The so-called "sail era" of the navy means that the movement of ships relies entirely or mainly on the power brought by the wind blowing the sails. The main characteristics of ships in this era are taller hulls, multi-layer decks, and densely packed masts.

, Sail Hunter. When full sail, a large sailboat can carry up to 36 sails, and due to the combination of straight sails and horizontal sails, the ship can sail upwind through a circuitous route. The "Sail Age" is between human-powered oars

and steam power, and this era was an era of rapid development of the navigation industry. After the Age of Discovery, there was the colonial era all over the world. During this period, snow-white sails were floating everywhere on the sea.

Large warships, naval battles occurred frequently in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. With the sound of cannons, the colonists brought their own ships and cannons to blast open the doors of other countries, and at the same time promoted the development of the world. And

Due to various reasons, we missed the era of sailing naval warfare. When the Western Age of Exploration was in full swing, we were closed to the outside world, so that we still lag behind the Western world to this day, which is regrettable. Today, the author will start with the naval technology of the sailing age.

, a brief analysis of naval tactics in the age of sail.

The navy of this period was different from the breech-loaded steel rifled guns that were commonly equipped in the steam era. The navy had long used front-loaded smoothbore guns made of bronze or pig iron. They were basically divided into naval guns with stronger penetrating power and longer range and those with longer range.

A mortar that is close but very destructive. There are three main types of ammunition: solid bullets used to damage the enemy's hull; shotguns used to kill enemy personnel, also known as blooming bullets; and used to damage the masts of enemy ships.

Chain bullets that incapacitate people so that they can be captured (for those who have watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3, you should have an impression of this type of ammunition. When the pirate guild was opening, Captain Barbusa jumped on the conference table, holding a

It is this kind of ammunition). Let me first explain the term "battle line". Throughout the age of sails and even later the steam age, during naval battles, the fleets of both warring parties lined up in single columns and entered the combat area to reach the firing range.

After that, there will be artillery fire. If you look down from the air, you will see two parallel lines on the sea connected end to end. The inside of the two lines is filled with smoke (of course, in a calm state). This is caused by the battleship.

The straight line formed is called the "battle line", and the name "battleship" also comes from this. In the 1850s, 50 guns became the minimum firepower standard for battleships; by the 1880s, 64 guns were the smallest battleship

After 1805, 74 guns were the smallest battleships. As a result, by 1830, only those equipped with 80 large-caliber guns were eligible to be included in the battle fleet.

[Reprinted from Tiexue Community http://bbs.tiexue.net/]

The impact of wind direction on combat tactics:

A sailboat is definitely inseparable from the wind. It will be difficult to move without wind. I believe that friends who have played "The Age of Discovery" know this truth well. The relative position of two sailboats or two fleets based on the wind direction involves the most important tactics.

This problem was also one of the issues that the naval admirals at that time were most concerned about. First of all, we need to carefully compare the impact of the relative positions of upwind and leeward on the combat effectiveness of the fleet (the "upwind" and "downwind" mentioned here refer to perpendicular to the

The direction of the battle line, rather than the longitudinal direction of the fleet). Both fleet operations and single-ship engagements are greatly affected by the ship's position related to the wind direction. The windward ship tilts its hull to the downwind direction due to the effect of the wind. In this way,

Due to the low position of the running door on the lower floor, water will either enter (in the case of strong wind and waves), or the gun muzzle will point to the sea. The firing position of the leeward ship will be better. However, the leeward ship will have a better firing position due to the enemy.

For the square fleet, it is tilted up, so the shells fired from the upper deck are very likely to hit the rigging of the local fleet. Therefore, in actual combat, different battles must be fought according to the different combat purposes (annihilation or capture)

Position. This is crucial in the combat maneuver of the fleet. The significant advantage of a ship occupying a windward position is that it can enter and withdraw from combat at will, and it can also form a favorable offensive posture when choosing an attack method. A ship occupying a downwind position cannot

When attacking, the combat situation is limited to defense, and the battle can only be carried out according to the enemy's intentions. Since the attacking ship is maneuvering, it will be affected by its own coordination and improper command (although this situation is not very likely) and

The enemy's attack disrupts the battle formation, exposes it to the enemy's waiting artillery fire, and may render part or all of the naval guns of some of the attacking ships useless (because naval guns are mainly installed on the sides of the ships, during the attack

Approaching the enemy longitudinally). If the ship at the leeward can remain calm and wait for work, it can maintain a good battle formation and continue to carry out naval attacks on the enemy when the enemy is unable to fight back due to maneuvers.

Cannon attack can make up for the above disadvantages.

Britain and France were the two major naval powers in the age of sail. Although the Netherlands once competed with them, they later declined. This is beyond the scope of this article, so let’s not talk about it. At that time, as long as the name "English" or "France" was displayed,

The appearance of warships on the coast of any country is enough to frighten the local rulers. Britain and France have also fought countless battles at sea to compete for the position of maritime supremacy. The British often like to occupy the upper hand, because the British consistent policy is to attack

Destroy their enemies; and the French are usually accustomed to occupying leeward positions, which usually enables them to weaken the enemy's combat effectiveness when the enemy approaches, and can avoid decisive engagements and preserve their own strength.

Age of the Arson Ship:

In the age of sail, the rational use of the arson ship often played a decisive role in the outcome of the battle, even though it was only an attachment to the fleet. For the ships of the time, the arson ship was similar to modern torpedoes. The hulls of the sail ship were all made of wood.

Yes, the power of the arson ship is that once it hits an enemy ship, it will cause the enemy ship to burn until it is destroyed. In history, the arson ship participated in and played a decisive role in many naval battles. In 1588, Spain and the United Kingdom fought in

A battle broke out in the Flemish Sea. Taking advantage of the favorable wind direction, the British arsonist ship rushed towards the Spanish "Invincible Fleet". The "Invincible Fleet" was destroyed in this battle, and the biggest contributor was obviously the arsonist ship. Although

In this way, arson ships are not as suitable for use in melee battles as torpedoes. If used, it is very likely to damage one's own ships.

In short, the "Age of Sail" was an era of great progress in ocean development. Studying the naval strategies and tactics of this period is of great significance to understanding the development process of the navy and studying the development strategies and historical inheritance of modern navies in various countries.

Studying the success of the British Navy has become a very important national scientific research topic, which has provided a large number of jobs and meal tickets for researchers in the UK and around the world over the years. The research results are even more diverse: military scientists believe that the success of the British Navy is due to

British naval officers are dedicated to their lives: small soldiers are not afraid of death, but high-ranking officials love to make money; sociologists and historians point out that the great social changes and changes in class composition in the 17th and 18th centuries are the main reasons for the British success (sound so familiar? New Oriental)

Have you reviewed GRE logic and practiced this question?); psychologists proposed that the self-satisfied personality of the British fully mobilized their enthusiasm for war; nutritionists emphasized that the British won the naval battle mainly because they like to eat beef. And mine

Economist friend Professor Douglas Allen believes that there is extremely serious information asymmetry in naval operations in the era of sailing battleships, which is mainly reflected in the hidden actions of captains and fleet commanders. In other words, these managers have moral hazard.

.However, the British Navy has implemented a series of systems to ensure that their navy can overcome this information asymmetry better than the navies of other countries, so that it can better serve His Majesty the King and become invincible in the world (this is a worthy comment)

.The following articles are adapted from the article "The British Navy Rules: Monitoring and Incompatible Incentives in the Age of Fighting Sail" by Doug Allen.

Why is it said that there was extremely serious information asymmetry in the operation of the navy in the era of sailing battleships? Please listen to the details. First, in the era of great navigation, battleships were very expensive and were crucial to ensuring shipping routes. So important.

How are the assets managed? The words of the General Manager of the Navy: Blockade the enemy's dock for me, capture Captain Jack for me (have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean), protect our merchant ships, and kill the enemy ships for me. This is the order

Abstract, and the expensive warship is casually handed over to the manager (captain). The captain has a strong information advantage over the Admiralty in that communication is slow and the distance is long, most of the sea areas are unknown, the charts are incomplete, and trade risks are

The knowledge of the ship is not complete, the longitude and latitude positioning is not well developed, and the battleship is propelled by sails. In this way, the mission is not completed, man-made disasters, defeats and any losses for which the captain is responsible can be blamed on God. Basically, the state-owned assets

The loss is just because the captain opened his mouth and the Admiralty cannot find out.

Secondly, in the age of sailing, everyone boarded the ship with a shroud under their arms (the proportion of people who died from illness was higher than those who died in battle), risking thousands of miles to save their lives and seek wealth. Fools all know to choose jobs with low risks and high returns, let alone ships.

Sirs. What kind of jobs belong to this category? Bullying enemy merchant ships that are basically unable to fight back (Merchant ship clerk: Come on, what kind of heroes are we? Navy officers: We don’t want to be good men, we want to be rich!)

, or go ashore to plunder (remember the Japanese pirates). Which jobs are high-risk and low-return? Not to mention fighting and chasing pirates.

The above points out the two major information asymmetry problems in naval operations: cowardice and selfishness. This will be introduced in part (4). So is there any way to make these selfish and death-phobic guys work honestly for the British Empire?
Chapter completed!