Frigate

Blackbeard's frigate, the Queen Anne's Revenge

The frigate was a class of warship operated by, among others, the British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese navies. In the case of the Spanish and British navies, they also served as money ships in naval convoys, often carrying up to 5,000 Spanish reales.

History

During the Golden Age of Piracy, the frigate was among the most well-armed class of warships in operation throughout the Caribbean, shy of the greater Man O' War. Each ship bore three masts and was capable of fielding up to forty-six guns over two decks; on top of this, they were fitted with heavy shot.

In 1725, the East India Company fleet commanded by the Templar Grand Master Alan Jacob included several frigates. During a naval clash with the Zhang Wei Union in the Strait of Malacca, three frigates were sent to intercept the Union's flagship Fenghuang and prevent its escape, but they were sunk by Admiral Zheng's fleet, which had stumbled upon the engagement. The remaining frigates were destroyed alongside the rest of the Company fleet near the coast of Indochina, where they had formed a blockade in an ultimately futile attempt to prevent the Union from reaching the mainland.

During the Seven Years' War, frigates were a common ship of both the Royal Navy and the French Navy, as well as the Colonial Assassins' fleet. At the Siege of Louisbourg, Battle of Quiberon Bay, and the Battle of Labrador, frigates led the first wave of the French Navy's assault.

Notable frigates

• Greyhound
• Henderson
• Hercules
• HMS Defiance
• HMS Intrigue
• Independence
• La Belladonna
• Orpheus
• Princess
• Queen Anne's Revenge
• Royal African Pearl
• Saint James
• San Lorenzo
• Whydah
• USS Randolph

Trivia

• In the memory "Men O'War" from Assassin's Creed: Rogue, frigates from the Royal Navy launch mortars against the French Navy during a cutscene, but in actual naval combat, they are incapable of using mortars in either Rogue or its prequel Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
• Only high-level enemy frigates can use heavy shot; level 23 frigates do not have them equipped while level 29 frigates and above do although the exact level prerequisite is unknown.
• In Black Flag, the highest-level frigate is Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge, at level 40.
• The abandoned ships in Rogue are always British frigates.
• Four frigates can be seen in the background in the Battle of Quiberon Bay and the Siege of Louisbourg though they function as cosmetics rather than as real ships.

Gallery

• 
  The Princess, a frigate converted into a slave ship
• 
  Two Dutch frigates
• 
  Three British frigates trying to intercept the Fenghunag
• 
  The Henderson, a merchant frigate
• 
  La Belladonna, a French frigate

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Blackbeard – The Lost Journal
• Assassin's Creed: Pirates
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple