Battering ram

A battering ram is a weapon used from ancient times. It is essentially a very heavy weight on wheels, designed to break open fortification walls or doors. It was usually made of a large tree trunk that had a pointed tip. Sometimes it was carried by a group of men, instead of being wheeled, or were slung from a support frame via ropes so that it could be repeatedly swung against its target. Many such battering rams had roofs covered in leather and/or other materials to prevent defenders from pouring hot tar or pitch on to the ram and setting it on fire. In castles, defenders attempted to foil battering rams by dropping a mattress or other object in front of the ram just before it hit a wall, using grappling hooks to immobilize the log, or setting the ram on fire.

Battering rams are still used in various roles in modern times, sometimes mounted on vehicles. SWAT teams often use small two-man battering rams for opening locked doors.

Legendary battering ram usage:

• Destruction of Jerusalem
• Used throughout the Crusades
• The fall of Rome

Interesting Fact:

The famous children's rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, was not an egg after all. In fact, Humpty Dumpty was a nickname for a huge battering ram, built by the armies of Charles I of England, to roll down a slope and across the river Severn, opening up a wall of Gloucester. During this time in the mid 1600's, Oliver Cromwell and his roundheads had control of the city. The roundheads had secretly widened the river, so Humpty Dumpty was wrecked, "had a great fall." Hundreds of soldiers drowned and there was nothing the king's men could do about it.