Age of Sail Warships

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Not dismissing the ironclad at all, it was an impressive piece of weaponry.

Any known examples of metal armor, or attempts at it, in the ancient times?

I don't have any better knowledge than this wiki piece.


Prima facie, metallurgy led to metal armor led to attempts to armor many things. Our ancestors were not less intelligent or less creative -- else they would not have made the various advances which led to our modern advances that eventually harnessed these things. The limiting factors were always 1) cost/scarcity of metal and 2) mobility under practical considerations.

[edyzmedieval]

The huge Syracusia, built by the Greek tyrant Hiero II of Syracuse around 240 BCE, featured bronze-clad mast-tops for marines and an iron palisade on its fighting deck against enemy boarding attempts.^[5] Its hull was sheathed with lead plates fixed with bronze nails.^[1] Roman naval cataphract warships were protected on their sides by a layer of tarred and lead sheathing. Although this does not provide much protection from ramming, it does provide protection from damage while at sea for lengthy periods of time.^[6]

Quite impressive. Basically they were ironclading these ships from the 3th century, way before any significant breakthroughs were made in metallurgy.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Quite impressive. Basically they were ironclading these ships from the 3th century, way before any significant breakthroughs were made in metallurgy.

The ancients were not dummies. Cumulative knowledge had not reached a point where things could be done well and cheaply enough to use metal to the fullest.

[edyzmedieval]

The ancients were not dummies. Cumulative knowledge had not reached a point where things could be done well and cheaply enough to use metal to the fullest.

Clearly not, they had advanced knowledge. However, it's still surprising that even though the knowledge of metalurgy was not advanced enough, they still managed to do it. Then again, they did some things that we are not capable of replicating today.

Something that Archimedes would do.