Editing Line of battle (section)

==Background==
The first recorded mention of the use of a line of battle tactic is to be found in the ''Instructions'', provided in 1500 by [[Manuel I of Portugal|Manuel I, king of Portugal]], to the commander of a fleet dispatched to the Indian Ocean. The precision in the ''Instructions'' suggests that the tactic was in place before this date. Portuguese fleets overseas deployed in line ahead, firing one [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]] and then putting about in order to return and discharge the other, resolving battles by gunnery alone. In a [[treatise]] of 1555, ''The Art of War at Sea'', Portuguese theorist on naval warfare and shipbuilding, [[Fernão de Oliveira]], recognized that at sea, the Portuguese "fight at a distance, as if from walls and fortresses...". He recommended the single line ahead as the ideal combat formation.{{sfn|Parker|2008|p=125}}

[[File:Gama armada of 1502 (Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu).jpg|thumb|The [[Fourth Portuguese India Armada]] of 1502, from the ''{{Ill|Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu|pt}}'')]]
Line-of-battle tactics had been used by the [[4th Portuguese India Armada (Gama, 1502)|Fourth Portuguese India Armada]] at the [[Battle of Calicut (1503)]], under [[Vasco da Gama]], near [[Zamorin|Malabar]] against a Muslim fleet.{{sfn|Parker|1996|p=94}} One of the earliest recorded deliberate uses is documented in the [[First Battle of Cannanore]] between the [[3rd Portuguese India Armada (Nova, 1501)|Third Portuguese India Armada]] under [[João da Nova]] and the naval forces of [[Kozhikode|Calicut]], earlier in the same year. Another early, but different form of this strategy, was used in 1507 by [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] at the entrance to the [[Persian Gulf]], in the first [[Capture of Ormuz (1507)|conquest of Ormuz]]. Albuquerque commanded a fleet of six [[carrack]]s manned by 460 men, and entered Ormuz Bay, being surrounded by 250 warships and a 20,000 men army on land. Albuquerque made his small fleet (but powerful in its artillery) circle like a carrousel, but in a line end-to-end, and destroyed most of the ships that surrounded his [[Squadron (naval)|squadron]]. He then captured Ormuz.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

From the mid-16th century, the [[cannon]] gradually became the most important weapon in naval warfare, replacing [[Naval boarding|boarding actions]] as the decisive factor in combat. At the same time, the natural tendency in the design of [[galleon]]s was for longer ships with lower [[forecastle]]s and [[aftercastle]]s, which meant faster, more stable vessels. These newer warships could mount more cannons along the sides of their decks, concentrating their firepower along their broadside, while presenting a lower target to their enemy.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}