Just a thought that popped into my head while watching one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. During one of the naval battles the British navy seemed very organized as far as ship maneuvers. I know this was just a movie but how would that play out in real world applications for the time period?
In: Technology
Prior to the invention of the radio(and for sometime after it) messages were passed using a series of flags. Flags could be used to spell out words, or flag combinations could be used to denote a more complex message that was already written in the code books. Ships had to stay close enough together to be able to see the signal flags of the leadship (which would fly the flag of the Admiral onboard, thus Flagship)
Larger fleet engagements would have both sides arrange themselves in a line called the “Line of Battle” (this is why big ships were “Ships of the Line”) because it meant that they only had to look at the ship in front of them to get the signals from the flag.
Smaller operations with just a couple ships would have mostly fallen back on established tactics, there are only a couple good choices in each situation so the captain in charge calls for the flags that indicate which one he picked and the ship will either harass from range, break off, or close for boarding. It wasn’t like trying to catch a super nimble target that could dodge either, the fastest British sailing ship from the Age of Sail could do a whopping 14.4 knots (26 kph) and any large ships like Galleons or 3rd rates would have been notably slower.
The result of this all was that most ship combat was generally one or two ships versus one or two ships, or 30+ ships versus 30+ ships, and in both cases crews just had to watch 1 or 2 other ships
One problem with the movies is that they portray Jack Sparrow / the pirates as “inventing tactics on the spot”, and that just gets you killed.
From dogfights to battleships to tanks etc., there are things that work and things that don’t, and everyone is trained ahead of time with the tactics that work. And they practice constantly.
In addition, as far as communications, [signal flags](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags) and signal flares.
Today fleets keep large distances from one ship to another, at times with no eye contact. That’s why you may be asking the question.
In the past, there was an initial plan that all boats followed. Until the 20 century they kept eye contact with each other. Then, they used signaling devices like flags and fire or shots from canons. Sometimes they fought just a hundred feet apart. In some cases they sent small boats to other ships with messages. With ropes tied between them they sometimes sent provisions and ammunition to others or brought in wounded sailors for treatment.
Discipline was very tight on ships. Everyone were to execute orders given to them without hesitation. Refusing an order in battle could be punishable by death. They also had a lot of training exercises while out at sea. Every man was trained so that he could do his job without thinking and then he was trained in doing the job of everyone else if it was required. So even if an entire team of men were lost they could be replaced with people from other teams that did not have anything more useful to do at that moment within a few seconds. Most of the orders were standing orders given long before the fights and had been drilled into the crew and officers during all the training. That means that when they get to the chaos of battle there is not really much more to organize as everyone would just do as planned.
This all also applies to the captains and other high ranking officers who would be getting similar standing orders from the admiral. How to maneuver and who to shoot at in battle is pretty much described in the standing orders. Either the instructions that lay out the best practices of the day or if the battle were planned they would be able to have standing orders of that battle. Most common practices is to just follow in a line behind the flag ship so that the admiral can actually control where everyone is moving and then shoot at whatever target presents itself. Usually if two lines meet up the flag ships shoot at each other, the second ships in line shoots at each other and so on. The line does also have a rear admiral trailing the line of ships who takes over command if the fleet have to turn around.
By using less modern communication systems.
There was an intricate system of flags that was (and still is) used to communicate between ships. The command ship would hoist a flag to give orders, and other ships would either relay the order or give other orders in response.
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