 Unlike larger ships that were placed in ordinary, frigates were kept in service in peacetime as a cost-saving measure and to provide experience to frigate captains and officers which would be useful in wartime.Frigates could also carry marines for boarding enemy ships or for operations on shore; in 1832, the frigate landed a party of 282 sailors and Marines ashore in the US Navy's first Sumatran expedition.Frigates remained a crucial element of navies until the mid-19th century.