Eventually, however, as sails steadily replaced oars as the chief means of
propulsion, naval commanders saw that they could use those sails to great
advantage. h ey found that the sails’ wind-catching capabilities could
provide not only power but also increased maneuverability. Moreover,
that ability to outmaneuver an enemy could be combined with an extremely
deadly weapon—the cannon—which began to be used on ships
in the early 1500s.
h ereby, a new set of naval tactics was born. It deemphasized
approaching an enemy and engaging in
hand-to-hand combat and instead stressed the concept
of destroying an opponent from a distance. h e cannons,
in naval jargon, “guns,” that made this possible
were mounted in rows below a warship’s main deck.
Packing the i repower of twenty, thirty, or more guns, a
single large sailing ship was now a military threat of immense proportions.
From the late 1500s on, the English called such a vessel a man-of-war.
With favorable wind conditions and a skilled captain, a man-of-war
could easily cripple or sink an entire small l eet of old-style galleys. In a
sea battle, a man-of-war’s captain focused on maneuvering his ship into
a position from which his guns could do the most damage. More often
than not, that position was broadside-to-broadside, or parallel. Ideally, the
captain’s vessel crept up on the enemy ship from the rear, and as it passed
by, its guns opened i re, raking the opponent’s hull, masts, and rigging.
World History
