Lepanto was important for the same reason that Hampton Roads, Tsushima, and Pearl Harbor are important. They're decisive turning points in naval technology, wh

Lepanto was important for the same reason that Hampton Roads, Tsushima, and Pearl Harbor are important. They're decisive turning points in naval technology, where a battle demonstrates that the old ways of warfare are obsolete and new dominant tactics need to be adopted. For Lepanto, it was the vulnerability of galleys and shipboard infantry to gunfire, as cannonfire from the 6 Venetian galleases caused mass confusion as the galleys and their shipboard infantry approached each other; afterwards, the galley was obsoleted by galleons and ships of the line. Hampton Roads demonstrated the invulnerability of ironclads to traditional cannons, numbering the days of wooden sailing ships. Tsushima showed the importance of being able to engage at range, ushering in the era of the dreadnought battleship. Pearl Harbor (and Midway) showed how useless fleets of battleships are against air power. The article says as much, but for some reason focuses on the effects of the battle on politics rather than on technology.