Archimedess Screw Archimedes was once commissioned to design a huge ship by the King, Hiero II.

However, a ship of this size would leak tremendous amounts of water into the hull posing a dangerous to the people on board. So Archimedes designed a machine consisting of revolving screw-shaped blades inside a long cylinder. It could be turned by hand or by the power of the wind. This new device was able to lift out a volume of water by being placed on the deck of the ship and turning the bottom blade. The water would rise through the cylinder and then pour out the other end. In the modern world, this invention is still used for irrigation purposes. Archimedess Claw The claw of Archimedess was simply a large crane equipped with a hook that could lift ships out of the water. It was built to protect the section of the city wall of Syracuse facing the water. If enemy ships approached the wall, this invention of Archimedes would lift the ship and then capsize it. These machines sank many ships in defense of the city walls. Archimedess Heat Ray Archimedess heat ray was simply a giant mirror that would act as a parabolic reflector, reflecting sunlight onto enemy ships thus setting them on fire. There have been many accounts of this invention, however many people such as Mythbusters and a study conducted at MIT, have concluded that this invention did not work and was not useful. An easier way of destroying ships was shooting them with catapults or flaming arrows to burn them down.