Number 147 in Osprey's fine 'New Vanguard' series is this book on American light and medium frigates. Though the ships of the line generally got most of the press in these days, it was the frigate that undertook the majority of the work of a nation's navy. These well gunned, fast and maneuverable ships were among the smallest of the purpose built warships in a fleet.

Early American Naval history is full of now-famous captains and ship names. From the light and medium frigates come names like Essex and Constellation with captains such as Preble and Porter and Truxton and Fox.  

Generally, American Frigates were larger than similar ships of the British and in some cases larger than French or Spanish ones. They tended to have more and larger guns as well, though this was not always the case. As with weapons systems today, there was more than one school of thought on how to build these ships so some were smaller and lighter and not so heavily armed. It turns out that the larger ships were the ones that were the most effective.

America fought the Barbary Pirates in the the Mediterranean, the French in the Caribbean, and the British in home waters using these ships, some with great success, while at other times, it was found that the light frigates just did not have the weaponry to be useful against a major power.

The full history and design of these interesting ships is covered in this volume. It is superbly illustrated by period works as well as by the artists chosen by Osprey for this title. It is an excellent book on a most interesting subject and one that I am positive you will find to be of interest. One that will be pulled from the shelves time after time and one I can highly recommend to you.

August 2008

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