The Corvus

In ancient Rome, battles were not won on the open sea as often as on land. This was due to the military power of Rome's soldiers. During the First Punic War, Rome invented a device, called the corvus (crow in Latin), to board Carthaginian ships and use her disciplined soldiers to win the battle. The corvus was a bridge mounted on the prow of the ship. It was lowered onto the deck of another ship by a system of pulleys, which also allowed the bridge to be brought back up if needed. On the bottom of the bridge was a large spike, much like a crow's bill. This pierced the enemy's deck and allowed a good connection for the Roman soldiers to cross on.

The drawbacks to this device were 1) it weighed about a ton, which drastically decreased the ship's maneuverability, and 2) it was of no use in stormy weather, for it could seriously damage either the Roman or the enemy ship.