Page 135 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

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using ships actually to assault stone walls, at Constantinople and in Egypt.
Although it was possible to use galleys against walls, by building up their fore and
stern castles, it was the development of the tall roundships that made such a weapon
truly formidable. When two ships were lashed together it was possible to construct a
wooden tower tall enough to overtop even the highest city walls. The first example
I have found in crusading context of this technique is at the siege of Lisbon in 1147.
However, the strong tides of the Atlantic prevented the vessels from sustaining an attack.
This was not the case at Constantinople in 1203-04. There is no time now to discuss
how the crusade, intended for the Holy Land, became diverted to attack the greatest
Christian city in the world. Suffice to say that the first assault was in support of a pre-
tender to the imperial throne. Attacking from the Marmara side in open sea, was not
practicable, so it was necessary to seize the northern shore of the Golden Horn. This was
achieved by the landings of men and horse previously described; but also by breaking
the chain across the channel in order to allow the crusader fleet to enter. The iron chain,
its links as thick as a man’s arm, floated on a wooden raft; but the largest ship in the
fleet, the Eagle, charged it at full speed and broke through. While the fleet attacked the
city walls near the Blachernae Palace the land forces threw back a sally led by emperor
himself; a properly joint operation.
After some truly Byzantine politics which saw the pretender crowned and then over-
thrown, the crusaders, unpaid and starving, launched an attack on the supposedly im-
pregnable walls of Constantinople in the spring of 1204. In the meantime, the defenders
had raised the height of their towers with wooden hoardings; this advantage, combined
with an unfavourable wind, was enough to drive back the assault of 8 April. However,
the crusaders launched another attempt four days later. This time they threw 40 ships,
tied in pairs, against the land towers. Each pair carried a wooden tower from which was
swung a flying bridge in order to drop the attackers onto the tops of the walls. Also, the
wind favoured the attackers, driving their ships against the walls. The breakthrough
was made by the pair named Paradise and Pilgrim, and once the breach was made the
Greeks were driven from the walls, and the city was open to capture.
The final example of this technique comes from Fifth Crusade, conducted in Egypt,
from 1218-21. I include this because we have detailed account from the chronicler, Oli-
ver of Paderborn of how, on his instructions, the floating siege tower was constructed to
attack the chain tower at Damietta, in the mouth of the Nile. Four masts were erected on
two ships and then bound together with beams and ropes. At the top of the masts a fort
was constructed, covered with hides for protection against stones and Greek Fire (early
napalm). Out from the platform stretched a bridge, projecting some 10 metres from the
prows of the vessels; another bridge projected at a lower level, presumably from the
forecastle. Initially, the attack did not go well, as the tower was set on fire by the defend-
ers and upper bridge fell into the river; but, with effort the attackers got a ladder on top
of the tower and seized it.
I hope that this brief excursion into pre-modern warfare has demonstrated both the
strategic vision and technical expertise of the soldiers and sailors of eight centuries ago,
not least the ever-inventive and determined Italians of that era.