a fleet of small craft She was guarded by a flotilla of boats equipped with satellites, Global Positioning System devices, advanced navigation systems and shark shields. — New York Times (Aug 11, 2011 [..]

"a small fleet," 1711, from Spanish flotilla, diminutive of flota "a fleet," from flotar "to float," which is said to be from Old French floter "to float, set afloat [..]

A fleet of ships or boats.

A squadron of boats or small vessels. frigate. A vessel of war, three-masted, fully rigged, in size between a corvette and a ship-of-the-line. Frigates had a full-length gun deck that, in the Chesapeake battles, typically carried 36 or 38 long guns in the Royal Navy and 38 or 44 in the U.S. Navy. When carronades were introduced, the 38-gun class fr [..]

(n) a United States Navy fleet consisting of two or more squadrons of small warships(n) a fleet of small craft

Fleet of small vessels.

A squadron of small ships.

  From the old Spanish "flota." An administrative or tactical organization consisting of two or more squadrons together with a flag ship. 

A squadron of small ships.

A group of boats together on a trip.

A group of ten or more vessels that work together. A flotilla is often comprised of similar types of vessels; the Chesapeake Flotilla was primarily made up of barges. The word flotilla comes from the Spanish word for fleet.

(nautical) A small fleet of warships (usually of the same class), or a fleet of small ships. * '''1919,''' Ronald Firbank, ''Valmouth'', Duckworth, hardback edition, page 102: *: Toward the horizo [..]