Editing Frigate (section)

===Classic design===
[[File:Lutine1.jpg|thumb|A {{sclass|Magicienne|frigate|1}}]]
[[File:Main batteries of Méduse-Garneray-IMG 4787-cropped.JPG|thumb|Gun deck of the {{sclass|Pallas|frigate|0||1808}} frigate {{ship|French frigate|Méduse|1810|2}}]]

The classic sailing frigate, or 'true frigate', well-known today for its role in the [[Napoleonic wars|Napoleonic Wars]], can be traced back to French developments in the second quarter of the 18th century. The French-built {{ship|French frigate|Médée|1741|2}} of 1740 is often regarded as the first example of this type. These ships were [[Square rig|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 typical earlier cruiser had a partially armed lower deck, from which it was known as a 'half-battery' or ''demi-batterie'' ship. Removing the guns from this deck allowed the height of the hull upperworks to be lowered, giving the resulting 'true-frigate' much improved sailing qualities. The unarmed deck meant that the frigate's guns were carried comparatively high above the waterline; as a result, when seas were too rough for two-deckers to open their lower deck [[Gun port|gunports]], frigates were still able to fight with all their guns (see the [[action of 13 January 1797]], for an example when this was decisive).<ref name="Breen">{{cite journal |last1=Breen |first1=Colin |last2=Forsythe |first2=Wes |year=2007 |title=The French Shipwreck La Surveillante, Lost in Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1797 |jstor=25617454 |journal=Historical Archaeology |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=41–42|doi=10.1007/BF03377053 |s2cid=162814509 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Gardiner|Lavery|1992|pp=36–37}}

The [[Royal Navy]] captured a number of the new French frigates, including ''Médée'', during the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1740–1748) and were impressed by them, particularly for their inshore handling capabilities. They soon built copies (ordered in 1747), based on a French privateer named ''Tygre'', and started to adapt the type to their own needs, setting the standard for other frigates as the leading naval power. 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 [[quarterdeck]]) 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 quarterdeck and forecastle.{{sfnp|Gardiner|Lavery|1992|p=37}} Technically, 'rated ships' with fewer than 28&nbsp;guns could not be classed as frigates but as "[[post ship]]s"; 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.

A total of fifty-nine French sailing frigates were built between 1777 and 1790, with a standard design averaging a hull length of {{convert|135|ft|m|abbr=on}} and an average draught of {{convert|13|ft|m|abbr=on}}. The new frigates recorded sailing speeds of up to {{convert|14|kn|km/h mph}}, significantly faster than their predecessor vessels.<ref name="Breen"/>