Warrior, built in 1860. Warrior was the world’s first iron-hulled, armoured warship powered by steam as well as sail and constructed of wrought iron. The only surviving member of Queen Victoria's Black Battlefleet, Warrior was used for 50 years as an oil jetty at Milford Haven before being restored to her former glory.

On display in Boston (and still a commissioned US Navy vessel), is the USS Constitution. Launched in 1797, she is one of the six original frigates of the US Navy. As a commissioned USN vessel she is afloat and maintained in superb condition by her crew.

On display afloat in Baltimore, MD is the USS Constellation, launched in 1845, she is the last all-sail frigate built for the USN. For years many tried to say she was the 1797 frigate of the same name (as her size and lines are very simialr) though rebuilt along the lines of a corvette. It is now accepted that she was built using salvaged materials from the 1797 ship that was dismantled at the same time as her building at the Norfolk Navy Shipyard. Constellation was massively rebuilt (1998-2000) to a very high standard in the same Baltimore shipyard where the 1797 frigate was originally built.

On Display in Ebeltoft, Denmark is the Jylland, launched 1860.

In 1997 a project to rebuild a famous French frigate was able to lay the keel in a dry dock in Rochefort. The frigate Hermione was the ship that carried Lafayette to the US during the American revolutionary war. The original Hermione was sunk in 1793 off the French coast, and her wreck was rediscovered in 1992. Fortunately, the British had captured her sister ship in the Napoleonic wars and had recorded her construction in great detail, which documents were then available for the reconstruction. The replica is faithful in almost every way to the original. The ship is 56 metres long and carries 26×12-pounder armament. The project site contains many very interesting photos of her construction, a site for the book to accompany her build and launch (in English) gives some summary details.

Age of steam[link]

French paddle frigate Descartes

Vessels classed as frigates continued to play a great role in navies with the adoption of steam power in the 19th century. In the 1830s navies experimented with large paddle steamers equipped with large guns mounted on one deck, which were termed "paddle frigates".

From the mid-1840s frigates which more closely resembled the traditional sailing frigate were built with steam engines and screw propellers. These "screw frigates", built first of wood and later of iron, continued to perform the traditional role of the frigate until late in the 19th century.

Armoured frigate[link]

From 1859, armour was added to ships based on existing frigate and ship of the line designs. The additional weight of the armour on these first ironclad warships meant that they could have only one gun deck, and they were technically frigates, even though they were more powerful than existing ships-of-the-line and occupied the same strategic role. The phrase "armoured frigate" remained in use for some time to denote a sail-equipped, broadside-firing type of ironclad.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the term "frigate" fell out of use. Vessels with armoured sides were designated as "battleships" or "armoured cruisers", while "protected cruisers" only possessed an armoured deck, and unarmoured vessels, including frigates and sloops, were classified as "unprotected cruisers".

Modern Age[link]

Second World War[link]

A Loch-class frigate

Modern frigates are related to earlier frigates only by name. The term "frigate" was readopted during World War II by the Royal Navy to describe a new type of anti-submarine escort vessel that was larger than a corvette, but smaller than a destroyer. The frigate was introduced to remedy some of the shortcomings inherent in the corvette design: limited armament, a hull form not suited to open-ocean work, a single shaft which limited speed and maneuverability, and a lack of range.

The frigate was designed and built to the same mercantile construction standards (scantlings) as the corvette, allowing manufacture by yards unused to warship construction. The first frigates of the River class (1941) were essentially two sets of corvette machinery in one larger hull, armed with the latest Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon.

The frigate possessed less offensive firepower and speed than a destroyer, but such qualities were not required for anti-submarine warfare. Submarines were slow, and ASDIC sets did not operate effectively at speeds of over 20 knots. Rather, the frigate was an austere and weatherly vessel suitable for mass-construction and fitted with the latest innovations in anti-submarine warfare. As the frigate was intended purely for convoy duties, and not to deploy with the fleet, it had limited range and speed.

The contemporaneous German Flottenbegleiter ("fleet escorts"), also known as "F-Boats" were essentially frigates.^[7] They were based on a pre-war Oberkommando der Marine concept of vessels which could fill roles such as fast minesweeper, minelayer, merchant escort and anti-submarine vessel. Because of the Treaty of Versailles their displacement was officially limited to 600 tons, although in reality they exceeded this by about 100 tons. F-boats had two stacks and two 105 mm gun turrets. The design was flawed because of its narrow beam, sharp bow and unreliable high pressure steam turbines. F-boats were succeeded in operational duties by Type 35 and Elbing-class torpedo boats. Flottenbegleiter remained in service as advanced training vessels.

It was not until the Royal Navy's Bay class of 1944 that a British design bearing the name of frigate was produced for fleet use, although it still suffered from limited speed. These anti-aircraft frigates, built on incomplete Loch-class frigate hulls, were similar to the United States Navy's destroyer escorts (DE), although the latter had greater speed and offensive armament to better suit them to fleet deployments. The destroyer escorts came from a British commission, initiated prior to the US entry into the war, for deep water escorts. The American DEs serving in the British Royal Navy were rated as frigates, and British-influenced Tacoma-class frigates serving in the USN were classed as patrol frigates (PF).

Guided missile role[link]

Leander-class Ecuadorian BAE Morán Valverde, formerly Almirante Lynch of the Chilean Navy.

The introduction of the surface-to-air missile after the Second World War made relatively small ships effective for anti-aircraft warfare: the "guided missile frigate." In the USN, these vessels were called "ocean escorts" and designated "DE" or "DEG" until 1975 - a holdover from the World War II destroyer escort or "DE". The British Royal Navy maintained the use of the term "frigate"; likewise, the French Navy refers to missile-equipped ship, up to cruiser-sized ships, by the name of "frégate", while smaller units are named aviso. Soviet Navy used the term "guard-ship" (сторожевой корабль).

From the 1950s to the 1970s, the United States Navy commissioned ships classed as guided missile frigates which were actually anti-aircraft warfare cruisers built on destroyer-style hulls. Some of these ships—the Bainbridge, Truxtun, California and Virginia classes—were nuclear-powered. These were larger than any previous frigates and the use of the term '"frigate"' here is much more analogous to its original use. All such ships were reclassified as guided missile cruisers (CG/CGN) or, in the case of the smaller Farragut class, as guided missile destroyers (DDG) in 1975. The last of these particular frigates were struck from the Naval Vessel Register in the 1990s.

One of the most successful post-1945 designs was the British Leander-class frigate, which was used by several navies. Laid down in 1959, the Leanders were based on the previous Type 12 anti-submarine frigate but equipped for anti-aircraft use as well. They were used by the UK into the 1990s, at which point some were sold onto other navies. The Leander design, or improved versions of it, were licence-built for other navies.

Nearly all modern frigates are equipped with some form of offensive or defensive missiles, and as such are rated as guided-missile frigates (FFG). Improvements in surface-to-air missiles (e.g., the Eurosam Aster 15) allow modern guided-missile frigates to form the core of many modern navies and to be used as a fleet defence platform, without the need for specialised anti-air warfare frigates.

Other uses[link]

The Royal Navy Type 61 Salisbury class were "air direction" frigates equipped to track aircraft. To this end they had reduced armament compared to the Type 41 Leopard-class air-defence frigates built on the same hull.

Multi-role frigates like MEKO 200, Anzac class frigate and Halifax class frigate are designed for navies needing warships deployed in a variety of situations that a general frigate class would not be able to fulfill and not requiring the need for deploying Destroyers.

Anti-submarine role[link]

HMS Somerset of the Royal Navy. Type 23 frigates were built for anti-submarine warfare but are capable multi-purpose ships.^[8]

At the opposite end of the spectrum, some frigates are specialised for anti-submarine warfare. Increasing submarine speeds towards the end of the Second World War (see German Type XXI submarine) greatly reduced the margin of speed superiority of frigate over submarine. The frigate could no longer be slow and powered by mercantile machinery and consequently postwar frigates, such as the Whitby class, were faster.

Such ships carry improved sonar equipment, such as the variable depth sonar or towed array, and specialised weapons such as torpedoes, forward-throwing weapons such as Limbo and missile-carried anti-submarine torpedoes such as ASROC or Ikara. Surface-to-air missiles such as Sea Sparrow and surface-to-surface missiles such as Exocet give them defensive and offensive capabilities. The Royal Navy's original Type 22 frigate is an example of a specialised anti-submarine warfare frigate.

Especially for anti-submarine warfare, most modern frigates have a landing deck and hangar aft to operate helicopters, eliminating the need for the frigate to close with unknown sub-surface threats, and using fast helicopters to attack nuclear submarines which may be faster than surface warships. 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 depth-charges to attack them.

With their onboard radar helicopters can also be used to reconnoitre over-the-horizon targets and, if equipped with anti-ship missiles such as Penguin or Sea Skua, to attack them. The helicopter is also invaluable for search and rescue operation and has largely replaced the use of small boats or the jackstay rig for such duties as transferring personnel, mail and cargo between ships or to shore. With helicopters these tasks can be accomplished faster and less dangerously, and without the need for the frigate to slow down or change course.

Further developments[link]

Shivalik-class frigate of the Indian Navy.

Stealth technology has been introduced in modern frigate design. Frigate shapes are designed to offer a minimal radar cross section, which also lends them good air penetration; the maneuverability of these frigates has been compared to that of sailing ships. Examples are the French La Fayette class with the Aster 15 missile for anti-missile capabilities, the German F125 class and Sachsen-class frigates and the Turkish TF-2000 type frigates with the MK-41 VLS, Indian Shivalik class frigate.

The modern French Navy applies the term first-class frigate and second-class frigate to both destroyers and frigates in service. Pennant numbers remain divided between F-series numbers for those ships internationally recognised as frigates and D-series pennant numbers for those more traditionally recognised as destroyers. This can result in some confusion as certain classes are referred to as frigates in French service while similar ships in other navies are referred to as destroyers. This also results in some recent classes of French ships being among the largest in the world to carry the rating of frigate.

In the German Navy frigates were used to replace aging destroyers; however in size and role the new German frigates exceed the former class of destroyers. The future German F125-class frigate will be the largest class of frigates worldwide with a displacement of more than 7,200 tons. The same was done in the Spanish Navy, which went ahead with the deployment of the first Aegis frigates, the F100 class frigates.

Some new classes of ships similar to corvettes are optimised for high-speed deployment and combat with small craft rather than combat between equal opponents; an example is the U.S. Littoral Combat Ship.

See also[link]

• List of frigate classes
• List of frigate classes by country
• United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification

Lists[link]

Note that Algerian, Tripolitan and Tunisian sail frigates are listed under Turkey. All Italian city-state frigates are listed under Italy.

References[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Bennett, G. The Battle of Trafalgar, Barnsley (2004). ISBN 1-84415-107-7
• Constam, Angus & Bryan, Tony, British Napoleonic Ship-Of-The-Line, Osprey Publishing, 2001 184176308X
• Gardiner, Robert & Lambert, Andrew, (Editors), Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The Steam Warship, 1815-1905 (Conway's History of the Ship series), Book Sales, 2001
• Gresham, John D., "The swift and sure steeds of the fighting sail fleet were its dashing frigates", Military Heritage magazine, (John D. Gresham, Military Heritage, February 2002, Volume 3, No.4, pp. 12 to 17 and p. 87).
• Rodger, N. A. M. The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain 1649-1815, London (2004). ISBN 0-7139-9411-8
• Lambert, Andrew Battleships in Transition, the Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860, published Conway Maritime Press, 1984. ISBN 0-85177-315-X
• Lavery, Brian. Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation 1793-1815. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1989. ISBN 1-59114-611-9.
• Lavery, Brian. The Ship of the Line, Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet, 1650–1850. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1983. ISBN 0-87021-631-7.
• Lavery, Brian. The Ship of the Line, Volume 2: Design, Construction and Fittings. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1984. ISBN 0-87021-953-7.
• Mahan, A.T., The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783, Cosimo, Inc., 2007
• Marriot, Leo. Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983, Ian Allan, 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1322-5
• Macfarquhar, Colin & Gleig, George (eds.), Encyclopædia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, London (1797). Volume 17, Third Edition.
• Rodger, N.A.M. The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain 1649-1815, London (2004). ISBN 0-7139-9411-8
• Sondhaus, L. Naval Warfare, 1815-1914
• Winfield, Rif. The 50-Gun Ship. London: Caxton Editions, 1997. ISBN 1-84067-365-6, ISBN 1-86176-025-6
• Lavery, B. Ship. Dorling Kindersly, Ltd (2004). ISBN 1-4053-1154-1

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Frigates

• Frigates from battleships-cruisers.co.uk - history and pictures of United Kingdom frigates since World War II
• Frigates from Destroyers OnLine - pictures, history, crews of United States frigates since 1963
• The Development of the Full-Rigged Ship From the Carrack to the Full-Rigger

v t e Rating system of the Royal Navy Ships of the line First-rate Second-rate Third-rate Fourth-rate Frigates Fifth-rate Sixth-rate Unrated Sloop-of-war Gun-brig Cutter

Oliver Hazard Perry
The Hero of Lake Erie
Born	(1785-08-23)August 23, 1785 South Kingstown, Rhode Island
Died	August 23, 1819(1819-08-23) (aged 34) Trinidad
Place of burial	Newport, Rhode Island
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1799–1819
Rank	Commodore
Commands held	USS Nautilus USS Revenge U.S. Naval Forces, Lake Erie - USS Lawrence - USS Niagara USS Nonsuch USS Java
Battles/wars	Quasi-War with France Haitian Revolution First Barbary War - Battle of Derna War of 1812 - Battle of Lake Erie - Battle of the Thames River
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal
Relations	Christopher Perry (father) Sarah Perry (mother) Raymond Henry Jones Perry (brother) Matthew Calbraith Perry (brother) James Alexander Perry (brother) Nathaniel Hazard Perry (brother) Sarah Wallace Perry (sister) Anna Marie Perry Rodgers (sister) Jane Tweedy Perry Butler (sister)

United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace.^[1] He was an older brother to Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry who compelled the opening of Japan to the West by threat of force.

He served in the War of 1812 against Britain. After supervising the building of a fleet at Erie, Pennsylvania, at the age of 27 earned the title "Hero of Lake Erie" for leading American forces in a decisive naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, receiving a Congressional Gold Medal and the Thanks of Congress.^[1][2] His leadership materially aided the successful outcomes of all nine Lake Erie military campaign victories, and the fleet victory was a turning point in the battle for the west in the War of 1812.^[2]

Perry became embroiled in a long standing and festering controversy with the Commander of the USS Niagara, Captain Jesse Elliott over their conduct in the battle, and both were the subject of official charges that were lodged. In 1815, he successfully commanded the Java in the Mediterranean during the Second Barbary War. So seminal was his career that he was lionized in the press (being the subject of scores of books and articles),^[3] has been heavily memorialized, and many places and ships have been named in his honor.

Childhood and early career[link]

As a boy, Perry lived in Rhode Island, sailing ships in anticipation of his future career as an officer in the US Navy.^[2] He was educated in Newport, Rhode Island, and at the age of 13 was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy on April 7, 1799.^[2]

During the Quasi-War with France, he was assigned to his father's frigate, the USS General Greene. He first experienced combat on February 9, 1800, off the coast of the French colony of Haiti, which was in a state of rebellion.^[4]

During the First Barbary War, he served on the USS Adams and later commanded the USS Nautilus during the capture of Derna. Beginning in 1806, he commanded the sloop USS Revenge, engaging in patrol duties to enforce the Embargo Act, as well as a successful raid to regain a U.S. ship held in Spanish territory in Florida. On January 9, 1811, the Revenge ran aground off Rhode Island and was lost. The following court-martial exonerated Perry, placing blame on the ship's pilot.^[A][5] In January 2011, a team of divers claimed to have discovered the remains of the Revenge, nearly 200 years to the day after it sank.^[6][7]

Following the court-martial, Perry was given a leave of absence from the navy. On May 5, 1811, he married Elizabeth Champlin Mason of Newport, Rhode Island, whom he had met at a dance in 1807.^[5] They enjoyed an extended honeymoon touring New England. The couple would eventually have five children, with one dying in infancy.^[8]

War of 1812[link]

At the beginning of the War of 1812 American naval forces were very small, allowing the British to make many advances in the Great Lakes and northern New York waterways. The roles played by commanders like Oliver Perry at Lake Erie and Isaac Chauncey at Lake Ontario and Thomas Macdonough at Lake Champlain all proved vital to the naval effort that was largely responsible for winning that war.

Hero of Lake Erie[link]

Perry standing on a small boat after abandoning the Lawrence in a 1911 painting by Edward Percy Moran

At his request he was given command of United States naval forces on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. U.S. Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton had charged prominent merchant seaman Daniel Dobbins with building the American fleet on Presque Isle Bay at Erie, Pennsylvania, and Perry was named chief naval officer.^[1][2][9] On September 10, 1813, Perry's command fought a successful fleet action against a task force of the Royal Navy in the Battle of Lake Erie. It was at the outset of this battle that Perry famously said, “If a victory is to be gained, I will gain it.”^[10] Initially, the exchange of gunfire favored the British. Perry's flagship, the USS Lawrence, was so severely disabled in the encounter that the British commander, Robert Heriot Barclay, thought that Perry would surrender it, and sent a small boat to request that the American vessel pull down its flag. Faithful to the words of his battle flag, "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP" (a paraphrase of the dying words of Captain James Lawrence, the ship's namesake and Perry's friend),^[11][12] Perry ordered the crippled Lawrence to fire a final salvo and then had his men row him a half-mile (0.8 km) through heavy gunfire to transfer his command to the USS Niagara. Once aboard, Perry dispatched the Niagara's commander, Captain Jesse Elliot, to bring the other schooners into closer action while he steered the Niagara toward the damaged British ships. Breaking through the British line, the American force pounded Barclay's ships until they could offer no effective resistance and surrendered. Although he had won the battle aboard the Niagara, he received the British surrender on the deck of the recaptured Lawrence to allow the British to see the terrible price his men had paid.^[10] Perry's battle report to General William Henry Harrison was famously brief: "We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."^[11]

Perry's battle flag

This was the first time in history that an entire British naval squadron had surrendered, and every captured ship was successfully returned to Presque Isle.^[13] Although the engagement was small compared to Napoleonic naval battles such as the Battle of Trafalgar, the victory had disproportionate strategic importance, opening Canada up to possible invasion, while simultaneously protecting the entire Ohio Valley.^[2][14] The loss of the British squadron directly led to the critical Battle of the Thames, the rout of British forces by Harrison's army, the death of Tecumseh, and the breakup of his Indian alliance.^[13] Along with the Battle of Plattsburgh, it was one of only two significant fleet victories of the war.^[2]

In fact, Perry was involved in nine battles that led to and followed the Battle of Lake Erie, and they all had a seminal impact. "What is often overlooked when studying Perry is how his physical participation and brilliant strategic leadership influenced the outcomes of all nine Lake Erie military campaign victories:" Capturing Fort George, Ontario in the Battle of Fort George; Destroying the British munitions at Olde Fort Erie (see Capture of Fort Erie); Rescuing five vessels from Black Rock; Building the Erie fleet; Getting the ships over the sandbar; Blocking British supplies for a month prior to battle; Planning the Thames invasion with General Harrison; Winning the Battle of Lake Erie; and Winning the Battle of Thames.^[2][13]

Perry-Elliott controversy[link]

In his initial report, Perry praised Captain Elliott's role in the American victory at Lake Erie. Once news of the battle spread, Perry and Elliott were both celebrated as national heroes. Soon after, however, several junior officers publicly criticized Elliott's performance during the battle, charging that Elliott allowed the Lawrence to suffer the brunt of the British fire while holding the Niagara back from the fight, and that he had only come to the aid of the Lawrence once he believed that Perry was dead. Elliot rejoined that there had been a lack of effective signaling. Charges were filed but were not officially acted upon. Attempting to restore his honor, Elliott and his supporters began a 30-year campaign that would outlive both men and ultimately leave his reputation in tatters.^[13]

Congressional Gold Medal[link]

On January 6, 1814, Perry was honored with a Congressional Gold Medal,^[15] the Thanks of Congress, and a promotion to the rank of Captain.^[16][17] This was one of 27 Gold Medals authorized by Congress arising from the War of 1812.^[18]

rightcenter

Obverse – bust of Perry facing right surrounded by Oliverus H. Perry Princeps Stagno Eriense. ~ Classam Totam Contudit. Reverse depicts a sea battle scene with inscriptions: Viam Invenit Virtus Aut Facit Inter Class. Ameri. Et Brit Die X. Sep. MDCCCXIII (Valor finds or makes a way. Between the Fleets of America and Britain September 10, 1813.)[19][20]

Elliott was also recognized with a Congressional Gold Medal^[15] and the Thanks of Congress for his actions in the Battle of Lake Erie. This recognition would prove to fan the flames of resentment on both sides of the Elliott-Perry controversy.^[13]

Later commands and controversies[link]

USN Engraved portrait
Commodore Perry

In July 1814, Perry was offered command of the USS Java, a 44-gun frigate which was under construction in Baltimore. While overseeing the outfitting of the Java, Perry participated in the defenses of Baltimore and Washington, DC during the British invasion of the Chesapeake Bay. In a twist of irony, these land battles would be the last time the career naval officer saw combat. The Treaty of Ghent was signed before the Java could be put to sea.^[8]

For Perry, the post-war years were marred by controversies. In 1815, he commanded the Java in the Mediterranean during the Second Barbary War. While moored in Naples, Perry was provoked into slapping the commander of the ship's Marines, John Heath. The ensuing court-martial found both men guilty but levied only mild reprimands. After the crew returned home, Heath challenged Perry to a pistol duel, which was fought on October 19, 1817, on the same Weehawken, New Jersey, field where Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton. Heath fired first and missed. Perry refused to fire, satisfying the Marine's honor.^[8]

Perry's return from the Mediterranean also reignited the feud with Elliott. After an exchange of angry letters, Elliott challenged Perry to a duel, which Perry refused. He instead decided to file formal court-martial charges against Elliott, including "conduct unbecoming an officer," and failure to "do his utmost to take or destroy the vessel of the enemy which it was his duty to encounter." Wishing to avoid a scandal between two congressionally decorated naval heroes, Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson and President James Monroe suppressed the matter by offering Perry the rank of Commodore and a diplomatic mission to South America in exchange for dropping his charges against Elliott. This put an official end to the controversy, though it would continue to be debated for another quarter century.^[21]

Death and legacy[link]

Oliver Hazard Perry Issue of 1894

In 1819, after a successful expedition to Venezuela's Orinoco River to consult with Simon Bolivar about piracy in the Caribbean, Perry contracted yellow fever from mosquitoes while aboard the USS Nonsuch. Despite the crew's efforts to reach Trinidad for medical assistance, the Commodore died as the ship was nearing Port of Spain. He was 34 years old. After being buried in Port of Spain, his remains were later taken back to the United States and interred in Newport, Rhode Island. After resting briefly in the Old Common Burial Ground, his body was finally moved to Newport's Island Cemetery,^[22][23] where his brother Matthew C. Perry is also interred.^[24]

His family's descendants include Commander John Rodgers, the second person to become a United States naval aviator,^[25] and well known civilian aviator Calbraith Perry Rodgers, the first person to fly an airplane – the Vin Fiz – across the United States.^[26]

Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge (December 19, 1901 – August 2, 1963) was an American writer and anthropologist, best known for his 1930 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Laughing Boy.

Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (November 12, 1858 – June 10, 1908) was an American socialite and United States Representative from New York.

Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton (August 4, 1823 – November 1, 1877) (no relation) — the 14th Governor of Indiana, a famous Republican politician and U.S. Senator who was a leader among the Radical Republican reconstructionists – was named in his honor.*^[27]

Geographical namesakes[link]

Many locations, both in Rhode Island and near Lake Erie, are named in his honor, including:

Counties and municipalities (organized by state)[link]

• All of the ten Perry counties in the U.S.^[28] See also Perry (disambiguation)^[B]
• Perry County, Alabama^[29]
• The City of Perryville and Perry County, Arkansas
• The City of Perry, Georgia
• The City of Perrysville, Indiana.^[30]
• The Village of Perry and Perry County, Illinois
• Perry County, and its county seat Hazard, Kentucky.^[31] and the city of Perryville in Boyle County as well. Kentuckians were assigned as sharpshooters in the battle.
• Perry, Maine
• The City of Perry and Perry Township, Michigan.^[32]
• Perry County, Mississippi
• Perryville and Perry County, Missouri
• The Village of Perrysburg and the surrounding township; and the Village of Perry, New York and the surrounding township,^[33]
• The Cities of Perrysburg, North Perry and Perry; and Perry County, Ohio.
• The borough of Perryopolis and Oliver Township, within Perry County, and Oliver Township and Perry Township in Jefferson County Pennsylvania.^[34]
• The Village of Perryville in the Town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
• Perry County, Tennessee

Other places[link]

• Perry Hall at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
• Perry Square and Perry Street in Erie, Pennsylvania
• Oliver Hazard Perry Schools in: Erie, Pennsylvania; San Diego, California; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland and Euclid, Ohio; Boston and South Boston, Massachusetts; Brooklyn, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; and Lajas, Puerto Rico (built in 1904 and 1907) two classrooms.
• Perry Highway
  • U.S. Route 19 from Meadville to Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania
  • Pennsylvania Route 505 in Erie County, Pennsylvania
• Camp Perry at Port Clinton, Ohio.
• Perry Nuclear Generating Station
• Commodore Perry Service Plaza, Ohio Turnpike.^[35]
• Commodore Perry Homes and Perry Street in Buffalo, New York.

Monuments[link]

Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Statue in Newport, RI by William Greene Turner

Monuments to Perry are located in many locations, including:

• Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial at Put-In-Bay, Ohio – 352 foot (107 m) monument – the world's most massive Doric column – was constructed in Put-in-Bay, Ohio by a multi-state commission from 1912 to 1915.^[36]

• Perry Monument at Misery Bay, Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania

• Front Park, by Charles Henry Niehaus, in Buffalo, New York, dedicated September 25, 1916

• Wade Park by William Walcutt, and Herman Matzen, in Cleveland, Ohio^[37] Dedicated June 14, 1929

• Perry Square, monument designed by Paul Philippe Cret, in Erie, Pennsylvania, 1925

• Eisenhower Park in Newport, RI, sculpture by William Greene Turner, dedicated September 10, 1885, the 72nd anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie.^[38]

• In April 1925, Captain Henry E. Lackey took the newly commissioned light cruiser USS Memphis (CL-13) and was the U.S. naval representative at the opening of the Oliver Hazard Perry Memorial Gateway in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.^[39][40]

Eponymous ships[link]

Commodore Perry has been repeatedly honored with ships bearing his name.

• USS Perry (1843), a sailing brig 1843–1865.
• USS Commodore Perry (1859) was an armed side wheel ferry built in 1859 by Stack and Joyce, Williamsburg, N.Y. and purchased by the Navy October 2, 1861; and commissioned later in the month, Acting Master F. J. Thomas was in command.^[41]
• USS Perry (DD-11), Bainbridge-class destroyer 1900–1919.
• USS Perry (DD-340), a Clemson-class destroyer converted into a high speed minesweeper and re-designated DMS–17 effective November 19, 1940. Served 1921–1944; sunk in Battle of Peleliu.
• Oliver Hazard Perry - USAT 2725 a Liberty ship. See, List of Liberty ships: M-R.^[42]
• USS Perry (DD-844), was a Gearing class destroyer 1945–1970.
• USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7), a guided-missile frigate 1976–1997 and Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates are named in his honor. See also USS Perry.
• SSV Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island Educational Tall ship. When completed, it will measure 207 feet (63 m), will be a three-masted Square-rigged vessel, making it the largest privately-owned tall ship in the United States. Scheduled to set sail in 2012, it is intended to be a long 'good will ambassador' for the State of Rhode Island, and a "floating classroom." It is being financed through a tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, and public subscription.^[43][44] Ironically, "The ship, as it existed [when acquired by the Rhode Island trust was] a 138 feet (42 m) steel hull, which [was] bought from an organization in Ontario for $325,000. It had cost almost $3 million to build, but the Canadian group derailed before the ship—intended to be a replica of the [20 gun] British ship HMS Detroit [captured by the flotilla commanded by Commodore Perry – not the six gun sloop HMS Detroit (1812) destroyed by Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott in the War of 1812] – could be completed."^[44][45]

See also[link]

• List of books about the War of 1812

Bibliography[link]

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Axelrod, Alen; Phillips, Charles. The MacMillan Dictionary of Military Biography (New York: MacMillan, 1998.) p. 343.
• Bancroft, George, 1800–1891; Dyer, Oliver, 1824–1907. (1891) History of the battle of Lake Erie: and miscellaneous papers (New York : R. Bonner's sons) 292 pp. at American Library Association.
• Barnes, James, 1866–1936 (1898) The hero of Erie (Oliver Hazard Perry) (microform) (1898) New York: D. Appleton Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography at Internet archive and here for other formats.
• Burges, Tristam (1770–1853) (1839) Battle of Lake Erie, with notices of Commodore Elliot's conduct in that engagement (Providence, Brown & Cady) at Internet Archive.
• Conners, William James, 1857–; Emerson, George Douglas. (1916) The Perrys victory centenary. Report of the Perry’s victory centennial commission, state of New York (Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, Printers).
• Coles, Harry L; Borstin, Daniel J., Ed. August 1966 The War of 1812 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press) ISBN 978-0-226-11350-0.
• Cooper, James Fenimore (1846) Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers Kingman Press and here for American Library Association.
• Cooper, James Fenimore, History of the Navy (1839).
• Dillon, Richard. (1978) We have met the enemy: Oliver Hazard Perry, wilderness commodore (New York: McGraw-Hill). ISBN 978-0-07-016981-4.
• "Robert J. Dodge Collection – MS 157". Center for Archival Collections. Bowling Green State University. http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/ms/page44121.html. Retrieved October 2, 2011. 
• Dodge, Robert J. (1962). The Battle of Lake Erie. National Park Service. 
• Dutton, Charles J.(1935) Oliver Hazard Perry (New York: Longmans, Green and Co.) 308 pp. (Scholar's Bookshelf; First Edition. October 15, 2006) ISBN 0-945726-36-8; ISBN 978-0-945726-36-4.
• Downloadable resources regarding Oliver Hazard Perry, American Library Association.
• Eaton, Joseph Giles (1847–1905) (1905) Perry's Victory on Lake Erie. Military Historical Society of Massachusetts (Boston, For the Society, by Houghton Mifflin)at American Library Association.
• Elliott, Jesse D. Address of Com. Jesse D. Elliot, U.S.N., Delivered in Washington County, Maryland, to His Early Companions at Their Request, on November 24, 1843 (Philadelphia: G.B. Zeiber & co., 1844) 137 pp. at Google books.
• Hickey, Donald R. (1990) The War of 1812: The Forgotten Conflict Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. National Historical Society Book Prize and American Military Institute Best Book Award. ISBN 0-252-06059-8; ISBN 978-0-252-06059-5.
• Hickey, Donald R. (2006) Don't Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press) ISBN 0-252-03179-2.
• Langguth, A.J. (2006). Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence. New York: Simon & Shuster. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/0-7432-2618-9|0-7432-2618-9]]. 
• Lyman, Olin H. (1905) Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and the War on the Lakes.
• Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell 1803–1848. (1915) Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry : famous American naval hero, victor of the battle of Lake Erie, his life and achievements (Akron, Ohio: Superior Printing Co.) at Internet archive.
• Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell, 1803–1848 (1840) The life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. (New York, Harper) Volume 1, Volume 2.
• Mahan, Alfred Thayer (1840–1914)(1905) Sea Power in Its Relation to the War of 1812 (2 vols.) (Boston: Little Brown) American Library Association.
• Paullin, Charles Edward (October, 1918). The Battle of Lake Erie (a collection of documents, mainly those by Oliver Hazard Perry). Cleveland, Ohio: The Raufin Club. http://books.google.com/?id=rH8TAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA205. Retrieved August 18, 2011. 
• Morton, Edward Payson (1869–1914) Lake Erie and the story of Commodore Perry Chicago: Ainsworth & company Internet Archive digitized by Google.
• Niles, John Milton (Bedford, Mass.: Applewood Books, 1830) The Life of Oliver Hazard Perry.
• Reid, George. (1913) Perry at Erie:how Captain Dobbins, Benjamin Fleming and others assisted him. (Erie, Pennsylvania: Journal publishing company).
• Skaggs, David Curtis. (October 2006) Oliver Hazard Perry: honor, courage, and patriotism in the early U.S. Navy. Annapolis, Maryland:Naval Institute Press, 302 pp. ISBN 978-1-59114-792-3; ISBN 1-59114-792-1.
• Skaggs, David Curtis; Altoff, Gerard T. Altoff A Signal Victory: The Lake Erie Campaign, 1812–1813 (Naval Institute Press), winner John Lyman Book Awards 1997. ISBN 978-1-55750-892-8.
• Skaggs, David Curtis; Welsh, William Jeffrey, editors (1991). War on the Great Lakes: Essays Commemorating the 175th Anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie. Kent State University Press. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=23190118. Retrieved May 24, 2012. 
• Skaggs, David Curtis. Perry Triumphant (April 2009 Volume 23, Number 2) Naval History Magazine United States Naval Institute.
• White, James T. (1895) p. 288. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography.

External links[link]

	United States Navy portal
	Rhode Island portal
	Biography portal
	Erie portal