Ship of the line

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A ship of the line, also known as a line-of-battle ship or sail of the line, is a type of warship which was built between the 17th and mid-19th centuries during the Age of Sail. Originating in Western and Southern Europe, ships of the line were defined in contrast to smaller warship types by having at least two gun decks and three masts, and were designed for the sailing ship tactic of the line of battle, which involved two columns of opposing warships manoeuvering to volley fire with the cannons along their broadsides. Between the 17th and 19th centuries ships of the line, as the most powerful warships afloat, formed the backbone of European navies as their capital ships. From the end of the 1840s, the introduction of steam engines brought less dependence on the wind in battle and led to the construction of screw-driven wooden-hulled ships of the line; a number of purely sail-powered ships were converted to this propulsion mechanism. However, the rise of the ironclad frigate, starting...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Nicholas Pocock (1740–1821), Public domain