![]() ![]() The Rebel Alliance rebuilt 600m Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers as Assault Frigates, powerful, brawling combat warships that remained in use for many years under the New Republic.Īpart from large hospital ships, the largest ship to be described as a "frigate" is probably the Home One, used as the fleet flagship of the Alliance and New Republic by Admiral Gial Ackbar, which was widely known as the Headquarters Frigate. The 825m Munificent-class star frigates were designed around high-powered HoloNet transceivers to ensure secure interstellar communications for the InterGalactic Banking Clan, but came to be used as combat warships by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. Some ships in larger size brackets are called frigates rather than cruisers. Other small frigates are known, such as the 35m Imperial Customs Frigate and the 150m Interceptor-class frigate, an adaptation of a civilian design but the term was in rather more widespread use as a designation for relatively large ships that would be designated as cruisers under the standard system, such as later variants of the Acclamator-class assault ship.Īrdent-class fast frigates were among the foremost warships in the time of the Sith Empire under Darth Krayt. Ships described as "medical frigates" range from the thirty-meter Sprint-class rescue craft to the two-kilometer hospital ship Mercy, and a "winged" variant of the MC80 Star Cruiser, probably the same type as the Liberty, which must have been at least 1200m long. Their purpose was to protect aquatic transports from the Destroyer warships. Historically, space frigates evolved from aquatic war vessels called Frigates. Some Nebulon-B frigates were also known to have been converted into hospital ships, such as the one that Luke Skywalker was treated on after having lost his hand in dueling Darth Vader these ships were known as Medical Frigates, although this term was also applied to ships that in no way conformed to the standard definition of a combat frigate-a reminder that there were many ships in the Galaxy which were described as frigates even though they fell outside the standard designation. Some types, such as the Imperial Navy's Star Galleon, were purpose-designed as armed cargo ships, while others were modified for cargo duty as military transports. On one side or the other, escort frigates saw action in countless engagements throughout the Galactic Civil War, and they were still in use during the Yuuzhan Vong War and the Corellian secession crisis.Īlthough primarily designed for a combat role, frigate-sized warships could be adapted to carry out a wide variety of duties. On both sides of the war, escort frigates are recorded as the flagships of task forces containing ships as large as 600m heavy cruisers. However, because they were designed to operate independently of larger capital ships, they were also equipped with powerful HoloNet transmitters and impressive command facilities, and this led to them becoming popular as command ships for squadrons containing more powerful warships. The escort frigate was designed by the Empire to combat Rebel "piracy," with the dual role of protecting Imperial transport ships and hunting down Alliance forces but captured ships also came to be used extensively by the Rebellion against Imperial Forces during the Galactic Civil War, where they were used as raiders, and as screening vessels within combat squadrons.Įscort frigates had a stark, stripped-down hull form, not particularly fast or maneuverable, but carrying a typical frigate armament and two squadrons of TIE Fighters. Some frigate types, like the anti-starfighter Lancer design, were specifically designed to support larger warships, but others were intended primarily to defend unarmed freighters and transports, including the most famous frigate type of the Galactic Civil War, the Nebulon-B escort frigate. This was the definition that was officially used by the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire, the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and the New Republic, although formal exceptions were made for ships like the heavily-armed 350m Carrack-class light cruiser, and many other classification systems were used simultaneously throughout the galaxy.įrigates were armed to defend themselves effectively against smaller and more maneuverable warships, and with a limited attack capacity against larger capital ships they could sometimes carry up to three squadrons of starfighters, and were often deployed in small groups to protect larger vessels. According to the standard system of ship-classifications, a frigate was a ship with a crew of between 200 and 1,000 beings, and an approximate size of 200-400m long, defined by the maximum size of smaller system patrol craft and the minimum size of larger cruisers.
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