Frigate

The Frigate is the ship of choice in Britannia when it comes to sea travel. This big ship is built for long sea travel and also armed with powerful cannons in order to keep away sea monsters and Pirates. Crews have the option of either raising the sails and hope that the winds are right, or use the rows supplied with the ship for slower, but more precise movement. This is absolutely needed, since a frigate can't enter shallow waters, thus why every frigate comes with a Skiff for these situations.

Frigates already were part of the series starting with Ultima I, but only starting with Ultima V was it possible to buy them (before, they'd to be captured from pirates). This was also the first time, when skiffs were supplied with a frigate. By the time of Ultima VI, they'd lost the skiffs again, but gained the ability to sail everywhere.

Frigates were no more seen after that time, due to engine limitations reducing ships to simpler design. However, the intro of Ultima VII/2 shows that actually the Avatar's ship is supposed to be a frigate.

Trivia

 * In Ultima II it is only possible to command a frigate after getting a Blue Tassle.
 * In Ultima IV, the Wheel of the HMS Cape can upgrade a frigate.
 * In Ultima V, the plans of the HMS Cape were found to again upgrade the ship.