How did 1600-1700’s naval battles stay organized without modern communication between vessels? Or were they not organized at all?

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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

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Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

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