Whether the idea of concentration and containing was in the mind of their author we cannot tell for certain, but at any rate the new instructions provide signals by which the admiral can order such movements not only by any squadron, but even by any subdivision he pleases.

The freedom of individual initiative it is true is gone, but this, as the _Admiralty MS_.

indicates, was done deliberately, not as a piece of reactionary pedantry, but as the result of experience in battle.

In all other respects the tactical flexibility that was gained is obvious, and was fully displayed in the first engagements in which the instructions were used.
So far as we can judge, the current view at this time was that where fleets were equal, every known form of concentration was unadvisable upon an unshaken enemy.

The methods of the Duke of York's school were regarded as having failed, and the result appears to have been to convince tacticians that with the means at their disposal a strict preservation of the line gave a sure advantage against an enemy who attempted an attack by concentration.