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chongli 3 hours ago

Yeah so the other factor missing is gun calibre and ship hull reinforcement/design. The reason sloops didn’t dominate against ships of the line came down to these factors, as well as sheer number of guns.

A sloop’s guns were generally so light the balls would bounce off the hull of a ship of the line. The sheer weight of firepower in return would shred a sloop to pieces. Add on to that the fact that heavier guns can achieve longer range when trained at the right angle, and a sloop can’t really get anywhere near a ship of the line and live to tell the tale.