A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed between the 17th Century through to the mid-19th Century, the culmination of a naval tactic known as the line-of-battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manuever to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear. Since these engagements were won by the heaviest ships carrying the most powerful guns, the natural state of progression was to build the largest, most powerful sailing vessels at the time, which in turn would lead to the title line-of-battle-ship being bestowed upon them, in effect making these vessels the ancestors of the battleship.