Napoleonic references potentially misleading (Was: [FT] squadron suggestions).

> In Napoleonic fleet actions, the convention was that a ship of the

Let's be a little careful here, because the term "frigate" can be a bit
slippery. In Napoleonic times it was applied to vessels very different in size
and fighting power relative to the battle fleet, from those to which it was
applied when the term was revived in the twentieth century.

Napoleonic frigates included the most powerful warships OTHER than the
line-of-battle ships, and fulfilled much the same roles as cruisers
(scouting for the fleet, commerce raiding/protection etc) rather than
light
escorts. The extra-large frigates deployed by the United States Of
America during the War Of 1812 were forerunners of the battlecruiser. Light
escort roles were allocated to corvettes (another slippery term) and
sloops-of-war.

> >>>> In Napoleonic fleet actions, the convention was that a ship of

Robert Bryett said:
> Let's be a little careful here, because the term "frigate" can be a

FT frigates are more like Napoleonic sloops, true-- although that
would, I think, make such a "don't fire at the small fry" convention more
likely.

Not that such a convention is a given. I'm sure a WWII Royal Navy battleship
would have been willing to take potshots at E boats.

The difficulty is that in FT, the small ships are no more difficult to
hit than the large ones, and it's a lot easier to mission-kill them,
so you might as well shoot them. Therefore, if you're going to have frigates
in a battle, it takes a little more work to explain why they're there.