Editing Ship of the line (section)

===Evolution of design===
In the 17th century [[Naval fleet|fleets]] could consist of almost a hundred ships of various sizes, but by the middle of the 18th century, ship-of-the-line design had settled on a few standard types: older [[two-decker]]s (i.e., with two complete decks of guns firing through side ports) of 50 guns (which were too weak for the battle line but could be used to escort [[convoy]]s), two-deckers of between 64 and 90 guns that formed the main part of the fleet, and larger [[three-decker|three]]- or even four-deckers with 98 to 140 guns that served as admirals' command ships. Fleets consisting of perhaps 10 to 25 of these ships, with their attendant [[Auxiliary ship|supply ships]] and scouting and messenger [[frigate]]s, kept control of the sea lanes for major European naval powers whilst restricting the sea-borne trade of enemies.

The most common size of sail ship of the line was the [[Seventy-four (ship)|"74"]] (named for its 74 guns), originally developed by France in the 1730s, and later adopted by all battleship navies. Until this time the British had 6 sizes of ship of the line, and they found that their smaller 50- and 60-gun ships were becoming too small for the battle line, while their 80s and over were three-deckers and therefore unwieldy and unstable in heavy seas. Their best were 70-gun three-deckers of about {{convert|46|m}} long on the gundeck, while the new French 74s were around {{convert|52|m}}. In 1747 the British captured a few of these French ships during the [[War of Austrian Succession]]. In the next decade [[Thomas Slade]] (Surveyor of the Navy from 1755, along with co-Surveyor William Bately) broke away from the past and designed several new classes of {{convert|51|to|52|m|adj=on}} 74s to compete with these French designs, starting with the {{sclass|Dublin|ship of the line|5}} and {{sclass|Bellona|ship of the line|5}} classes. Their successors gradually improved handling and size through the 1780s.<ref>{{cite book
 |author = Angus Constam & Tony Bryan
 |title = British Napoleonic Ship-of-the-Line
 |year = 2001
 |publisher = [[Osprey Publishing]]
 |isbn = 1-84176-308-X
}} as seen on books.google.com {{cite book
 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Og_73Qn8jp8C&q=William+Bately&pg=PT5
 |title = British Napoleonic Ship-of-the-Line – Google Book Search
 |isbn = 9781841763088
 |access-date = 2008-08-02
 |last1 = Konstam
 |first1 = Angus
 |date = 25 November 2001
 |publisher = Bloomsbury USA
 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Other navies ended up building 74s also as they had the right balance between offensive power, cost, and manoeuvrability. Eventually around half of Britain's ships of the line were 74s. Larger vessels were still built, as command ships, but they were more useful only if they could definitely get close to an enemy, rather than in a battle involving chasing or manoeuvring. The 74 remained the favoured ship until 1811, when [[Robert Seppings|Seppings's]] method of construction enabled bigger ships to be built with more stability.

In a few ships the design was altered long after the ship was launched and in service. In the Royal Navy, smaller two-deck 74- or 64-gun ships of the line that could not be used safely in fleet actions had their upper decks removed (or ''razeed''), resulting in a very stout, single-gun-deck warship called a ''[[razee]]''. The resulting razeed ship could be classed as a frigate and was still much stronger. The most successful razeed ship in the [[Royal Navy]] was {{HMS|Indefatigable|1784|6}}, commanded by Sir [[Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth|Edward Pellew]].
  
The Spanish ship {{ship|Spanish ship|Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad||2}}, was a Spanish first-rate ship of the line with 112 guns. This was increased in 1795–96 to 130 guns by closing in the [[Deck (ship)#Spar deck|spar deck]] between the [[quarterdeck]] and [[forecastle]], and around 1802 to 140 guns, thus creating what was in effect a continuous fourth gundeck although the extra guns added were actually relatively small. She was the heaviest-armed ship in the world when rebuilt, and bore the most guns of any ship of the line outfitted in the [[Age of Sail]].

{{ship|Ottoman ship|Mahmudiye||2}} (1829), ordered by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Sultan [[Mahmud II]] and built by the [[Imperial Arsenal (Ottoman Empire)|Imperial Naval Arsenal]] on the [[Golden Horn]] in [[Istanbul]], was for many years the largest warship in the world. The {{convert|76.15|x|21.22|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref group=Note>The vessel was 201 [[Traditional Turkish units of measurement#List of units|''kadem'']] in length and 56 ''kadem'' in beam. One ''kadem'' measures {{convert|37.887|cm|ft|1}}. ''Kadem'' (which translates as "foot") is often misinterpreted as equivalent in length to [[Foot (unit)|one imperial foot]], hence the wrongly converted dimensions of "201×56 ft, or 62×17 m" in some sources.</ref> ship of the line was armed with 128 cannons on three decks and was manned by 1,280 sailors. She participated in the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)]] during the [[Crimean War|Crimean War (1854–1856)]]. She was decommissioned in 1874.

The second largest sailing three-decker ship of the line ever built in the West and the biggest French ship of the line was the {{ship|French ship|Valmy|1847|2}}, launched in 1847. She had vertical sides, which increased significantly the space available for upper batteries, but reduced the stability of the ship; wooden stabilisers were added under the waterline to address the issue. ''Valmy'' was thought to be the largest sort of sailing ship possible, as larger dimensions made the manoeuvre of riggings impractical with mere manpower. She participated in the Crimean War, and after her return to France later housed the [[French Naval Academy]] under the name ''Borda'' from 1864 to 1890.

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:HMS Victory 2007.jpg|{{HMS|Victory}} at drydock in Portsmouth Harbour, 2007
File:Warship diagram orig.jpg|A contemporary diagram illustrating a first- and a third-rate ship
File:Ottoman ship of the line Mahmudiye.png|alt=|[[Ottoman ship Mahmudiye|''Mahmudiye'']] (1829)
File:Valmy watercolour Roux.jpg|{{ship|French ship|Valmy|1847|2}} (1847)
File:Weight Growth of RN First Rate Line-of-Battle Ships 1630-1875.svg|Weight growth of RN [[first-rate]] ships of the line 1630–1861, including for comparison large early ironclads. Steam allowed an increase in the rate of growth.
</gallery>