Stone frigate

'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French in 1803–1804.

The Royal Navy was prohibited from ruling over land, so the land was commissioned as a ship The command of this first stone frigate was given to Commodore Hood's first lieutenant, James Wilkes Maurice, who, with cannon taken off the Commodore's ship, manned it with a crew of 120 until its capture by the French in the Battle of Diamond Rock in 1805.

As ships began to use increasingly complex technology during the late 19th century, these facilities became too large to continue afloat, and were moved to shore establishments while keeping their former names.

An early 'stone frigate' was the engineering training college HMS Marlborough (1855), moved ashore to Portsmouth in 1880.

c. 109),[1] the provisions of the act only applied to officers and men of the Royal Navy borne on the books of a warship.