Before the Age of Discovery, the main battlefield of naval warfare was in the Mediterranean, and its forms were broadside, gang jumping, and hand-to-hand combat with infantry to decide the winner, although artillery had been installed on warships, but it had not yet played a major role. After the discovery of new shipping routes, ocean-going trade brought huge profits to the various maritime powers, but also intensified the struggle in the oceans. Control of the sea is also control of wealth. In naval battles in the open ocean, the three-masted galleys in the Mediterranean were too poor to function on the ocean; In the Atlantic, the bow and stern towers of the old carrak and other ships of the time were too high, which made it easy to attract wind, making it difficult for the ship to be longitudinal when the wind was headwind.

Sir John Hawkins of Elizabethan saw this. He lowered the bow and stern, especially the bow tower, and replaced the round stern with a square stern. This new design is relatively long, narrow, and fast, and excellent in headwinds. The imposing carrak of the Spanish Empire's armada was also defeated in the Battle of July 1588 by the British fleet of smaller galleons in the Battle of July 1588. The naval battle marked the decline of Spanish maritime supremacy and the rise of the British Empire.

The great success of the "Galleon" type made it the standard for the design of warships, including battleships, until the end of the sailing era. Among them, the requirements for seaworthiness and firepower are the overriding conditions, so as to seize a favorable position and give full play to superior firepower in battle. In the 17th century, the main sailing ships of the Anglo-Dutch War were all low-side, cross-sail, and broadside equipped with cannons, and many of these ships were lined up in a long column to give full play to the firepower advantage of the two sides. This was also the first time the name "lineofthebattleship" was used.

Displacement: 1500 tons Scale: 70.7 meters long (full length, including bow stilt), draft: 5-6 meters Speed: 10 knotsArmament: 104 guns. 20 60-pounder, 8 30-pounder, 32 18-pounder, 44 9-pounderersCrew: about 800 Description: Built in 1637, the ship was lavishly decorated and reflected in her the Baroque art style that was popular at the time. In 1692, in the 55th year of its existence, it took part in the battle for the first time: in the Battle of Barfleur against French warships. In 1696, it died due to a fire. By the 18th century, sailing ships of around 1,500 tons were no longer rare. Giant sailing ships of two or three thousand tons abound. British Admiral Ansan set the following classes according to the number of guns equipped: first-class ships---- three-deck guns, more than 100 guns, a crew of more than 875 people, and a displacement of 2,500-3,500 tons. Because of the high cost (£100,000), there were only a dozen of them in the British Navy. The second-class ship ---- three gun decks, 90-98 guns, a capacity of about 750 people, and a displacement of more than 2,000 tons. Mostly used as a fleet flagship. The third-class ship ---- two to three gun decks, 64-80 guns, a crew of about 490-720 people, and a displacement of 1300-2000 tons. This is the largest number of capital ships in the British Navy, and more than 80% of the ships in the Battle of Trafalgar were third-class. Several of the capital ships of the British Expeditionary Fleet at the time of the Opium War were also third-class battleships. Fourth-class ships ---- two-tier gun deck, 50-56 guns, a crew of about 350 people, and a displacement of more than 1,000 tons. Relatively cheap at just £26,000. All of the above-mentioned four-class ships were called battleships. Five-tier ships (cruiser "Frigate") ---- single-deck guns, 32-44 guns, a crew of about 250 people, and a displacement of 700-900 tons. It was the predecessor of the cruiser. Sixth-class ships---- sloops, 20-28 guns, about 195 people, 550-650 tons, used for communication and escort. It cost less than £10,000. The construction process of a sailing ship (illustrated) theconstructionofasailsbattleship

With the development of shipbuilding technology, sailing warships have also become more sophisticated. During the reign of King Charles I, the shipbuilder Peter was the master shipbuilder. The tonnage of the "Sea Sovereign" built by Pate has reached 1,500 tons and is 232 feet (about 70 meters) long. More oak wood was needed for shipbuilding than could be supplied by the forests around Kent and Sussex, and timber had to be brought from Northumberland, 400 miles away. There were 104 guns on board. (20 doors 60 pounds, 8 doors 30 pounds, 32 doors 18 pounds, 44 doors 9 pounds) The ship is luxuriously decorated and finely carved, which is the crystallization of the shipbuilding industry at that time and is amazed by the world. "Maritime Sovereign" British shipbuilder Peter Murphy. Pate's masterpiece. It was built in 1637 for Charles I

At the end of the 19th century, along with the formation and evolution of the new strategic pattern of the West, the great powers all vigorously strengthened their armament building in order to maintain their advantageous position or change their unfavorable position, thus bringing about a new development of the West's military strength.

1. Britain: Navy priority

Since modern times, Britain's naval construction and its overseas colonization have been interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and together they have become a strong cornerstone of the British Empire. In view of this, Britain attached great importance to the construction of the navy, and always placed it in a more important position than the army, and its armament policy had a distinct naval priority. By the end of the 19th century, Britain still adhered to this kind of armament policy, and still pursued the goal of "making its navy powerful against the navies of the two great powers". Specifically, the British Navy is stronger than the navies of the two countries in second and third place combined.

According to relevant information, the navy expenditure in 1857-1858 was 8,440,100 pounds; 9,013,000 pounds in 1870-1871; 10321435 pounds in 1880-1881; 10,497,000 pounds in 1881-1882; 11599711 pounds in 1884-1885; In 1890-1891, it was 69,000,000 dollars, or about 12,700,000 pounds; 38791900 pounds in 1900-1901 (Barnaby, The Examination of the English Mariners, pp. 20, 30; Late Qing Dynasty edition; History of Europe in the Twentieth Century, p. 37; Recent World Naval Power, Schedule 16). From these statistics, we can see that in the last 30 years of the 19th century, Britain's naval spending showed a large and steady upward trend. Among them: 1880-1881 increased by 1308435 pounds over 1870-1871, bringing the growth rate in the first decade to 14.5%; In 1890-1891 it was 2,203,000 pounds more than in 1880-1881, bringing the growth rate of the second decade to 20.9 percent; In 1900-1901 it was 26091900 pounds higher than in 1890-1891, bringing the growth rate to a record 205.5 percent in the third decade. Such a large increase in naval spending in the last decade was directly linked to the international situation in which Germany proposed to build its own powerful navy. Britain tried to maintain the absolute superiority of its navy over the navies of the major European countries, so it did not hesitate to spend huge sums of money to compete with Germany.

In 1870, the total tonnage of ships in the British Navy was 633,000 tons; In 1882, there were 74 armored ships (including 5 under construction) totaling 523,080 tons, and 85 unarmored ships totaling 189046 tons, totaling 159 ships 712126 tons; In 1890, there were 254 armored and non-armored ships, totaling 892361 tons; In 1899 it was 472 ships of 1265969 tons (including torpedo boats). In 30 years, the total tonnage of its ships has just doubled, with an average annual growth of 3.3%. In addition, of the 472 ships built before 1899, 8 were battleships, 11 coastal defense ships, 6 cruisers, and 31 gunboats and torpedo boats built before 1879; Between 1880 and 1889 were built 15 warships, 47 cruisers, 2 notification ships, and 123 gunboats and torpedo boats. In 1890-1899 there were 22 battleships, 80 cruisers, 28 gunboats, 88 destroyers, and 10 torpedo boats.

During these 30 years, its tonnage has always been greater than or equal to the combined naval tonnage of any two or even three countries in Western Europe during the same period. In 1870, it was equivalent to 63% of the navies of France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Russia combined, and in 1890 this proportion rose to 67.5%. During this period, many new technologies of the world's navy, such as ironclad protection, torpedoes, and destroyers, were not the first of their kind in Britain, but the British Navy was able to actively absorb them and quickly bring them to the level of practical use and form new combat effectiveness. Therefore, the British Navy not only ranked first in the world in terms of tonnage at that time, but also the speed, endurance, armor protection, and attack power of its fleet were second to none in several aspects. By 1891, for example, most of the British Navy's armoured ships were running at speeds of more than 16 knots, and seven were at speeds of more than 18 knots. This speed level is more advanced than that of France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria, and the United States at the same time. By 1891, for example, there were 824 guns on its armoured ships, several times more than all other navies combined. By the time of the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Britain had 668 warships and 201,000 naval personnel.

At the end of the 19th century, the British army remained in its original form. Its native garrison was divided into a standing army and a national army for internal defense. Its standing army includes infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers, and its establishment includes corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies. According to relevant records, the total number of British army standing troops in 1870 was 302,000, in 1880 it was about 320,000, in 1890 it was about 370,000, and in 1900 it was about 570,000. The British National Army was about 200,000 men. In addition to the mainland, the British also had Royal Army in India, Africa, Australia, etc., and at the same time formed a "Turkish army" composed of local residents. Although its army equipment has also undergone marked changes with the progress of modern military technology, there is a gap between its level and that of the German army.