cross someone's T

present singular third person crosses someone's T · participle present crossing someone's T · participle past crossed someone's T · past crossed someone's T

1. governmentTo sail one's battle line across the front of the enemy battle line, allowing one to bring one's full firepower to bear on the enemy battle line while limiting the firepower that the enemy can use in return.

   1 more example

   No sooner has the fleet settled onto this course than a small group of Japanese cruisers and actual, real, live, all-singing, all-dancing, all-features-included, protected-by-the-Emperor torpedo boats begin to move to cross the T of the Russian fleet. Worried about a torpedo attack on his lead battleships and determined to sweep this small formation aside, Rozhestvensky orders his main ships into a line abreast, a far-more-potent display of force that allows every forward-pointing gun on his capital ships to bear at the same time.

   2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 12:24 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any worse..., archived from the original on 04 Dec 2022