Ramming

In warfare, ramming is a technique used in air, sea, and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum, and ultimately from male sheep. Thus, in warfare, ramming refers to hitting a target by running oneself into the target. Today, hand-held battering rams are one tool among many used by law enforcement and military personnel for door breaching. Forcible entry by criminals has been implemented using such methods as vehicles rammed into buildings. Naval ram Navies in antiquity commonly used the ram: the "beak" ( rostrum) became an important part of the armament of the galleys of Imperial Rome. The ancient Greeks used their trireme vessels for ramming as well. In ancient China, rams were largely unknown, as the lack of a keel and the flat shape of the junk's bow was not conducive to constructing an elongated underwater spur. The first recorded use of a ram in modern times in fighting between major warships occurred in the American Civil War at the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862, when the armored Confederate warship rammed the Union frigate , sinking her almost immediately. Another significant use of the naval ram occurred during the Third Italian War of Independence (June to August 1866) at the battle of Lissa, between Italy and Austria. The Italian ironclad Re d'Italia, damaged aft by gunfire, had no functioning rudder. Lying helpless in the water, she was struck three times by the Austrian Erzherzog Ferdinand Max, the flagship of the Austrian Commander-in-Chief Admiral Tegetthoff. The Austrian ship retreated unharmed as the Italian vessel rolled over and sank. During the War of the Pacific of 1879-1884, the Peruvian ironclad repeatedly rammed the Chilean corvette , sinking the wooden steam- and wind-powered ship (May 1879). During World War I (1914-1918), rammed and sank German submarine in 1915. This was an incidental use of the ship's bow, however.