Once a ship passed over the horizon, the last thing that we could see were the tops of the masts of those ships. And we could not bring all of those ships back into view with our telescopes after they had passed over the horizon and out of sight completely.
We could only magnify with our telescopes.
You must have not had much experience observing, then.
Does any video exist of a ship, of which the view is partially blocked by the horizon, rising back up to full view with increasing magnification?
If so, does anyone here have a link to it?