SUBSTANTIVE EVIDENCE

 

 The rams from the Egadi battle site give a nice confirmation of the violence and effectiveness of ramming tactics. 10 rams from sunken ships (probably Carthaginian triremes) have been found along with helmets from Roman marines.
The amazing thing about the rams is that 4 of the ten show evidence of dramatic use in action.

Ram 3 shown here has evidence of heavy impact against another ship's heavy metal fittings i.e. ram.
That is 2 of 10 rams show damage from ram-ram impact.

Rams 2 and 6 had wood remains trapped in the rams fins - evidence for successful impacts on unprotected wooden hulls.

4 out of 10 ships (that ended their days on the seabed!) had direct evidence of aggressive combat. Quite a monument to the violence of an ancient naval battle. Also supporting the idea that in 241b.c. agile ramming tactics were still practiced rather than a universal slogging match at sea.

Read more at RPMNF website HERE.