to broadside.

When the Turks discovered the allies they were issuing from between the
islets and the shore. Seeing John Andrea Doria moving to the right, they
judged that he was executing a turning movement with the object of escaping
to the northwards, from whence he had come; they were, at the time, unable
to see the rest of the fleet, which was hidden by the land. With sound
tactical judgment they accordingly advanced to attack the allies before
they should have time to issue from the strait. They were, however, too far
off to accomplish this, and, by the time they arrived within striking
distance, the Christian fleet had cleared the strait and was ready for
them, "drawn up for battle," says Monsieur Daru, which is somewhat vague in
describing the disposition of a fleet. What is certain, however, is that in
advance of the galleys of Don John were six great galeasses, which were
armed with guns of immensely superior power to anything which could be
mounted in galleys. As the Turks advanced to the attack these vessels
opened fire, and did so much execution that Ali, the Turkish
Commander-in-Chief, ordered his line to open out and thus avoid their fire.
Whatever formation the fleet was in at the time--which was, as far as we
can gather, "line abreast"--this opening-out process, to avoid the
galeasses, threw it into hopeless confusion. The Turkish right wing, which
was hugging the coast, and was the first to come into action, passed on in
an endeavour to turn the left wing of the allies. While this manoeuvre was
in progress Ali, the Capitan-Basha of the Turks, arrived in his vessel
opposite to the royal galley of Don John. At the masthead of the galley of
the Capitan-Bashaw floated the sacred standard of the Ottomans. This, the
ancient banner of the Caliphs, was covered with texts from the Koran, and
had upon it the name of Allah emblazoned no less than twenty-eight thousand
nine hundred times in letters of gold. "It was," says Prescott, "the banner
of the Sultan, having passed from father to son since the foundation of the
dynasty, and was never seen in the field unless the Grand Seigneur or his
lieutenant was there in person." Ali, the Commander-in-Chief, a favourite
of the Sultan, had been entrusted with this most precious of all the
possessions of the Padishah, as an incentive to him and all under his
command to fight their hardest to do honour to the Prophet, and to prevent
this symbol of their religion from falling