] Frigates were fast and manoeuverable and had many roles in th Navy-

I thought the frigate looked a model for a heavy ship.
Yet if I read your post correctly, in the skirmish with the French frigate, Capt. Wentworth mentions in ch. 8; a sloop was not only out-gunned; it could be outrun.
I wonder if Wentworth actually thought it safer to give fight !

I had no idea frigate captains had to be exceptional leaders; Wentworth was indeed a self-made man who lived up to his potential.