The line of battle or the battle line is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed
Two fleets in their line of battle during the Battle of Cuddalore (French Navy to the left, Royal Navy to the right)
Nicholas Pocock, The Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801 (undated), Royal Museums Greenwich
The Fourth Portuguese India Armada of 1502, from the Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu [pt])
The Battle of Dover (19 May 1652), depicted in British Battles on Land and Sea (1873)
The Battle of Cuddalore in 1783 was a naval battle between a British fleet, under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes with Admiral L.J. Weiland, and a smaller French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the
Line of battle
…Two fleets in their line of battle during the Battle of Cuddalore (French Navy to the left, Royal Navy to the right) Nicholas Pocock, The Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801 (undated), Royal Museums Greenwich The line…
Portrait of Suffren by Pompeo Batoni