Coordinating mixed fleets before radio

How did age-of-sail fleets coordinate several different ship types?

They used flag and pre-arranged signals, meetings aboard flagships, and considerable captain's discretion.

The slower tempo of sailing warfare gave commanders time to arrange plans before contact. Fleets used flags and other pre-arranged signals for instructions visible at sea. Captains could also row to the flagship for conferences when circumstances allowed. Once dispersed or engaged, however, the captain remained master of his own ship and needed enough discretion to act without constant direction.