Warship (sail)

While the first warships were powered by oars, sail power, using wind, dominated naval warfare until the early 19th century.

There was no single metric of combat efficiency. A smaller but faster ship might be a valuable scout, as long as it was faster than ships with more powerful guns. If there was a single metric, it was pure number of guns, not gun type or caliber. A ship might be described as USS Constitution (44), indicating 44 guns of all types, although some specifications omitted the lightest guns and short-ranged weapons such as carronades.

A much more formal system was principally used by the Royal Navy.