CATAPULT

CATAPULT

(Greek, from kata -pollo - I throw with force). An ancient military throwing machine in a kind of longbow approved on the stage.

Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language.- Chudinov A.N., 1910 .

CATAPULT

[lat. catapulta] - aviation. a device for automatically pushing the pilot out of the aircraft with its subsequent descent by parachute.

Dictionary of foreign words.- Komlev N.G., 2006 .

CATAPULT

lat. catapulta, Greek. katapeltes, from kata -pollo, I throw it with force. An ancient military throwing machine, a kind of longbow approved on the stage.

, 1865 .

CATAPULT

lat. catapulta, Greek. katapeltes, from kata -pollo, I throw it with force. An ancient military throwing machine, a kind of longbow approved on the stage.

An explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language, with the meaning of their roots. - Mikhelson A.D., 1865 .

CATAPULT

the throwing weapon of the ancients, with which they threw stones at the walls of the besieged city or shot arrows at the enemy army; extremely bulky, heavy machine.

A complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. - Popov M., 1907 .

CATAPULT

the ancients had a machine that threw arrows or stones at the besieged city.

Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language - Pavlenkov F., 1907 .

Catapult

(lat. catapulta ( gr. kata-peltes)

1) a machine for throwing stones, logs, barrels with burning tar, etc., used in antiquity during the siege of fortresses;

2) mechanical device for message initial speed an aircraft starting from a small airfield, site ( ex., from the deck of the ship);

3) a device for automatic ejection from an aircraft of a pilot or other crew member, followed by his descent by parachute;

4) a ground-based installation for testing mechanisms and training pilots in cosmonauts for shock overloads, for carrying out physiological studies, etc.

New Dictionary of Foreign Words - by EdwART,, 2009 .

Catapult

catapults [latin. catapulta]. 1. In ancient times - a machine for throwing arrows (historical). 2. Device for pushing out, dropping the aircraft from the deck of the ship (military aviation).

Big dictionary foreign words. - Publishing house "IDDK", 2007 .

Catapult

NS, f. (lat. catapulta Greek katapetlēs kata in, by + paltos quickly launched).
1. Automatic rescue device for ejection from an aircraft.
2. av. A device for starting an aircraft from the deck of a ship.
3. ist. The same as a ballista.
Ejection- related to catapult 1-3, catapults.

Explanatory dictionary of foreign words L.P. Krysin.- M: Russian language, 1998 .

Synonyms:

See what "CATAPULT" is in other dictionaries:

- (Catapult) 1. A mechanism used to give the aircraft take-off speed due to external force in a short acceleration segment. To. Consists of a truss or beam on the deck of the ship, which can be rotated to any given angle. The farm has ... ... Marine vocabulary

Onagr, Shereshir Dictionary of Russian synonyms. catapult n., number of synonyms: 3 blob (3) onager ... Synonym dictionary

catapult- s, w. catapulte f., eng. catapult lat. catapulta. In ancient times, a military machine for throwing arrows, stones. ALS 1. An iron car, called a catapult, to evaluate in a mechanical expedition, and, according to the estimate, report it to the office in writing. 1745. MAN ... ... Historical Dictionary of Russian Gallicisms

- (lat. catapulta) 1) a throwing machine, driven by the elastic forces of twisted fibers (tendons, belts, etc.). It was intended for throwing stones, cannonballs, arrows, etc. along a steep trajectory at a distance of 250 850 m. It was used from the 5th century ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

CATAPULT, in ancient times, this was the name of one of the varieties of weapons used in the siege of fortresses. At present, this is the name of a device for rescuing a pilot from an aircraft in the event of an accident. In order to successfully jump out on a parachute ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

CATAPULT, catapults, women (lat.catapulta). 1. In ancient times, a machine for throwing arrows (ist.). 2. Device for pushing out, dropping the aircraft from the deck of the ship (military aviation). Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

CATAPULT, s, wives. 1. In ancient times: a device for throwing stones, barrels with burning resin, used in the siege of fortresses. 2. A device for accelerating the launch of an aircraft from the deck of a ship or other small take-off area ... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

- (catapulta, (katapelthV) a throwing weapon in antiquity; differed from ballista in that the latter threw out bulky masses, ordinary stones, K. also served for large arrows that were directed upward (palintona), and horizontally (euJutona). To ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Catapult- CATAPULT. See Throwing machines ... Military encyclopedia

Catapult- (Latin catapulta, from the Greek katapeltes), 1) a throwing machine, driven by the elastic forces of twisted fibers (tendons, belts, etc.). It was intended for throwing stones, cannonballs, arrows, etc. along a steep trajectory at a distance ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

The catapult has a large lever, one end of which is attached to the axis, the other is free. The free end is equipped with either a spoon or a "basket" on ropes like a sling; a shell is placed in this spoon or basket - as a rule, a large stone or, less often, a special core (in some places, clay jugs with Greek fire were also used).

Most catapults are driven like this. The axle to which the lever is attached is attached to bundles of wires or ropes (torsion method) and screwed up almost to the limit; the gate pulls the lever downward, twisting the ropes even more. Then the lever is released - and it sends the cannonball into flight.

The projectile, of course, flies along a hinged trajectory, the accuracy is moderate, but it is easy to throw it over the wall. The mass of the projectile is 20-40 kilograms, sometimes even up to 50-60.

The characteristic range of the catapult is about 300-350 meters

The main purpose of the catapult during an assault is to attack walls and towers (a ballista can choose smaller targets, but will not break through a serious wall). It was usually placed on the fortress wall to fight against siege towers - better remedy you will not find. Catapults were also used in the navy - primarily for throwing Greek fire, until a better way was found. The ship is too nimble a target for a slow cocking and slow aiming catapult.

Shooting from this vehicle is much more difficult than from a ballista, and skilled gunners were highly prized.

In the Middle Ages, the catapult supplanted the ballista because 300-350 meters is both its maximum and aiming range. And this is more than the distance of an arrow from an English bow or a Genoese crossbow shot from the height of the castle wall. Which was the decisive advantage. However, complete displacement did not happen.

Catapult in action Onager.

Onager is the most popular catapult of ancient Rome. Its only feature is a basket on ropes instead of a spoon, which is more common in Greece.

The word "onager" means "wild ass". There are at least three versions of why the catapult was equated with a donkey. According to the first, a wild donkey drives away predators, throwing stones at them with its hind hooves. This phenomenon is unknown to modern zoology, but the ancients had strange views about the behavior of animals ... The second version claims that the catapult lever is thrown up like the leg of a kicking donkey; associations are an individual matter, of course, but the assimilation is very strange. Finally, a third version, relatively plausible, states that the device worked with a heartbreaking squeak, reminiscent of a donkey's scream.

Onager Mangonel

The fighting donkey survived to the Middle Ages; however, there he acquired the nickname "Mangonel". Over the years, the machine shredded, but it learned to shoot something like buckshot; invaluable against a dense formation!

Einarm

Einarm is a one-of-a-kind single-arm non-torsional deformation stone thrower.

In appearance, Einarm resembles a Roman onager. However, if an impressive monoblock of cattle veins was used as the main elastic element in onager, then in the Einarm they were replaced with long boards

Thanks to this, it turned out to be a very ingenious device. By cocking the long throwing arm of the Einarm by means of the manual gate, the machine attendant ensured that the two long elastic boards were bent exactly as if they were giant bows. Then the accumulated potential energy of elasticity of the wood was converted into the kinetic energy of the stone thrown out by the sling, and the formidable projectile was directed into the enemy's camp.

Before the advent of gunpowder and, as a consequence, large fire-breathing cannons that could erase fortress walls into dust, siege work was much more interesting and difficult. The army could stand for several years under the walls of the fortress, in which it was ten times smaller, without having achieved anything. Often the besiegers simply took the castle in the ring and waited for the guys behind the wall to start dying of hunger, exhaustion and disease. But this might not have happened, because the fortifications were built according to the entire logic of the war - they had to withstand long sieges. Food supplies, access to a water source, and a strict food distribution system are just a few of the conditions that made it possible to be under siege for years. But it is easier to wait out the winter in the fortress than outside. Therefore, not every commander decided on a long siege, some preferred an open and relatively honest assault, which could not pass without siege weapons.

1. Siege Tower

An imposing structure that made it possible to climb up the walls in the fastest way, with a successful combination of circumstances. Also, the siege tower served as a cover from enemy arrows and was a kind of platform from which archers could attack opponents on the walls. They made siege towers out of wood, which seems rash - they will light up like a match. But the tower was always covered with non-combustible material, such as cattle skins, which must have been fresh, sometimes metal sheets were used for this purpose.

The tower was moved on wheels by means of draft animals or by manual traction. Such a tower could hold up to 200 people, not counting the additional siege weapons installed at its levels. But these are already giants, an example of which can be the siege tower of Eleopolis ("invader of cities"), which was used by the Macedonian troops during the siege of Rhodes in 305 BC. It was 45 meters high and 20 meters wide. Due to its bulkiness, it was assembled immediately before the siege. Eleopolis had 9 levels, which accommodated two hundred archers. But it was a legendary monster that was used to storm one of the most fortified cities of antiquity. Conventional siege towers were, of course, much smaller.

Since the appearance of the first siege tower, which was built by the genius of Carthage, and until the beginning of the era of gunpowder, the design of these siege weapons underwent a number of changes, but the essence has always remained the same. Which over and over again gave rise to the same problem: the siege tower became helpless when the surface was not even enough. The same Eleopolis turned out to be useless during the siege of Rhodes, since the defenders guessed to flood the space in front of the wall, and the tower eventually got stuck. The last siege towers carried artillery, not archers, they were called battery towers, but their effectiveness is often questioned.

2. Catapult

Who doesn't know the catapult? The kind of thing that sends stones like a sling, breaking walls into tiny pieces. Immediately a picture appeared in my head, right? Now forget about her, because the real catapult looks completely different. It's all about terminological inaccuracies that, for some strange reason, hit the heads of modern generations.

Great Hercules! This is the end of military prowess!
- the words of the Spartan king Archides at the sight of the catapult -

A real catapult is a simple arrow launcher and has always been a arrow launcher that works on the principle of torsion action. In other words, a catapult is an easel crossbow and nothing else. There were a great many designs, but, one way or another, the name of this siege weapon spoke primarily of the principle of action. The invention of the catapult is credited to Dionysius I, the tyrant of Syracuse, who gathered the coolest artisans of his city and urged them to create technological weapons that would plunge enemies into terror. So they created a catapult for him, which helped to destroy the fleet of Carthage when he dared to attack Syracuse.

The catapult was used both against people and infantry, and as a siege weapon. For the latter, not arrows were used, but stones, similar to nuclei. The psychological factor of the catapult attack was extremely important, because the penetrating ability of a long and heavy arrow launched from this weapon was so great that a projectile could pierce a metal-bound shield and enter the body half its length, breaking through armor.

Cars, following this sign, began to throw arrows at the Scythians, who were galloping on horses along the shore. Some were injured; One was shot through by an arrow through his shield and carapace, and he fell from his horse. The Scythians were afraid of the arrows flying at such a great distance, and the fact that their hero was killed, and moved a little away from the coast.

3. Onager

It is onager that is most often confused with a catapult, and is listed as the most popular among all presented. At the same time, it is popular only in our mass culture, because in fact, onagers were used quite rarely.

This machine is called the tormentum because tension is achieved by a torsion (torquere) - a scorpion, because it has a sting sticking up; modern times also gave it the name onager, because wild donkeys, pursued on a hunt, kick back, throw stones such that they pierce the chest of their pursuers or, breaking through the bones of the skull, crush their heads.
- late Roman officer and historian Ammianus Marcellinus -

The mechanism of the onager was torsion bar, which made this weapon look like an easel sling. It was necessary to rotate the lever to lower the shoulder down. A stone or metal shell was put into it, and then the lever was released, which led to a shot. Most often, onagers were used against infantry, not buildings. Since they were not adapted to conduct an external fire, the trajectory of the projectile was flat. Thus, they were used in the defense of fortresses, but not in the siege. For the siege, ballistae were needed that fired at a higher elevation angle.

4. Trebuchet

A crushing throwing machine that uses a gravitational principle of action, which allows you to throw very heavy projectiles, causing serious damage to fortress walls. Despite the appearance of this siege machine, the design itself is quite simple: a lever and two arms (short and long) are attached to a stable frame. The long one has a rope saddle for projectiles, the short one has a counterweight. Even corpses could be used as a counterweight.

Who exactly invented the trebuchet is not known to anyone. There are written records that a similar machine is found in China in the 5th century BC. But a more serious source can be called the work of Archbishop John of Thessaloniki "The Miracles of St. Demetrius", which describes the invasion of the Avars and Slavs and the siege of the city of Thessalonica. The attackers, according to this work, made from 50 to 150 "vices" per day, which were then left on the battlefield, not counting the weapon as a special value. It is believed that the "vices" were borrowed from the Chinese through the Turks. Subsequently, they were adopted by the Byzantines. Well, when Byzantium fell into decay, and the kingdoms Western Europe strengthened their power and became the center of engineering, then trebuchets migrated to Western Europeans.

For a long time, trebuchets were the most effective assault weapon in the feudal wars of Europe. Their design has improved significantly, acquired more suitable proportions, more powerful battering characteristics, but by the XIV century, during the Hundred Years War, the trebuchet's effectiveness was reduced. This was clear even before the advent of gunpowder weapons. It was a matter of new types of fortifications that perfectly withstood the strength and power of the shells fired from this famous stone thrower. Well, when the cannons appeared, the meaning of trebuchets disappeared altogether.

The last known use of the trebuchet in combat occurred during the battle of Cortez with the Aztecs in 1521. Then Cortez did not want to waste gunpowder, so he ordered the creation of a trebuchet that could throw stones weighing 11 kilograms. The idea was unsuccessful: one of the shells flew vertically upward and destroyed the car itself.

5. Battering ram

A battering tool, which is a log, the end of which is equipped with an iron or bronze tip. The design may vary. The simplest ram is equipped with side handles for which the warriors must hold on. But there are pendulum designs, such rams act automatically, which greatly facilitates the assault on the fortress.

Stared like a ram at a new gate
- a proverb that, according to one version, owes its origin to a battering ram -

The ram is an ancient invention that was known to the Assyrians. The Romans themselves attribute the invention of the ram to the Carthaginians. With the help of it, the walls of Cadiz, the pearls of the Iberian Peninsula, were destroyed. Most often, battering rams were placed in a structure that we know as a "turtle". It was made of wood on which the skins of bulls were attached. Such a canopy was great protection from arrows, stones and hot oil, which were thrown on the besiegers from the walls. The Romans began using the ram during the Second Punic War, at the siege of Syracuse. Historical documents indicate that one of the two rams required about 6,000 legionnaires for its movement. Imagine the scale!