Ship of the line
Navío de línea
- Date
- 1637-1655 · confidence high
- Place
- Woolwich, London, England (Sovereign of the Seas)
- Credited to
- Phineas Pett and Peter Pett; line tactics from the Fighting Instructions (1653)
- People
- 👤 Peter Pett1610–1672👤 Phineas Pett1570–1647
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
A ship with two or three gun decks (70–100 guns), designed to fight in line-ahead formation with broadsides. The Sovereign of the Seas (1637) was the first three-decker with 100 guns.
What it led to
- Line-of-battle tactics and the Anglo-Dutch Wars
- The English fiscal-military state and royal dockyards as major industries
- Naval hegemony as the foundation of the British Empire
- Public debt and the Bank of England to finance fleets
Built on
- Cast bronze cannon with trunnionsc. 1450-1500
- Galleonc. 1530-1550
- Cast-iron cannon
Made possible
- Ship rating system
- Arsenals and dry docks
- 74-gun ship of the line