The line of battle 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 for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tactics were in widespread use by 1675.
Two fleets in their line of battle during the Battle of Cuddalore
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)
4th Portuguese India Armada (Gama, 1502)
The 4th Portuguese India Armada was a Portuguese fleet that sailed from Lisbon in February, 1502. Assembled on the order of King Manuel I of Portugal and placed under the command of D. Vasco da Gama, it was the fourth of some thirteen Portuguese India Armadas, was Gama's second trip to India, and was designed as a punitive expedition targeting Calicut to avenge the numerous defeats of the 2nd Armada two years earlier.
Vasco da Gama
4th Armada of 1502 (from Livro de Lisuarte de Abreu)
East Africa, c. 1500. The Kilwa Sultanate held formal sway from Malindi in the north, to Cape Correntes in the south.
The Custódia de Belém, forged from Kilwa tribute