What is "ship of the line"

Ship \Ship\, n. [OE. ship, schip, AS. scip; akin to OFries. skip, OS. scip, D. schip, G. schiff, OHG. scif, Dan. skib, Sw. skeep, Icel. & Goth. skip; of unknown origin. Cf. Equip, Skiff, Skipper.]

1. Any large seagoing vessel.

   Like a stately ship . . . With all her bravery on, and tackle trim, Sails filled, and streamers waving.
   --Milton.

   Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
   --Longfellow.

2. Specifically, a vessel furnished with a bowsprit and three masts (a mainmast, a foremast, and a mizzenmast), each of which is composed of a lower mast, a topmast, and a topgallant mast, and square-rigged on all masts. See Illustation in Appendix. [1913 Webster] l Port or Larboard Side; s Starboard Side; 1 Roundhouse or Deck House; 2 Tiller; 3 Grating; 4 Wheel; 5 Wheel Chains; 6 Binnacle; 7 Mizzenmast; 8 Skylight; 9 Capstan; 10 Mainmast; 11 Pumps; 12 Galley or Caboose; 13 Main Hatchway; 14 Windlass; 15 Foremast; 16 Fore Hatchway; 17 Bitts; 18 Bowsprit; 19 Head Rail; 20 Boomkins; 21 Catheads on Port Bow and Starboard Bow; 22 Fore Chains; 23 Main Chains; 24 Mizzen Chains; 25 Stern. [1913 Webster] 1 Fore Royal Stay; 2 Flying Jib Stay; 3 Fore Topgallant Stay;4 Jib Stay; 5 Fore Topmast Stays; 6 Fore Tacks; 8 Flying Martingale; 9 Martingale Stay, shackled to Dolphin Striker; 10 Jib Guys; 11 Jumper Guys; 12 Back Ropes; 13 Robstays; 14 Flying Jib Boom; 15 Flying Jib Footropes; 16 Jib Boom; 17 Jib Foottropes; 18 Bowsprit; 19 Fore Truck; 20 Fore Royal Mast; 21 Fore Royal Lift; 22 Fore Royal Yard; 23 Fore Royal Backstays; 24 Fore Royal Braces; 25 Fore Topgallant Mast and Rigging; 26 Fore Topgallant Lift; 27 Fore Topgallant Yard; 28 Fore Topgallant Backstays; 29 Fore Topgallant Braces; 30 Fore Topmast and Rigging; 31 Fore Topsail Lift; 32 Fore Topsail Yard; 33 Fore Topsail Footropes; 34 Fore Topsail Braces; 35 Fore Yard; 36 Fore Brace; 37 Fore Lift; 38 Fore Gaff; 39 Fore Trysail Vangs; 40 Fore Topmast Studding-sail Boom; 41 Foremast and Rigging; 42 Fore Topmast Backstays; 43 Fore Sheets; 44 Main Truck and Pennant; 45 Main Royal Mast and Backstay; 46 Main Royal Stay; 47 Main Royal Lift; 48 Main Royal Yard; 49 Main Royal Braces; 50 Main Topgallant Mast and Rigging; 51 Main Topgallant Lift; 52 Main Topgallant Backstays; 53 Main Topgallant Yard; 54 Main Topgallant Stay; 55 Main Topgallant Braces; 56 Main Topmast and Rigging; 57 Topsail Lift; 58 Topsail Yard; 59 Topsail Footropes; 60 Topsail Braces; 61 Topmast Stays; 62 Main Topgallant Studding-sail Boom; 63 Main Topmast Backstay; 64 Main Yard; 65 Main Footropes; 66 Mainmast and Rigging; 67 Main Lift; 68 Main Braces; 69 Main Tacks; 70 Main Sheets; 71 Main Trysail Gaff; 72 Main Trysail Vangs; 73 Main Stays; 74 Mizzen Truck; 75 Mizzen Royal Mast and Rigging; 76 Mizzen Royal Stay; 77 Mizzen Royal Lift; 78 Mizzen Royal Yard; 79 Mizzen Royal Braces; 80 Mizzen Topgallant Mast and Rigging; 81 Mizzen Topgallant Lift; 82 Mizzen Topgallant Backstays; 83 Mizzen Topgallant Braces; 84 Mizzen Topgallant Yard; 85 Mizzen Topgallant Stay; 86 Mizzen Topmast and Rigging; 87 Mizzen Topmast Stay; 88 Mizzen Topsail Lift; 89 Mizzen Topmast Backstays; 90 Mizzen Topsail Braces; 91 Mizzen Topsail Yard; 92 Mizzen Topsail Footropes; 93 Crossjack Yard; 94 Crossjack Footropes; 95 Crossjack Lift; 96 Crossjack Braces; 97 Mizzenmast and Rigging; 98 Mizzen Stay; 99 Spanker Gaff; 100 Peak Halyards; 101 Spanker Vangs; 102 Spanker Boom; 103 Spanker Boom Topping Lift; 104 Jacob's Ladder, or Stern Ladder; 105 Spanker Sheet; 106 Cutwater; 107 Starboard Bow; 108 Starboard Beam; 109 Water Line; 110 Starboard Quarter; 111 Rudder.

3. A dish or utensil (originally fashioned like the hull of a ship) used to hold incense. [Obs.] --Tyndale. Armed ship, a private ship taken into the service of the government in time of war, and armed and equipped like a ship of war. [Eng.] --Brande & C. General ship. See under General. Ship biscuit, hard biscuit prepared for use on shipboard; -- called also ship bread. See Hardtack. Ship boy, a boy who serves in a ship. ``Seal up the ship boy's eyes.'' --Shak. Ship breaker, one who breaks up vessels when unfit for further use. Ship broker, a mercantile agent employed in buying and selling ships, procuring cargoes, etc., and generally in transacting the business of a ship or ships when in port. Ship canal, a canal suitable for the passage of seagoing vessels. Ship carpenter, a carpenter who works at shipbuilding; a shipwright. Ship chandler, one who deals in cordage, canvas, and other, furniture of vessels. Ship chandlery, the commodities in which a ship chandler deals; also, the business of a ship chandler. Ship fever (Med.), a form of typhus fever; -- called also putrid fever, jail fever, or hospital fever. Ship joiner, a joiner who works upon ships. Ship letter, a letter conveyed by a ship not a mail packet. Ship money (Eng. Hist.), an imposition formerly charged on the ports, towns, cities, boroughs, and counties, of England, for providing and furnishing certain ships for the king's service. The attempt made by Charles I. to revive and enforce this tax was resisted by John Hampden, and was one of the causes which led to the death of Charles. It was finally abolished. Ship of the line. See under Line. Ship pendulum, a pendulum hung amidships to show the extent of the rolling and pitching of a vessel. Ship railway.

   1. An inclined railway with a cradelike car, by means of which a ship may be drawn out of water, as for repairs.

   2. A railway arranged for the transportation of vessels overland between two water courses or harbors.

      Ship's company, the crew of a ship or other vessel.

      Ship's days, the days allowed a vessel for loading or unloading.

      Ship's husband. See under Husband.

      Ship's papers (Mar. Law), papers with which a vessel is required by law to be provided, and the production of which may be required on certain occasions. Among these papers are the register, passport or sea letter, charter party, bills of lading, invoice, log book, muster roll, bill of health, etc.
      --Bouvier.
      --Kent.

      To make ship, to embark in a ship or other vessel.

Line \Line\, n. [OE. line, AS. l[=i]ne cable, hawser, prob. from L. linea a linen thread, string, line, fr. linum flax, thread, linen, cable; but the English word was influenced by F. ligne line, from the same L. word linea. See Linen.]

1. A linen thread or string; a slender, strong cord; also, a cord of any thickness; a rope; a hawser; as, a fishing line; a line for snaring birds; a clothesline; a towline.

   Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls.
   --Piers Plowman.

2. A more or less threadlike mark of pen, pencil, or graver; any long mark; as, a chalk line.

3. The course followed by anything in motion; hence, a road or route; as, the arrow descended in a curved line; the place is remote from lines of travel.

4. Direction; as, the line of sight or vision.

5. A row of letters, words, etc., written or printed; esp., a row of words extending across a page or column.

6. A short letter; a note; as, a line from a friend.

7. (Poet.) A verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure.

   In the preceding line Ulysses speaks of Nausicaa.
   --Broome.

8. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity.

   He is uncommonly powerful in his own line, but it is not the line of a first-rate man.
   --Coleridge.

9. (Math.) That which has length, but not breadth or thickness.

10. The exterior limit of a figure, plat, or territory; boundary; contour; outline.

    Eden stretched her line From Auran eastward to the royal towers Of great Seleucia.
    --Milton.

11. A threadlike crease marking the face or the hand; hence, characteristic mark.

    Though on his brow were graven lines austere.
    --Byron.

    He tipples palmistry, and dines On all her fortune-telling lines.
    --Cleveland.

12. Lineament; feature; figure. ``The lines of my boy's face.''
    --Shak.

13. A straight row; a continued series or rank; as, a line of houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers.

    Unite thy forces and attack their lines.
    --Dryden.

14. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; as, the ascending or descending line; the line of descent; the male line; a line of kings.

    Of his lineage am I, and his offspring By very line, as of the stock real.
    --Chaucer.

15. A connected series of public conveyances, and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.; as, a line of stages; an express line.

16. (Geog.)

    1. A circle of latitude or of longitude, as represented on a map.

    2. The equator; -- usually called the line, or equinoctial line; as, to cross the line.

17. A long tape, or a narrow ribbon of steel, etc., marked with subdivisions, as feet and inches, for measuring; a tapeline.

18. (Script.)

    1. A measuring line or cord.

       He marketh it out with a line.
       --Is. xliv. 13.

    2. That which was measured by a line, as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode.

       The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
       --Ps. xvi. 6.

    3. Instruction; doctrine.

       Their line is gone out through all the earth.
       --Ps. xix. 4.

19. (Mach.) The proper relative position or adjustment of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working; as, the engine is in line or out of line.

20. The track and roadbed of a railway; railroad.

21. (Mil.)

    1. A row of men who are abreast of one another, whether side by side or some distance apart; -- opposed to column.

    2. The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc.

22. (Fort.)

    1. A trench or rampart.

    2. pl. Dispositions made to cover extended positions, and presenting a front in but one direction to an enemy.

23. pl. (Shipbuilding) Form of a vessel as shown by the outlines of vertical, horizontal, and oblique sections.

24. (Mus.) One of the straight horizontal and parallel prolonged strokes on and between which the notes are placed.

25. (Stock Exchange) A number of shares taken by a jobber.

26. (Trade) A series of various qualities and values of the same general class of articles; as, a full line of hosiery; a line of merinos, etc.
    --McElrath.

27. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, or the whole of a system of telegraph wires under one management and name.

28. pl. The reins with which a horse is guided by his driver.

29. A measure of length; one twelfth of an inch. Hard lines, hard lot. --C. Kingsley. [See Def. 18.] Line breeding (Stockbreeding), breeding by a certain family line of descent, especially in the selection of the dam or mother. Line conch (Zo["o]l.), a spiral marine shell ( Fasciolaria distans), of Florida and the West Indies. It is marked by narrow, dark, revolving lines. Line engraving.

    1. Engraving in which the effects are produced by lines of different width and closeness, cut with the burin upon copper or similar material; also, a plate so engraved.

    2. A picture produced by printing from such an engraving. Line of battle.

       1. (Mil. Tactics) The position of troops drawn up in their usual order without any determined maneuver.

       2. (Naval) The line or arrangement formed by vessels of war in an engagement. Line of battle ship. See Ship of the line, below. Line of beauty (Fine Arts),an abstract line supposed to be beautiful in itself and absolutely; -- differently represented by different authors, often as a kind of elongated S (like the one drawn by Hogarth). Line of centers. (Mach.)

          1. A line joining two centers, or fulcra, as of wheels or levers.

          2. A line which determines a dead center. See Dead center, under Dead. Line of dip (Geol.), a line in the plane of a stratum, or part of a stratum, perpendicular to its intersection with a horizontal plane; the line of greatest inclination of a stratum to the horizon. Line of fire (Mil.), the direction of fire. Line of force (Physics), any line in a space in which forces are acting, so drawn that at every point of the line its tangent is the direction of the resultant of all the forces. It cuts at right angles every equipotential surface which it meets. Specifically (Magnetism), a line in proximity to a magnet so drawn that any point in it is tangential with the direction of a short compass needle held at that point. --Faraday. Line of life (Palmistry), a line on the inside of the hand, curving about the base of the thumb, supposed to indicate, by its form or position, the length of a person's life. Line of lines. See Gunter's line. Line of march. (Mil.)

             1. Arrangement of troops for marching.

             2. Course or direction taken by an army or body of troops in marching. Line of operations, that portion of a theater of war which an army passes over in attaining its object. --H. W. Halleck. Line of sight (Firearms), the line which passes through the front and rear sight, at any elevation, when they are sighted at an object. Line tub (Naut.), a tub in which the line carried by a whaleboat is coiled. Mason and Dixon's line, Mason-Dixon line, the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as run before the Revolution (1764-1767) by two English astronomers named Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. In an extended sense, the line between the free and the slave States; as, below the Mason-Dixon line, i.e. in the South. On the line,

                1. on a level with the eye of the spectator; -- said of a picture, as hung in an exhibition of pictures.

                2. at risk (dependent upon success) in a contest or enterprise; as, the survival of the company is on the line in this project.

                   Right line, a straight line; the shortest line that can be drawn between two points.

                   Ship of the line, formerly, a ship of war large enough to have a place in the line of battle; a vessel superior to a frigate; usually, a seventy-four, or three-decker; -- called also line of battle ship or battleship.
                   --Totten.

                   To cross the line, to cross the equator, as a vessel at sea.

                   To give a person line, to allow him more or less liberty until it is convenient to stop or check him, like a hooked fish that swims away with the line.

                   Water line (Shipbuilding), the outline of a horizontal section of a vessel, as when floating in the water.

n. (context nautical military English) A large square-rigged warship large enough to have a place in the line of battle. with up to 140 guns on at least two decks. A capital ship from the age of sail, superior to a frigate; usually, a seventy-four, or three-decker.

n. a warship intended for combat [syn: man-of-war]

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through to the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside firepower to bear. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time.

From the end of the 1840s, the introduction of steam power brought less dependence on the wind in battle and led to the construction of screw-driven, wooden-hulled, ships of the line; a number of pure sail-driven ships were converted to this propulsion mechanism. However, the introduction of the ironclad frigate in about 1859 led swiftly to the decline of the steam-assisted ships of the line. The ironclad warship became the ancestor of the 20th-century battleship, whose very designation is itself a contraction of the phrase "ship of the line of battle" or, more colloquially, "line-of-battle ship".

The term "ship of the line" has fallen into disuse except in historical contexts, after warships and naval tactics evolved and changed from the mid 19th century.