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*I'm going to try to “draw” this digitally rather than write it on a paper and take a picture. <---> <---> <---> <---> l l l l l l l l l l l lThese are supposed to represent ships (4 horizontal can be moving in either direction and the 4 vertical ships are moving towards the other 4 ). These are all 17th century sailing warships of equal size and class. Who would win the battle and why? For extra credit, what is this tactic called?
The top line of Ships with the arrows and the maneuver is called “Crossing the T”. However, as Nelson showed at Trafalgar and the Nile it is better to break the enemies line than go in front of it.What do I win?
What do I win?
Would need more detail. ;DAs for Nelson, didn't he make 2 lines to intersect the French line? I don't think he would have been able to defeat them using just one line because they would have been picked off one by one.Before Nelson, the ships crossing the T (the top line) would easily defeat the vertical line because:1) The vertical line has only one ship that can fire2) The top line, being in this position, would be able to use all cannons to shoot each ship.
I was confused by the original question when you said “moving” in either direction. You mean that the ships at the top were facing (bow/stern pointed in those directions) left and right (not necessarily moving), and the ships in the vertical line were facing up and down. Now I better understand what you're talking about.
Nelson used two lines at Trafalgar to catch as much of the combined fleet as possible. It invited defeat in detail but he knew going in that British ships were more than a match for their French and Spanish opponents. The British had actually been at sea while the Combined Fleet had spent most of its time in port. If I remember right, they had to put down a mutiny of French sailors in Cadiz shortly before they sortied to be met by Nelson.
