Quinquereme

A quinquireme was a heavier version of the trireme ,it had five benches or banks of oars; the Athenians, Romans and Carthaginians used this style of ancient galley. It replaced the trireme, being heavier than the earlier ship.

Though armed with a ram, these ships usually fought by boarding rather than ramming. The Romans during the Second Punic war used a special ramp with spike that would be dropped onto an enemy ship to facilitate boarding. This device was called a corvus (crow). These were later abandoned as they made the quinquireme less seaworthy and more difficult to handle. These ships continued to be used into the later Roman period.

Because of the chronic use of infantry troops for boarding the Quinquereme can be considered as the mother of naval infantry or marines.