frigate
Noun.

1. A relatively small, lightly armed warship normally tasked with ASW (anti-submarine warfare) and POS (protection of shipping, i.e. convoy escort). Frigates are less expensive than destroyers, and are therefore much more common among smaller navies. Frigate hulls are generally large enough to accomodate a full weapons suite, but frigates in large navies such as that of the United States are more lightly armed than the maximum weight available. Modern frigates typically carry at least one helicopter for ASW and SAR (search and rescue).

NATO standard designations are: FF (gun frigate), FFG (guided missile frigate), FFGN (nuclear-powered guided missile frigate, no longer used), and DE (destroyer escort, no longer used).
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1. Two british frigates, the HMS Ardent and HMS Antelope, were sunk by Argentina during the Falklands War of 1982.