Maritime History

Corvus (boarding device)

The corvus (Latin for "crow" or "raven") was a Roman ship-mounted boarding ramp or drawbridge for naval boarding, first introduced during the First Punic War in sea battles against Carthage. It could swivel from side to side and was equipped with a beak-like iron hook at the far end of the bridge, from which the name is figuratively derived, intended to anchor the enemy ship.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Figueira da Foz
• ▸Bristol Diamonds
• ▸HMS Hyaena (1778)

Uncatalogued shelf

Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.