Sloop-of-war

During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a <a href="/facts/Warship/Vxbv36In">warship</a> of the British <a href="/facts/Royal_Navy/Xdy8YCH7">Royal Navy</a> with a single <a href="/facts/Gun_deck/kXYP8KkX">gun deck</a> that carried up to 18 guns. The <a href="/facts/Rating_system_of_the_Royal_Navy/yD52g0UX">rating system of the Royal Navy</a> covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all unrated warships, including <a href="/facts/List_of_gun-brigs_of_the_Royal_Navy/jLvoIePT">gun-brigs</a> and <a href="/facts/Cutter_(boat)/qcc6eXzX">cutters</a>. In technical terms, even the more specialised <a href="/facts/Bomb_vessel/P18smUcf">bomb vessels</a> and <a href="/facts/Fire_ship/gfzpDUqB">fire ships</a> were classed by the Royal Navy as sloops-of-war, and in practice these were employed in the role of a sloop-of-war when not carrying out their specialised functions.
In <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a> and <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, the Royal Navy reused the term "sloop" for specialised <a href="/facts/Convoy/03yMx0P1">convoy</a>-defence vessels, including the <a href="/facts/Flower-class_sloop/oKyaeBHG">Flower class</a> of the First World War and the highly successful <a href="/facts/Black_Swan-class_sloop/BUdWpz7e">Black Swan class</a> of the Second World War, with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities. They performed similar duties to the <a href="/facts/Destroyer_escort/PVW6c3nu">destroyer escorts</a> of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Navy/xYK0fUou">United States Navy</a>, and also performed similar duties to the smaller <a href="/facts/Corvette/KrdbemWU">corvettes</a> of the Royal Navy.

Sloop-of-war open-in-new

Sloop-of-war