Leonardo da Vinci designed a scythed ship with a rotating blade intended to damage enemy ships.
The concept adapted the destructive idea of a scythed chariot to naval warfare. A large horizontal blade or scythe mechanism was placed at the front of a vessel and connected to a rotating system. In theory, the blade could cut through an opposing ship’s hull or rigging during an attack. The craft was also imagined with protective armor for its crew.
The design belongs to Leonardo’s military engineering studies and was never established as a functioning Renaissance weapon. It is sometimes described loosely as a naval version of a tank, but that comparison refers only to its armored protection, not to its actual operation. The machine also differs from a fireship, which attacks by burning, and from a conventional galley, which relies on oars and shipboard weapons.