Early first rates served as admirals' flagships and powerful bastions in the center, where an enemy might mass fire or separate divisions of the fleet. The same 'bastion of the line' language appeared in 1920s British political discussion of the battleships Rodney and Nelson. That older model left out the first rate's later offensive role. During the eighteenth century, concentrated firepower increasingly allowed first rates to force a passage through an opponent's line. A successful pass across an opposing first rate's stern offered a devastating rake before the target could turn, while the relative scarcity of first rates made an equal head-on encounter less likely.
Notable Point · 1:45:39-1:47:40
First rates evolved from bastions to line-breakers
First rates shifted from holding the vulnerable center of a battle line to acting as overwhelming ships capable of breaking an opponent's formation.