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Line of battle
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==Development during the Anglo-Dutch battles of the early 1650s== Until the mid-[[17th century]], the tactics of a fleet were often to "charge" the enemy, firing [[chase gun|bow chaser]] cannon, which did not deploy the broadside to its best effect. These new vessels required new tactics, and "since ... almost all the artillery is found upon the sides of a ship of war, hence it is the beam that must necessarily and always be turned toward the enemy. On the other hand, it is necessary that the sight of the latter must never be interrupted by a friendly ship. Only one formation allows the ships of the same fleet to satisfy fully these conditions. That formation is the line ahead [column]. This line, therefore, is imposed as the only order of battle, and consequently as the basis of all fleet tactics."{{sfn|Mahan|1890|pp=115{{ndash}}116}} The Dutch [[admiral]] [[Maarten Tromp]] first used the line of battle tactic in the [[Fight in the Channel]],{{sfn|Prud’homme van Reine|2001|p=417}} although some have disputed this.{{sfn|Corbett|1905|p=85}} [[File:Battle of Goodwin Sands.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Dover (1652)|Battle of Dover]] (19 May 1652), depicted in ''British Battles on Land and Sea'' (1873)]] Captains on both sides of the [[First Anglo-Dutch War]] appear to have experimented with the technique in 1652, possibly including [[Robert Blake (admiral)|Robert Blake]] at the [[Battle of Dover (1652)|Battle of Dover]] (19 May 1652).{{sfn|Corbett|1905|p=85}} Tromp faced Blake as he approached from [[Rye, East Sussex|Rye]] with 12 ships. After Tromp refused to strike sail in salute, a battle took place, but the Dutch, despite their superior numbers, failed to capture any English ships. The engagement was, according to the historian Ben Wilson, "a good old-fashioned melee lacking any sophisticated tactics".{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=193}} The [[Battle of the Kentish Knock]] (28 September 1652) revealed the weakness of the Dutch fleet, largely consisting of smaller ships, against the English. The Dutch consequently began a large shipbuilding programme.{{sfn|Wilson|2014|pp=200{{ndash}}201}} The [[Battle of Dungeness]] (30 November 1652) was a victory for the Dutch, and led to the revitalisation of the Commonwealth Navy. One innovation introduced by [[George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle|George Monck]] (the first English professional soldier to become a senior naval officer) and [[Richard Deane (regicide)|Deane]] was the [[Articles of War#Royal Navy|Articles of War]], which introduced the concept of Red, White, and Blue squadrons, each with an admiral, a [[vice admiral]], and a [[rear admiral]], The Articles of War established the line of battle as a tactic for naval warfare.{{sfn|Davey|2018|p=204}}{{sfn|Rodger|2004|p=16}} After 1652, battles would be determined by the ability of a line of battle to not be broken down. The line was difficult to maintain when ships performed differently from each other and were affected by the sea conditions and the "chaos of conflict".{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=208}} At the [[Battle of Portland]] (18–20 February 1653), the English were scattered at the start of the battle, and so were unable to attack the Dutch fleet effectively. It was at Portland that Monck saw how little control admirals had in controlling a fleet and passing commands to his ships.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|p=16}} One of the first precise written instructions adopting the line of battle tactic were contained in the English Navy's Fighting Instructions, written by Blake and his colleagues, and published in 1653.{{sfn|Corbett|1905|pp=99{{ndash}}104}} ''Instructions for the better ordering of the Fleet in Fighting'', issued on 29 March 1653, was the first clear evidence of the line of battle becoming official policy.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|p=16}} [[File:Witmont, Battle of the Gabbard.jpg|thumb|[[Heerman Witmont]], ''The Battle of the Gabbard, 2 June 1653'' ([[Royal Museums Greenwich]])]] During the [[Battle of the Gabbard]] (2/3 June 1653), both fleets began parallel to each other, arranged in three squadrons nose to tail. The English ships were able to fire continuous broadsides, resulting in terrible loss of life and damage to the Dutch fleet. The Dutch were unable to approach the enemy at close quarters, their preferred tactic. This usually prevailed if they could isolate and attack individual ships.{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=206}} The tactic revealed by the Battle of the Gabbard was not new to naval warfare, but was a consequence of the reforms imposed on the English navy. The New Fighting Instructions meant that senior officers could more easily control their ship captains, who could no longer easily evade fighting, or race heroically ahead of the rest of the fleet.{{sfn|Wilson|2014|p=207}} The line-of-battle tactic favoured very large ships that could sail steadily and maintain their place in the line in the face of heavy fire. The change toward the line of battle also depended on an increased disciplining of society and the demands of powerful centralized government to keep permanent fleets led by a corps of professional officers. These officers were better able to manage and communicate between the ships they commanded than the [[Merchant ship|merchant crews]] that often comprised large parts of a navy's force. The new type of warfare that developed during the [[early modern period]] was marked by a successively stricter organization. Battle formations became standardized, based on calculated ideal models. The increased power of states at the expense of individual landowners led to increasingly larger armies and navies.{{sfn|Glete|1993|p=176}} A ship that was powerful enough to stand in the line of battle came to be called a ''[[ship of the line]] of battle'', or ''line of battle ship''. In time this became shortened to ''[[battleship]]''.<ref name="OED">{{cite web |title='battleship, n.' |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/16283?redirectedFrom=battleship |website=OED Online |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=25 November 2022 |ref=Iurl-access=|date=September 2022}} {{Subscription or libraries|uk}}</ref>
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