British and Danish ships in line of battle at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801).

In naval warfare, line astern or line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line. It originated with the navy of the Commonwealth of England and perhaps with General at Sea Robert Blake who wrote the Sailing and Fighting Instructions of 1653. The tactic was used by both sides in the Anglo-Dutch Wars with Michiel de Ruyter of the United Provinces being the best early exponent. Image File history File links Battle of Copenhagen (1801), by Nicholas Pocock File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Battle of Copenhagen (1801), by Nicholas Pocock File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Battle of Copenhagen, as painted by Nicholas Pocock. ... Naval warfare is combat in and on seas and oceans. ... Military tactics is the collective name for methods of engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. ... The Commonwealth was the republican government which ruled first England and then the whole of Britain, Ireland, the colonies and other Crown possessions during the periods from 1649 (the monarch Charles I being beheaded on January 30 and An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth being passed by the... Robert Blake, General at Sea, 1599–1657 by Henry Perronet Briggs, painted 1829. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... The painting Dutch attack on the Medway, June 1667 by Pieter Cornelisz van Soest, painted c. ... Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter, Lieutenant-Admiral of the United Provinces by Ferdinand Bol, painted 1667. ... This article is about the Dutch United Provinces. ...

The line of battle has the advantage over previous naval tactics — in which ships closed on each other for individual combat — that each ship in the line can fire its broadside without fear of hitting a friendly ship. A ship powerful enough to stand in the line of battle came to be known as a "ship of the line" (of battle) or a "line of battle" ship which shortened to become "battleship". Line of battle tactics continued to be used (for example in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and the Battle of Surigao Strait in 1944) until the end of World War II. A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous (or near simultaneous) fire in naval warfare. ... Ships of the line were 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-rated ships in the rating system of the Royal Navy. ... HMS Victory in 1884 In naval warfare, battleships were the most heavily armed and armored warships afloat. ... The Battle of Jutland, known in Germany as the Battle of the Skagerrak (Skagerrakschlacht), was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... Battle of Leyte Gulf Conflict World War II, Pacific Campaign Date 23 October 1944 – 26 October 1944 Place The Philippines Result Decisive Allied victory The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, fought in the seas around the island of Leyte... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the...

World War II saw the decline of line of battle tactics, as admirals quickly realized that with the long (and lengthening) arm of aircraft carriers changing the strategic calculus, lining battleships up to pound away at each other had become more of a liability than a strength, as carrier-borne aircraft could swoop down and pounce on battleship formations easily. Battle group tactics became the norm as World War II progressed, with a single capital ship (carrier or battleship) and its escorts becoming a fleet unto itself. An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft—in effect acting as a sea-going airbase. ... The carrier battle group (CVBG or CARBATGRU) or carrier strike group (CVSG) is a fleet of ships in support of an aircraft carrier. ...

After World War II, the carrier battle group became the accepted paradigm of strategic naval formations. The Abraham Lincoln battle group during the 2000 RIMPAC exercises The carrier battle group (CVBG or CARBATGRU) or carrier strike group (CVSG) is a fleet of ships in support of an aircraft carrier. ...

In some military science fiction, the term "battle-line" has been revived, to refer to the heavy warships of a space fleet. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...