The Spaniards fought like
heroes, day after slaughterous day. But their light guns, badly served
by ill-trained crews, fired much too high to hull the English ships
"'twixt wind and water," that is, to smash holes in their sides along
the water-line. On the other hand, the English had more and better
guns, far more and far better seaman-gunners, and vessels managed by
the sea's own "handy men." They ran in with the wind, just near enough
to make their well-aimed cannon-balls most deadly on the Spanish
water-line, but never so near that the Spaniards could catch them with
grappling hooks and hold them fast while the Spanish soldiers boarded.
Another way the skilful English had was to turn their broadside against
the enemy's end-on. This, whether for a single ship or for a fleet, is
called "crossing the T"; and if you will look at a T you will see that
guns firing inward from the whole length of the cross-stroke have a
great advantage over guns firing back from the front of the up-stroke.
In other words, the broad front converges on the narrow front and
smashes it.
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