| spurgeonryan said: What is your favorite? I kind of had multiple questions, but knew the title could only handle one. Obviously if a few sniper shot a horde of mongols all day from 500 yards away there would be no challenge. I mean who is the coolest in your opinion? I also like the battle where the one group hooked beams to the bottom of their boats and slammed holes in the other sides boats. Now that was great! The Trojan horse was brilliant as well. |
I liked this story.... Basically it worked but then a big storm sank a bunch of the ships because they were too top heavy... I just remember it from a History Channel episode.
"Instead the Romans pin their hopes on a device which has already featured briefly in Greek naval warfare, but not to much effect. It is designed to give Roman soldiers, trained in the legions, a more stable platform from which to attack.
This device is a hinged drawbridge which can be released to crash down when an enemy ship is alongside. On its underside is a metal point, which will pierce the deck of the vessel and hold it fast while the Roman troops storm aboard. The lethal peck from this sharp beak gives the device its familiar name among the crews. It is a 'raven'. And it wins them battles.
The first such victory comes as a major shock to the Carthaginians. They have an advantage of thirty ships over the inexperienced Romans when the fleets meet in 260 BC off Mylae (now Milazzo), a few miles to the west of Messina. But the ravens enable the Romans to destroy fifty Carthaginian ships before the rest flee in panic.
The Battle of Actium: 31 BC
Roman warships abandon the raven soon after its first successes against the Carthaginians. The reason is probably their heavy losses in storm conditions. The raven in its upright position may have proved top-heavy."
