According to WP s own entry the Line of battle is a naval tactic or disposition which is the term that I am familiar with Armoured cruisers were retained by all major navies into the First World War and some even persisted as late as the Second World War It wasn t an instant change battlecruisers first showed up in 1908 and were still being used as frontline warships at the Battle of Jutland by both sides I would say that the most misleading part of that sentence is its grammar which I will have a go at tweaking