From the point of view of the seaman, who is naturally anxious to discover
the dispositions of their fleets made by the rival Commanders-in-Chief,
Lepanto is an almost hopeless puzzle. As far as can be gathered, however,
it was that the two armadas approached one another in what is known as
"line ahead," each ship being immediately astern of its next ahead in one
long continuous line; and that, when they got within striking distance,
these lines turned so that they formed "line abreast," when each ship,
having turned at right angles, simultaneously the line advances abreast,
the ships forming it being broadside to broadside.
When the Turks discovered the allies they were issuing from between the
islets and the shore. Seeing John Andrea Doria moving to the right, they
judged that he was executing a turning movement with the object of escaping
to the northwards, from whence he had come; they were, at the time, unable
to see the rest of the fleet, which was hidden by the land. With sound
tactical judgment they accordingly advanced to attack the allies before
they should have time to issue from the strait. They were, however, too far
off to accomplish this, and, by the time they arrived within striking
distance, the Christian fleet had cleared the strait and was ready for
them, "drawn up for battle," says Monsieur Daru, which is somewhat vague in
describing the disposition of a fleet. What is certain, however, is that in
advance of the galleys of Don John were six great galeasses, which were
armed with guns of immensely superior power to anything which could be
mounted in galleys.
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