History Main / RammingAlwaysWorks

*** Also there was the time when an Italian destroyer attempted to ram the submarine HMS ''Proteus'' (N29) only to have the sub's hydroplane rip such a big gash in the destroyer's hull that it has to be towed back to port for repairs. The submariners commemorated this incident by sewing a can-opener into their ship's flag.

** ''PT-109'', commanded by [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy JFK]], was cut in two by the Japanese destroyer ''Amagiri'', pretty much by accident.

* The troop transport HMT ''Olympic'', sister ship to the ''Titanic'', rammed and sank the ''U-103'', the only recorded instance of a merchant vessel sinking a warship in WWI. The ''U-103'' was not the only vessel to be on the receiving end of the bow of the ''Olympic'' either -- she almost capsized the HMS ''Hawke'' by turning in front of her, despite the warship being designed for ramming. She also damaged the liner ''Fort St. George'' and sank the lightship LV-117. (There's a good reason people thought ''Titanic'' was an unsinkable ship--''Olympic'' practically made a career out of smashing whatever was in her path.)

*** The torpedo ram (with a "spar torpedo") was a common tactic during the American Civil War -- The CSS ''Hunley'' sank the USS ''Housatonic'' with one. And Lt. Alonzo Cushing of the US Navy sank the CSS ''Albemarle'' with one; in addition to the submarine ''Hunley'' (the first such vessel ever to sink an enemy), both sides employed non-submersible torpedo boats. This tactic was even more dangerous than it sounds -- the contact exploder did not yet exist, and spar torpedoes had to be set off post-ram with an attached lanyard, exposing the person who pulled it (and in the case of the ''Hunley'', having to leave the hatches open for seawater to get in, one of several suggested possibilities for the sub's sinking soon after).

** Actually the ramming wasn't really the point, as a ship with no steering is pretty easy to evade. The purpose of fireships was to break up the enemy's formation (which was an absolute necessity given the English warships were smaller and fewer). In the case of the Spanish Armada, they were surprised at anchor and had to cut their lines to get away, leaving their anchors behind. As a result, they were unable to ride out the storm that did them in later.
* Relatively recent example: in 1988, Soviet frigate Bezzavetniy rammed USS ''Yorktown'' (approximately three times heavier ship) to push it out of Soviet territorial waters. Neither ship was seriously damaged.

* During the First World War the toll amongst Britain's K-class submarines was high, with 3 lost and 4 seriously damaged:

* {{Defied|Trope}} by [[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic First Officer Murdoch]], who elected to try to avoid the iceberg. Then again, considering that we're talking about a 52,000+ ton ship travelling at almost 35 miles per hour hitting a mountain of what geologists consider a sedimentary rock (resulting in the glancing blow alone generating the force equal to 37 contemporary express trains), the ship was held together with rivets and steel plates rather than welded together like modern ships, and the business end housed hundreds of sleeping passengers and crew... [[AvertedTrope Ramming might not have been exactly wise.]] Not to mention that the first instinct of any competent sailor is ''not'' to ram their ship into an obstacle.

* On March 30 2020 Venezuelan coastal patrol vessel ''Naiguatá'' rammed Portuguese cruise liner ''RCGS Resolute'' in international waters off the Venezuelan northern coast and [[SubvertedTrope subsequently sank itself]]. Not entirely surprising because the ''Resolute'' was built for cruises to Arctic waters and [[MadeOfIron her hull was ice-strengthened]]. ([[RashomonStyle Venezuelan authorities claim]] that it was the other way around, that the ''Resolute'' was involved in deploying mercenaries to Venezuela and she rammed ''Naiguatá'' - "in an act of imperialistic aggression and piracy" - which would play this trope straight, [[FridgeLogic but it would probably require]] an uncannily swift and manoeuverable cruise liner to pull this off.)

* The [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honorverse]] has never portrayed ramming as a credible offensive tactic in space combat since the series' MinovskyPhysics make it entirely impractical for several reasons. First, ships cannot project DeflectorShields perpendicular to their axis of acceleration, making any ship on a collision course an easy target for return fire; second, ships can change acceleration far more easily than they can change course, giving a strong advantage to the evading ship even if it is larger and slower; and third, even if these problems could be solved, the evading ship could simply pitch its impenetrable gravity bands towards the approaching ship, destroying it like an egg hitting a brick wall. However, there is one {{downplayed|Trope}} example in the first novel where Harrington deliberately clips the impeller wedge of a Havenite courier boar with her own ship's. In that case, it was done with the element of surprise to overload and disable the boat's drive; if Harrington had wanted it destroyed, a single shot from a laser mount would have been far simpler.

** Played straight twice:

** ColonelBadass Mariko "Sprit" Tanaka is an honor crazy {{National Stereotype|s}} 26th century samurai already called out for her Japanese sense of self-sacrifice. She learns that her fiancé, believed dead for ten years, is being held hostage on a space station, the very space station she is ordered to destroy and the traitor threatens her fiancé's life over. Three guesses what her solution is, and the first two don't count.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Kamikaze Kamikaze]] attacks by the Japanese during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. While far from 100% effective (it's surprisingly hard to crash into a ship that's maneuvering radically and shooting at you), it was easier than attempting to aim a bomb or torpedo in that the weapon could be guided right up to the point of impact. The logic was unfortunately sound, and it got the Japanese more use out of their large groups of poorly trained pilots than conventional methods of attack. A similar but less successful experiment was made with Kaiten, a torpedo with a human to guide it. Whereas counting kamikazes sent out vs. those which hit a target gives it a better figure than regular aircraft, counting Kaiten launches vs. hits suggests they performed considerably worse than regular torpedoes. However, Kamikaze pilots were greatly reduced in effectiveness because of their generally inadequate training. This made them easy to shoot down for both US pilots and antiaircraft gunners, since they didn't know how to maneuver or angle their runs to evade the worst defense fire. They also often didn't understand the relative importance of different classes of ships or where to hit different types of ships for maximum effect. They often simply tried to dive straight into the first ship they saw, and quite often were shot down or exploded in flight. Note that ''kamikaze'' was Japanese Navy term, while the Japanese Army Air Force used the name ''taiatari'' (a UsefulNotes/{{Kendo}} term for combatants colliding into each other). Both were collectively called ''Tokkōtai'' (特攻隊, Special Attack Squadron).
** The Japanese also designed a special kamikaze aircraft, the Yokosuka MXY-7 ''Ohka'' (''Ōka'' translitterated in Hebon-shiki). Essentially a 1200kg bomb with wings, a cockpit, and three rocket motors bolted on, it was to be carried to within 20 nautical miles of the target by a bomber, then released. Seven Allied ships were sunk by them, including destroyer USS ''Mannert L. Abele'', though for a variety of reasons (Japan's impending defeat and the fact that the ships delivering the first production run were sunk) they saw limited action. American sailors nicknamed them [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_MXY7_Ohka "baka bombs",]] after the Japanese word for "idiot".

*** The Zeppelin ''Rammjäger'' ("Ram fighter") was a parasite fighter with a specially-reinforced nose and wing structure, using steel tubing. It was to make two passes at enemy bomber formations: on the first, it would fire a payload of rockets; on the second, it would ram the nearest enemy aircraft and then glide to safety. At least, that was the ''theory''. In practice, it was likely to have been a very high-risk operation for the pilot. No prototypes flew before the war's end.
*** The combined rocket/ramjet Stockel ''Rammschußjäger'' ("Ram-Shot Fighter") was, in effect, a manned bullet surrounded by engines: carried to the combat box by a mothership and equipped with a steel reinforced nose it would fly towards the enemy bombers and, at the last second, the pilot would pull a release tab, which would fire the steel nose at the target whilst simultaneously ejecting him downwards to "safety". The ''Rammschußjäger'''s original name was ''Totrammjäger'' ("Suicide Ram Fighter"), which should tell you all you need to know about how likely the pilot was to survive this process. No prototypes flew before the war's end (presumably to the delight of everyone ever).
*** The Sombold S344 ''Schußjäger'' ("Shot Fighter") was related to Stockel's insane creation: the craft had an explosive nosecone which the pilot was supposed to fire into the nearest bomber formation, before it would explode, leaving the aircraft to crash and the pilot to bail out. Again, "safely". No prototypes flew before the war's end.
*** The Gotha ''Rammjäger'' was another ramming aircraft along the lines of the Zeppelin version described above, unlike the Zeppelin, however, the pilot was to be ejected after impact: the cockpit was to be an armored cone which would bore through the enemy bomber. The pilot looked over this cone in flight; when he was in his terminal approach, he would press a button, the seat would automatically recline him behind the cone, the aircraft would ram the enemy, and cone-cockpit and pilot would be ejected from the fuselage with an explosive charge. An explosive charge was also at the front of the cockpit in order to blast a hole through the enemy aircraft at the same time. During free-fall, the pilot would be launched from the cockpit with a spring and parachute. To "safety". Even the Nazis thought this was batshit insane and most likely didn't respond to the proposal. Presumably nobody wanted to tell the pilots their new job was to lie down between two sets of explosives and fly a plane full of volatile rocket fuel into the enemy. No prototypes flew before the war's end. Obviously.

* In the climax of ''Film/TheEnemyBelow'', Captain Murrell (Robert Mitchum) rams his critically damaged destroyer into Von Stolberg (Curt Jürgens)'s submarine.

** The "Fall of the Samurai" ExpansionPack to ''VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2'' has several ram-capable ships, including two ironclads with rams: the French ''L'Océan'' and Japan's own ''Kōtetsu'' (also historically built by the French). While they're not particularly powerful in terms of firepower, ramming another ironclad amidship, such as the American ''Roanoke'' or the British ''Warrior'' can be a OneHitKill. However, it can be difficult when the enemy is firing AP shells at you.

* On 5 November 1942 during World War II, Finnish submarine ''Vetehinen'' rammed the Soviet submarine Shch-305 in the Sea of Åland and sank her. According to Vetehinen crew members, she was on a night patrol searching for Soviet submarines, which stayed underwater during daytime but usually came up during the night to recharge their batteries. A contact was found, and after confirmation of an enemy contact Vetehinen launched a torpedo, which missed probably due to being fired at too short distance. Vetehinen then opened fire with her deck guns. A second torpedo also missed, but the deck guns managed to damage the Soviet submarine which by then had started an emergency dive. The Captain of Vetehinen, determined not to let the submarine escape, ordered his submarine to ram the other vessel which at last was a success – the icebreaker "teeth" on the bow of the ship ripped open the Soviet submarine's pressure hull and caused her to sink. Vetehinen suffered a minor leak from the impact but managed to return to her home port.
* On March 30 2020 Venezuelan coastal patrol vessel ''Naiguatá'' rammed Portuguese cruise liner ''RCGS Resolute'' in international waters off the Venezuelan northern coast and [[SubvertedTrope subsequently sank itself]]. Not entirely surprising because the ''Resolute'' was built for cruises to Arctic waters and [[MadeOfIron her hull was ice-strengthened]]. ([[RashomonStyle Venezuelan authorities claim]] that it was the other way around, that the ''Resolute'' was involved in deploying mercenaries to Venezuela and she rammed ''Naiguatá'' - "in an act of imperialistic aggression and piracy" - which would play this trope straight, [[FridgeLogic but it would probably require]] an uncannily swift and manoeuverable cruise liner to pull this off.)

The reason for this, of course, is that space ramming depictions are probably based on the SpaceIsAnOcean mindset, and the cultural memory of RealLife [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfNavalWarfare naval tactics]] of the [[AncientRome ancient]] [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece world]]. Before the advent of cannons, ramming the other ships was the main method for taking them out (other than burning or boarding). Note that this is where the term "ramming speed" comes from -- the horator would begin beating the drums faster so the rovers at the oars of the galleys rowed faster in order to drive the ram deep into the side of the enemy ship. Ramming tactics made a brief comeback in the latter half of the nineteenth century, with steamships, when [[MadeOfIron they started making ships out of metal instead of wood]] which made older cannons obsolete. The first generations of big-gunned battleships, HMS ''Dreadnought'' and her successors, were still being built with bows designed for ramming for many years after the tactic ceased to be relevant. In fact, in the early years of ironclad battleships, their armor was so effective against the relatively primitive guns of the era that ramming was seen as the only viable tactic against an ironclad. Better guns and the development of self-propelled torpedoes meant ramming was obsolete against surface ships by the First World War, but it remained the standard method of attacking a surfaced submarine, since gunfire was not very effective against such a low-lying target.

** In ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'', Krall's drone swarm attacks exclusively by ramming, and have the ability to bypass shields. Because Federation ships have no armor to speak of, the ''Enterprise'' is quickly savaged by the swarm.

* ''Literature/NamelessWar'':

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[[quoteright:350:[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/backemup.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Music/TheBeatles We ran into a German submarine, a German submarine, a German submarine.]]\\
[-''[[https://sova.si.edu/details/NMAH.AC.0433#ref11016 A British Cruiser Ramming an Italian Submarine in the Mediterranean: Back Them Up!]]'' (1942)-]]]

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* In ''Film/InventionForDestruction'', Count Artigas' SubmarinePirates uses the stolen submarine to sink merchantmen by ramming them below the waterline so they sink, then sending out divers to kill the survivors and loot the ship.

* In the climax of ''Fanfic/HalloweenUnspectacular 5: The Final Push'', Cochrane's plan to take down an enemy fleet involves packing a boat with [[MadeOfExplodium gunpowder]] and ramming it into said enemy fleet. Athena, upon learning this, [[INeedAFreakingDrink drains a glass of wine.]]

* In ''Literature/{{The War of the Worlds|1898}}'', the British torpedo ram ''Thunder Child''... well... ''rams'' and destroys a Martian [[HumongousMecha tripod]] which has waded out into the Thames Estuary. A second tripod blasts the ship with its [[DeathRay heat ray]] and promptly gets rammed with/blown up by the ship's flaming remains.[[note]]Interestingly, the "torpedo ram" concept never really caught on with the navies of the world, but they were the newest concept in weaponry round about the time that Wells wrote his novel. They were not intended to ram enemy ships, but to ram their way through harbor defenses in order to get in close to the ships at anchor and fire torpedoes. The captain of the ''Thunder Child'' opted to ram after the ship had been crippled by a Martian heat ray.[[/note]]
* In Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', this is the primary attack the ''Nautilus'' uses against surface ships, to the point where the ship is initially believed to be a freakish giant narwhal. This remains true in [[Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea the Disney film adaptation]].
* This trope is probably responsible for the creation of ''Swordfish'' from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', a warship with a giant iron ram on the end that makes it slow and unwieldy. It eventually manages to ram one unmanned ship, which [[spoiler: turns out to be full of wildfire, setting it and everything else on fire]]. Effective design.

* Creator/TomClancy's ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'', features the title submarine (an upgraded version of the Soviet Typhoon ballistic missile submarine!) ramming the Alfa-class attack submarine, trying to sink it. While badly damaged, the ''Red October'' managed to remain afloat. The ''Konovalov'', the attack sub, wasn't quite as lucky. Since they didn't have any torpedo men, and had only a skeleton crew it was pretty much the only option. This is quite reasonable given that Typhoon class submarines are vastly larger than Afla-class subs (with the ''Red October'' being further enlarged from the basic design), and they also have a double hull.
* ''[[Literature/CarrerasLegions Carnifex]]'': Islamic terrorists attempt to ram the Legion carrier ''Dos Lindas'', but instead get intercepted by the HeroicSacrifice of one of the gunboats escorting it, that rammed the kamikaze cargo freighter before it could deliver its explosive cargo.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Cold Days'' [[spoiler:Thomas rams his boat into one of the barges the Outsiders were using to attack Demonreach]]. Justified in that he wasn't trying to sink the other vessel, only push it off course.
* Surprisingly averted in Taylor Anderson's ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}'' series, considering the entire series is devoted to naval action using a wide variety of ships. Somehow, none of those involve ram-capable ships. Even the [[LizardFolk Grik]] whose main tactic is AttackAttackAttack are never observed trying to ram enemy ships. Instead, they will standard grapple-and-board tactics. The only time a ship is used to ram another, a UsefulNotes/WorldWarI-era American destroyer, whose one remaining weapon has been expended, rams a Japanese UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era battlecruiser. However, the collision doesn't do much damage to the big ship, not until one of the destroyer's crewmembers sets off the depth charges on board. Even that is not enough to sink the battlecruiser. It does, however, work for a Japanese plane that rams an American one in a last-ditch effort to destroy it (the Japanese crew was specifically ordered to use this method as a last resort and to not bother coming back to report failure).
* In ''Literature/AxisOfTime'', a radical Islamic group takes control of an Indonesian corvette and approaches the "uptimer" fleet. When they're close enough, they suddenly speed up and prepare to ram the USS ''Hillary Clinton'', as the corvette is loaded with explosives. The reaction of the "uptimers" indicates that this sort of tactic is common among Islamic radicals in the [=21st=] century. Luckily, they manage to blow up the corvette before it gets close enough.

* ''Series/{{The Boys|2019}}''. In "Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men", [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman The Deep uses his powers]] to send sharks ramming into their motor yacht, forcing the Boys to AbandonShip in a speedboat. Then Deep appears riding the back of a sperm whale which he uses to cut off their escape route. Crazy b***d that he is, Billy Butcher just keeps accelerating, ramming straight into the whale, totaling the speedboat and [[BloodyHilarious covering them all in whale guts]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Silent Hunter|Series}} III'' - In a GoodBadBugs example, early unpatched Versions actually made it possible to sink quite a few ships, including destroyers, by using your U-Boat's tower to ram its hull underwater. It would make tower and periscope inoperable, but hey, you could sink a ship without having to use one of your precious few and slow-loading torpedoes. And you could use it multiple times without bad effects when done precisely, so you could ram an entire convoy to death with your humble submarine if you were lucky and skilled enough. Later fixed in patches that made the effect more realistic -- your puny sub is wrecked and sinks.
* Mentioned (and averted) in ''VideoGame/BattalionWars II''; The Xylvanian Kraken-class Dreadnought sports incredible size and a pointed, titanium-tipped prow, but is noted to be "relatively ineffective when used to ram other naval units."

* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
** Ships can ram each other either accidentally or intentionally in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII''. One of the naval missions, in particular, has an optional objective where you have to destroy three enemy ships by ramming them (they're much smaller than your ''Aquila''). One of the upgrades available for the ship is a ram, which can gut even enemy frigates, especially if your own hull is reinforced and you do it at full sail with the wind.
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'', your ship automatically comes with a ramming prow, and plowing into enemy ships is highly encouraged as a combat tactic. If you fully upgrade to the highest quality ram, you can punch through and destroy even the dreaded Man-O-Wars in just a few passes.
** Similarly to ''Black Flag'', ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' also gives you a ramming prow and the option of charging is available from the very beginning. It's existence is also a bit more justified because it can be used as an icebreaker in the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' continues the tradition (and is accurate to the era, as seen down in Real Life). At sufficiently high ramming speed, the ''Adrestia'' can smash ships in half, especially if the enemy ship is damaged enough.
* The police tactics in the first two ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' parts are limited to this. In the first part in particular, they would plow head-on into you at speeds that would reduce the RealLife counterparts of the in-game cars to a quarter of their original lengths. The damage isn't as high in the game, but ramming is still {{justified|Trope}} because it's the ''only'' way the police can attack you.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pharaoh}}'': Warships have ArrowsOnFire or ramming as attacks. While they will use ramming against other ships, they can't keep it up for long, as the crew quickly becomes exhausted, leaving the ship stranded. It's also less than realistic: Ship-toship combat is represented by the ships gliding over the same square of water, with a few sound effects thrown in.

* In ''VideoGame/FromTheDepths'' ramming can be augmented with the Ram part, which deals damage proportional the ship's velocity and mass. White Flayer ships in particular are all built for ramming and are usually covered in rams on every surface; they aren't particularly effective at ramming equally sized vehicles as it usually results in them getting stuck, but they will utterly annihilate anything smaller. In the first White Flayer instant action mission, the [[ATasteOfPower player is given a high-end ramming boat]], the ''Flayed Soul'', and is sicced on a bunch of poorly armed Deepwater Guard fishing boats that will get crushed and minced by the grinders on the ramming ship.
* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'' has an event chain wherein you can acquire the Necronomicon, summon Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone immediately regret your decision]], ''ram him with your ship'', and '''kill the Great Old One.''' No one survives as a witness to this act, but your character gains a modifier called "Godslayer" which comes with some cool benefits.

* ''WebVideo/WorldWarTwo'': Episode 33 - "The Invasion of Norway and Denmark" tells the story of HMS ''Glowworm'' which rammed the German ''Admiral Hipper''. The ''Glowworm'' failed to destroy ''Hipper'', and sank while on fire shortly after.

* This is the primary purpose of Raising Heart's A.C.S. (Accelerate Charge System) mode in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''

* The entire basis of Killboy's flying style in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'''s ''ComicBook/DeffSkwadron''. As a result, he's more machine than Ork and has been rendered damn near invulnerable.
-->'''Gimzod:''' Killboy. 35 missions flown, 35 replacement fighta-bommerz an' 35 major bionik surgery procedures. '''67 konfirmed kills''', includin' 43 actually belongin' to the enemy...
* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'': The Authority is unable to penetrate their opponent's force field to attack his island. That is, until Midnighter flies a 50-km long starship into the island and obliterates the enemy lair.

** ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'': Superman begins the final battle by hurling himself at Darkseid.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': In Issue #9, Tails decides to kick off the Resistance's assault on the [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs Egg Fleet-occupied Angel Island]] by causing their ship to crash into an Eggman base on the island. In Issue #10, he follows up on this by hijacking an Egg Fleet ship and using it to ram through several others, and in Issue #11 tops himself by then ramming that ship right into [[spoiler: Metal Sonic's [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Master Overlord]] form]].

* In ''ComicBook/CombatKellyAndHisDeadlyDozen'' #6, 'Mad Dog' Martin breaches the walls of an impenetrable German fortress by crashing his damaged bomber into them: creating a hole that allows the rest of the team to storm in.

* ''Fanfic/{{Conquest}}'', a popular ''Franchise/StarWars''[=/=]''Franchise/StarTrek'' fanfic, is notable for having the Rebels ram a damaged corvette into a destroyer at [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill many thousands of times the speed of light]], The other ship survives, but there is enough havoc for the rest of the Rebels to get through.
* In ''Fanfic/TheMiracleAtPalaven'', a crippled 3,700 kiloton starship falling towards the planet is sent on a collision course with [[spoiler:a crippled Reaper capital ship at eleven hundred kilometers per hour]].
* ''Film/StarWreckInThePirkinning'':
** In this ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan parody, Emperor Pirk rams his nearly destroyed ship on the enemy flagship, producing the most impressive CG destruction sequence ever seen outside multimillion dollar Hollywood productions, and indeed looking better than most ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fight sequences ever filmed. This is even more impressive when you realise that that Pirk's flagship is the ''Enterprise-E'' and the enemy flagship is the ''Excalibur'' from the ''B5'' spin-off series ''Crusade''. And they created the whole thing on home [=PCs=].
** Ramming is also a Space Battle gameplay element in the ''WebAnimation/StarWreck'' RolePlayingGame, though captains who make a habit out of it won't win any popularity contests.
** It's also notable that the ''Excavator'' survived the ramming with a few scratches, while the ''Potkustart'' was obliterated. Of course, it was just a diversion for the much more inferior ''Kalinka'' to unleash a full spread of "light balls" into the ''Excavator'''s [[TheBridge bridge]]. It also would've spectacularly failed, as Festerbester saw the ''Potkustart'' coming and was about to blow it to smithereens... only for the weapons to be clogged by the ''Potkustart'' firing a full spread of... light beer (ItMakesSenseInContext) earlier.

* In the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' fic ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}'', ''Serenity'' doesn't have any weapons, so Wash has to make do, often using [[WeaponizedExhaust the ship's exhaust]] or throwing things out the cargo hold. In a pinch, and when dealing with ships neither as durable or as large as the freighter, ramming becomes an option too.
* ''Fanfic/{{Bait and Switch|STO}}'':
** The prequel ''Fanfic/FromBajorToTheBlack'' features a variant. Eleya tunes her shields' waveform to be 180 degrees out of phase with those of a Borg probe so a close pass ramming shield into shield eliminates both. She then beams a photon torpedo onto the unshielded probe, destroying it.
** Defied in chapter five of the original fic. Referencing the destruction of the USS ''Odyssey'' by a Jem'Hadar ramming attack in ''[=DS9=]'': "[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine The Jem'Hadar]]", a Jem attack ship attempts to ram the USS ''Bajor''. Difference is, Captain Kanril cuts power to the engines and aft deflector and diverts the power to the navigational shield, which is ''built'' to repel kinetic impacts. The Jems only end up crippling their own ship and a phaser hit to the forward torpedo magazine finishes them off.
** Played straight in ''Fanfic/TheWrongReflection''. A Terran Empire ''Defiant''-class ship tries to ram the ''Bajor'' from the ''side'' after a torpedo attack by another Terran ship knocks out one of the phasers and nearly brings the shields down. Since the ''Bajor'' is fighting as part of a fleet this shouldn't have been a problem: the ships assigned as escorts should've been able to deal with the Terran ''Defiant'' themselves. Unfortunately three of the four remaining ships in the formation were caught out of position. [[spoiler:T'Var ends up using her damaged USS ''Olokun'' to [[TakingTheBullet shield her former captain's ship]], taking the ramming attack herself and dying.]] The same battle narrative also features a mention of a Gorn ''Tuatara''-class cruiser T-boning a Terran ''Typhoon''-class battleship, with the Terran ship breaking in half.
** ''Fanfic/PeaceForgedInFire'' has a bit during the BigBadassBattleSequence where Velal's flagship ch'R ''Eyhon Ehludet'eri'', [[spoiler:a ''Scimitar''-class warbird]], casually runs over a much smaller ''T'varo''-class warbird that simply explodes on contact with the ''Eyhon'''s navigational shields. [[JustifiedTrope It's a bit like hitting a bass boat with an aircraft carrier.]] ROADKILL!

-->'''Mister Torgue''': THAT'S HOW TORGUE-URDNOT DOES BUSINESS, MOTHER''bleep''ER!
* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'':
** During the Battle of Thessia in the Mekon War, the crippled Asari dreadnaught ''Siege Perilous'' rams a Romulan warbird, the resulting explosion wiping out several other nearby Romulan ships.
** This becomes a regretfully standard maneuver during the Reaper War, with ships too crippled to otherwise fight or flee instead slamming themselves into Reapers to destroy them. Later, as the tide starts to turn against them, the Reapers start doing this against their enemies out of desperation.
* Zigzagged in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' fanfic ''Fanfic/LetTheGalaxyBurn'':
** During the Greyjoy Rebellion, a badly damaged Reach spaceship tries to ram Rodrik Greyjoy's ship, only for the latter to destroy the former before it gets close enough. Rodrik Greyjoy lampshades it as stupid, because ramming is an absurdly difficult maneuver to carry out even if the ship is brand new and it will destroy both the ramming and the rammed ship - and ships aren't cheap.
** Played straight twice:
*** [[spoiler:Operation Midnight, Dorne's surprise attack against Aegon's supporters, is mostly about having old merchant ships manned by old men or people who have nothing to live for, deliberately ramming naval shipyards. This works because the people there never thought someone would be so suicidal so as to do this.]]
*** [[spoiler:When Richard Lonmouth realizes that (a) he isn't getting alive out of Stannis Baratheon's trap and (b) Fawnton is being overrun by demons summoned by the R'hollorites, he decides the best choice is to [[ColonyDrop ram the planet at half the speed of light]] so as to deny the demons a foothold and giving any human survivor in the planet what amounts to be a MercyKill.]]
* In ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'', during the battle to re-take Ryloth, James Rhodes/War Machine inflicts damage on a Separatist ship by leaving explosives in the seat of his fighter and programming it to collide with the ship while he dons his armor and flies alongside it.
* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', [[EvilTwin Satan]] [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Girl]] rams into a moon in order to push it out of orbit. Being all but a PhysicalGod, the deed is easy for her.
-->She pushed herself off of nothingness, and speeded towards one of those moons, quickly passing light velocity several times over. Satan Girl kept picking up speed, her arms crossed before her face. The white, crater-pocked surface loomed before her, filling her range of vision.\\
She hit it.\\
There would have been a tremendous boom, if the moon had had an atmosphere. But it did not, and there was only silence and an awesome impact of body with lunar matter.\\
Satan Girl had struck the moon at an angle to spin it free of its orbit. She ricocheted away from it, unharmed.
* ''Fanfic/ForTheGloryOfIrk'': In Chapter 63, the FinalBattle is kicked off when [[spoiler: Zim aims Vero's ship at [[TheMothership the Massive]] and flies into it at hyperspeed in order to breach through its armor and get to [[BigBad IX's]] secure chamber]].

** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': To take out the last of the transport he's chasing, Everett Ross simply rams it with the Royal Talon Flyer, destroying both. It's the best option here since he doesn't need the flyer any more, and is at no personal risk because he's piloting remotely. More importantly, [[spoiler:he's in a hurry because another fighter jet is about to destroy the laboratory he's in with its pulse weapons and he has no time left]].

* ''Film/SkyBandits'': During the final aerial battle against the German airship, Major Bannock crashes his Fritz 'special' into one side of the airship and out the other.

''[sees an out of control fighter coming right at them]''\\

* Narrowly averted in ''Robots and Empire'' between a settler [[spoiler:DG Baley]]'s merchant ship and an Auroran warship. [[spoiler:Not because he was out of weapons, but because it was forbidden to open fire inside Earth's Solar System]]

** In [[Literature/NewJediOrder the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong]], the Super Star Destroyer ''Lusankya'' is heavily damaged due to attrition. The New Republic has most of its interior stripped, a few of its lasers kept and manned with droids, and a single reinforced spine is added. The ship is then sent on a kamikaze mission dubbed [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Operation_Emperor%27s_Spear "Operation Emperor's Spear"]] and smashes into a Vong worldship, completely destroying both vessels.

** In the ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'', Ackbar takes over remote control of a partially-completed [=MC90=] Star Cruiser and rams it into an Imperial Star Destroyer attacking the shipyards. Both ships are obliterated.

* David Brin's ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'': In ''Startide Rising'', a human spaceship is being chased by an alien ship built with vastly superior technology, and the humans are hopelessly outmatched. As the alien ship madly accelerates to overtake the fleeing human ship, the humans release several tons of seawater (on board for the benefit of the dolphin crewmates). The speeding alien ship slams into the expanding cloud of water and is crushed due to the huge velocity differential.
** But not before the alien captain has time to realize what's happened and (very briefly...) rant about the dirty trick the Earth ship has pulled by coming up with an improvised battle tactic instead of using one of the approved ones.

* Richard Lupoff's "[[Literature/AgainDangerousVisions With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama]]" has starships that are long, hard, and designed for thrusting vigorously into other ships. And they somehow manage to be slightly ''less'' overtly Freudian than the ship the protagonists are in.
* An accidental example in one of the ''Literature/StarCarrier'' books, where a Russian ship ends up slamming at a North American one, when the joint fleet comes out of metaspace. Normally, the [=AIs=] of ships coordinate their arrival to prevent such accidents, but the [=AIs=] of different nations haven't had much chance to work together yet, and their protocols ended up not meshing well. The resulting explosion vaporized both ships and produces a multi-megaton explosion. At those speeds, it doesn't matter that one ship was much smaller than the other.
* Used in the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novel ''Know No Fear'' as a prelude to the Word Bearers' invasion of Calth. They corrupt and take over a cargo ship, then ram it into the planet's orbital facilities at a decent fraction of lightspeed. The ensuing catastrophe breaks the back of the planet's infrastructure in seconds.
* In Creator/MarkoKloos' ''Literature/{{Frontlines}}'' series, the enemy seed ships are impervious to weapons (even nuclear), and even ramming doesn't work. That is, until the ram a speedship with a fully loaded freighter traveling 1/10th the speed of light. The person whose idea it is claims that they aren't talking about mere gigatons. They want to create an astronomical event that will be seen from Earth.
* In ''[[Literature/TheExpanse Persepolis Rising]]'', many Earth-Mars Coalition captains decide to ram their ships into the Laconian battleship once it becomes apparent all of their firepower combined can barely make a dent in it. [[spoiler: Not even that can stop the Laconian forces.]]
* Ramming is extremely destructive in ''Literature/Aeon14'', especially when one ship has [[DeflectorShields stasis shields]].
** In the Battle of Five Fleets in ''Destiny Lost'', the Mark fleet forms their individual gravity shields into one big bubble, planning to envelop and board the ISS ''Intrepid''. Sera puts the entirety of her courier ship ''Sabrina'' in stasis and rams the bubble, and the shock completely obliterates the Mark fleet.
** ''The World at the Edge of Space'' has an {{exaggerated|Trope}} version verging on a ColonyDrop: Jessica crashes the stasis-shielded ''Sabrina'' into a planet that's been turned into a gigantic bioweapons laboratory, ramming it all the way ''through'' the planet and out the other side, cracking the crust to the point where magma resurfaces the entire planet in short order. ''And they live to tell about it!''
** At the Battle of Carthage in ''Orion Rising'', Cary and Saanvi Richards are leading a group of remote-piloted ships in an attack on a group of Trisilieds Alliance troop carriers. They resort to using their own vessels in kamikazes, finally ramming the last one with their own ship--much to their parents' horror, as they weren't even supposed to be anywhere near the fighting in the first place. (Both girls survive.)

* In the ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' episode "Fire in Space", Cylon fighters attempt a kamikaze attack on the ''Galactica'', one crashing inside the launch bay and setting it on fire.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':

* ''Franchise/StargateVerse'':

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: TabletopGame/BattlefleetGothic'' (and 40k universe in general) simply could not pass by this topic.
** Imperial Navy often are built with prows designed for ramming. Considering that their entire culture is built around fanatical belief and willness to sacrifice yourself for the Imperium and [[GodEmperor the Emperor]] and the bulk of their military strategy boils down to [[WeHaveReserves sheer numbers]], Imperial engineers build their ships around the frontal assault, which may result in ramming the enemy. Honestly all considered, as long as you don't mind losing some ships, ramming with their (often far larger) ships is actually a surprisingly effective way of battling more advanced alien ships.
** Should be noted that this is 40k we are talking about. A ship detonating its reactor (running on Warp itself, or plasma, or whatever else) near the enemy can cause ''more'' damage than even ramming at relativistic speeds. During the Tyranid wars, a not-so-uncommon tactic of taking out the gargantuan bioships was to ram into them and activate the Warp engines, basically [[TakingYouWithMe sucking the enemy ship into Hell]].
** All Ork vessels have armoured prows, spikes and so on for ramming, with one type of ship, named the "Brute" ram ship by the Imperial Navy, designed ''specifically for ramming''. Consisting of a gigantic armoured prow, a powerful engine and minimal weaponry, they are one of the least subtle devices in the entire 40k universe, which is a truly, truly impressive feat.
** Boarding torpedoes are basically this taken to it's logical conclusion. Guided torpedoes with soldiers inside is considerd such an obvious solution that they are standard armaments for ''multiple different races''. At worst, it will be a blast of unexploding, but heavy and potentially devastating kinetic missiles; at best, it will also deliver armed troops inside the enemy hull. After all, there are only a handful of races in the Warhammer universe that [[WeHaveReserves actually have to worry about wasting manpower]].
** The Cestus Assault Ram, as its name implies, is designed primarily to ram into enemy ships or fortresses and discharge its cargo of {{Space Marine}}s inside. The ship is designed around a huge magna-melta that fires just before impact to soften up the surface, while the ceramite prow is more than able to survive immersion in molten metal/concrete.
** The HeroicSacrifice of the Astral Knights chapter involved ramming their ''Tempestus'' Battlebarge (a kilometre-long battleship) through the void shields of a Necron World Engine (imagine a Death Star possessed by an EldritchAbomination and crewed by ancient skeletal death robots). After punching through its void shields, hundreds of Astral Knights spent hours battling across the surface of the World Engine, destroying everything that looked remotely important while beset on all sides by thousands of Necrons. Nearly wiped out to a man, the Chapter Master himself led a handful of survivors down into the bowels of the Engine and destroyed the main shield generators with melta-bombs, allowing the Imperial Navy to finish it off. And so the Astral Knights vanished into legend.

*** Incidentally, since 'Mechs are significantly taller than regular ground vehicles, the latter can charge the former (hitting the legs unless the target just happens to be prone) but not vice verse. A [=BattleMech=] can ''kick'' a vehicle or make a death-from-above attack against it...but not charge at it outright.

*** Interestingly, the game rules themselves go out of their way to prevent this particular scenario from being commonplace. Among other factors, an aerospace unit trying to make a ramming attempt needs to roll dice to determine whether its pilot or crew is ''actually crazy enough to go through with it'' -- on anything but an 11 or 12 on 2d6 (which is to say, in eleven cases out of twelve assuming fair dice), the attempt stops right there.
* In hard sci-fi board game ''Attack Vector Tactical'', ramming an enemy ship (if you hit) destroys it and [[SelfDestructiveCharge your own ship]]. However, to be able to do this your crew has to be convinced to do it by the ''player'' making a [[RousingSpeech speech the other players vote as suitably moving]]. And if you manage to move another player to [[ManlyTears tears]], it [[BadassCreed upgrades the level of one of your other ship's crew]].

* An article in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' described a ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' player, only identified as "Bob", who "obviously assumed that starships and ancient galleys were built alike." His attempted ram ("I've got the bigger ship!") turned both ships into clouds of debris, much to his confusion.

* In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' a spaceship that rams another spaceship both deals and sustains damage equal to the number of hexes it traversed when the command was issued, and if the defending ship has a flak barrier its rating is dealt to the attacker as well. But ships can be equipped with "close-combat weapons" such as [[WeaponizedExhaust vent re-directions]] that can only be used after ramming.

* A valid tactic in ''VideoGame/IndependenceWar''. There's a specific set of shields, called Aggressor Shields, created precisely to be activated at the moment of ramming to reduce damage on your own craft.
* The Durandal rams a U-Tic battleship in a hilariously phallic manner in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}''.
** In their predecessor, ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', the Yggdrasil accelerates so fast that it starts ''hydroplaning off sand'', all in an attempt to crash the ship on top of [[spoiler:[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Id Welltall,]]]] to keep him from destroying Brigandier and Bart. Subverted in that the tactic ''doesn't'' work. [[spoiler:Id]] [[CatchAndReturn just picks the ship up and drops it on top of Bart instead.]] [[spoiler:"Dropping a battleship on me is cheating... take it back!"]]
*** Also, in "Episode IV" of the story (Lacan and Sophia's period, immediately prior to Fei and Elly's "Episode V,") Sophia commandeers the [[CoolShip Excalibur I]] and rams it into Deus' throne, the Merkava. (Although [[UnexplainedRecovery the latter is rebuilt]] for Deus' ascension, this time it's shot down by the Excalibur II instead.)
* Averted in the space combat game ''VideoGame/FreeSpace2''. The capital ships in this game have armor tough enough that the weapon of choice for destroying them is carpet-bombing with ''antimatter'' bombs, or enormous beam cannons that [[OneHitKill vaporize fighters]] from a glancing blow; they are in general not harmed by collisions with other ships:
** One mission ends when a destroyer of the rebellious Neo-Terran Front desperately attempts to ram the Alliance's new ''Colossus'' juggernaut. You have to try to disable or destroy it before it can impact. If you don't... well, it basically just goes ''splat'' against the aptly-named ''Colossus'' anyway, so it's no big deal.
** It is played straight in the game's predecessor, where the Hammer of Light cruiser ''Mauler'' attempts to ram the Terran flagship ''Galatea''. Though it is possible to have defended the ''Galatea'' well enough to have it survive the impact, the ''Mauler'' still does ridiculously huge amounts of damage. Possibly {{justified|Trope}}, though, as the game mentions the kamikaze fighters in that mission (and presumably the ''Mauler''), are loaded with powerful explosives.
** In the first mission of the campaign, the NTF Belisarius, severely damaged and outgunned, attempts to ram the GVD Psamtik... and is torn to shreds by the Psamtik's main guns before they get anywhere near.
* Used, and subverted ''while'' using it in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration''. The ''Rhinoceros''-class [[MilitaryMashupMachine Land Battleships]] used by the Divine Crusaders all have great big blades mounted on their bows for ramming attacks. However, late in the second game, when TheNeidermeyer's ship is badly damaged, he tries to ram the ''Kurogane'', the ship being captained by his rival. Unfortunately, [[TooDumbToLive he forgot]] that the ''Kurogane'' just happens to have a [[ThisIsADrill big-ass]] ''[[ThisIsADrill drill]]'' mounted on the front...oops.
** Various Lion-types (such as the Guarlion, Calion, Astelion, Alterion, and Vegalion) are able to ram their enemies using the Sonic Breaker/[=RaMV=] weapon systems.
** A particularly devastating example of this trope in action is the Elemental Lord of the Wind, Cybuster, and its "Akashic Buster" attack. Often used in the various anime adaptations against an opponent trying to invoke this trope...suffice to say, the Cybuster's ramming is superior every time.

* Subverted by ''VideoGame/WingCommander III's'' [[MultipleEndings Bad Ending.]] Although the ''Victory'' takes out the Kilrathi dreadnought by ramming into it, it's still not enough to stop the bad guys from winning.
** See also the novel ''End Run'', where a [[MegaNeko Kilrathi]] fighter rams the bridge of the TCS ''Tarawa'', killing Commodore O'Brien, and putting Jason "Bear" Bondarevski in command. The ''Tarawa'' wasn't destroyed by it, but given the make-shift nature of escort carriers, the destruction of the bridge did put a serious cramp in operations, in that unlike a purpose-built warship, the [=CVEs=] didn't have a Combat Information Center deep inside the ship where it would be safe from most damage that didn't outright kill the ship.
** ColonelBadass Mariko "Sprit" Tanaka is an honor crazy {{National Stereotype|s}} 26th century samurai already called out for her Japanese sense of self-sacrifice. She learns that her fiancé, believed dead for ten years, is being held hostage on a space station, the very space station she is ordered to destroy and the traitor threatens her fiancé's life over. Three guesses what her solution is, and the first two don't count.
** Ramming enemy fighters is sometimes suggested by other players as one method to kill them fast enough to beat [[ScrappyLevel Kurasawa 2]], in the original ''VideoGame/WingCommander''.
** In ''VideoGame/WingCommanderPrivateer'', the Orion, a heavy merchant/mercenary gunboat, can successfully ram as an offensive tactic because it has heavily beefed up armor on the front quadrant to enable such assaults.
* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', every major ship to ship battle will exhibit dazzling special moves from the player and opponent. The Valuan Admiral Gregorio's ship, Auriga, will ram the player's as his special. The Auriga comes complete with extra armor plating and spikes to get the job done.
** This can be used to his disadvantage. Using Quika to speed the Delphina's engines the turn just before he rams the ship will cause him to not only miss, but also expose the backside of his ship where the bridge and engines are to a counterattack.
* ''VideoGame/StarControlII'''s Androsynth had the "Guardian" ship, which featured Ramming Speed (aka "Blazer form") as its most effective weapon. Moving faster than any other ship in the game and becoming [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] will do that for you...

** The buildup for the expansion "Empyrean Age" features tensions between the Gallente Federation and Caldari State reaching a boiling point after a Gallente Admiral rams his Mothership into a highly populated space station during an economic summit between the two empires. He succeeds despite the massive armada present having 4 minutes to shoot him down.
*** To be fair, most of that "armada" was fleeing civilian ships, and the video of the incident ran 22 seconds. A sizable chunk of the non-civilian chips were the Gallente escort, in discord as they realize what their own ship is doing, and the Caldari guards presumably don't have the backup or enough time to take down a mothership, the second-largest ship class in the universe. The novelization adds that the shield generators that could have saved the station were sabotaged.

*** Bumping can also be used as a FoeTossingCharge, either to push ships away from stargates or wormholes and prevent them from jumping out to safety, to push Sieged capital ships away from each other so they cannot support each other, or in areas where [=PVP=] is "illegal" to [[{{Griefer}} shove mining ships away from their asteroids]]. Some pilots have created ship designs, fitted with oversized engines, to maximize the FoeTossingCharge potential and send their bumped targets tens or even ''hundreds'' of kilometers away from their starting positions.
* Weird (and old) PC game ''VideoGame/StratosphereConquestOfTheSkies'' has flying fortresses -- essentially huge floating rocks with thrusters on top of which fixed units are built. Various and nasty are the instruments of death meant to make enemy fortresses lose their main sustainment building and plummet to the ground, but when weapons fail -- and it does happen, since your enemies do not particularly like the idea of being swatted out of the air and react accordingly - it's often possible to just floor it and pray your fortress' ramming spikes are stronger than the other's walls. This causes inordinate amount of damage even when successful, but the fact that fortresses self-rebuild and repair given enough resources and time makes it a viable tactic.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkstarOne'', ramming is a valid tactic if you have plasma shield. If not, don't. You'll get hurt.
* Ramming is extremely destructive in the ''VideoGame/XUniverse''. It frequently happens by accident, but a player in a fast capital ship or heavy transport can annihilate other capital ships or whole squadrons of fighters.
** In ''X-Tension'', enemy ships were known for their sudden turns. It's unclear whether the AI was actively trying to ram you or just doing evasive maneuvers that just happened to cross your path, but the result was almost always a kaboom -- whether yours or theirs depended entirely on how much shielding the ships carried. The novelization of ''VideoGame/XBeyondTheFrontier'', to which ''X-T'' is an ExpansionPack, [[MythologyGag pokes fun at this]]:
---> '''Yayandas:''' We are about to calibrate the newly installed, super-responsive inertial damper. You will never again feel the slightest shake, and never once be torn from your sleep, even if you are rammed head-on by a Xenon.\\
'''Nopileos:''' Rrrr... do they do that?\\
'''Yayandas:''' So one hears...
** Accidental ramming is, fortunately, reduced in subsequent games of the ''VideoGame/{{X}}'' series; however, since the player can pilot many more capital ships (ranging from small frigates to huge battlecruisers), ''intentional'' ramming takes a whole new meaning. The big thing in ''X3'' is to ensure that when you hit the target, you've got more shields than they do. Thus, ramming is the fastest way to clear fighter swarms if you're in a capital ship (just swing the nose around like a fly-swatter), and it's the fastest way to commit suicide if you're flying a [[FragileSpeedster scoutship]].
** By using the tractor beam (which first appeared in ''X3: Reunion''), the player can grapple/tow capital ships or entire stations behind them, and can sling them around to bash things, though very awkwardly. A [[GameMod script]] allows the player to grapple ''anything'' - including enemies - and makes the tractor beam very predictable, allowing you to [[CarFu swing around ore mines or battleships like a hammer]].

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Cid's first plan for any situation seems to be "Crash the Airship Into It". He's universally shot down as there's always a less... ''suicidal'' plan that can be used.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', [[spoiler:as the Sky Fortress falls upon Rabanastre and threatens to break through its [[ForceField Paling]], Judge Zargabaath commands his flagship, ''Alexander'', to ram her and hopefully knock it away from the city. He forbids the assembled fleets from interfering and, knowing what the maneuver would entail, orders them to destroy the ''Alexander'''s remains before they fall on the city. He is interrupted by a third party taking control of ''Bahamut'' and steering it away, but the thought was there]].
* Multiple subversions are in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' turn-based strategy game ''VideoGame/BirthOfTheFederation''. In the game's simulated ship-to-ship combat, you can order your ships to ram an enemy vessel, thereby bypassing the shields and attacking the hull directly. As your orders play out, your ships will open fire with everything they have, trying (and sometimes managing) to destroy their target before they ram into it. The ram order, however, leaves your ships unable to avoid enemy fire, potentially allowing them to be destroyed before they can even get close. Finally, when a weaker ship successfully rams a more powerful (re: has more hit points) ship, they only do about as much damage as they have hull strength -- ramming a 1000-hp battleship with a 20-hp scout just won't cut it.
** This is however an excellent way to deal with The Borg. They have incredible shields but weak hull. Ramming ignores shields. You'll still lose a ''LOT'' of ships doing it, but not as many as fighting it. One of the few games where a Borg cube appearing is a OhCrap moment.
*** Also a worthwhile strategy for the Ferengi, who can afford thicker hulls.
* The bigger ships in ''VideoGame/StarTrekStarfleetAcademy'' could be used effectively this way. It'd usually still hurt but could finish off or cripple a smaller ship. Combined with cloaking devices on some ships, you could pull off a completely stealth ramming with some luck.
** If you weren't careful though, even if your ship survived you might end up losing a warp nacelle or two. In the storyline mode this was an automatic failure, as finishing the mission required returning to the starbase, which required warp drive.
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront'' and [[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII its sequel]], ramming enemy vehicles with yours causes no damage. At least not until you fix a mine or two on the front. [[MadeOfExplodium Kaboom, yo!]]
** However, in the first game ramming enemy infantry in a speeder bike kills the enemy while doing no damage to the biker, but ramming anything else in the bike kills the biker. Interestingly enough, ramming a shielded destroyer droid with a speeder bike kills both the droid and the biker.
*** Playing this trope even more straight, ramming a Hero in the first game (where they were unplayable but had unlimited health) with a Speeder Bike is one of the only ways to successfully deal with them.
** In the space maps in the sequel ramming does do damage and can actually be used effectively by players. Parked starfighters take more damage than flying ones for some reason, meaning that players can still do damage in enemy hangars. Ramming a bomber into a landing ship in your own hangar can also destroy it much faster than shoulder-launched rockets. Fighters can also collide in space, though it'd be difficult to pull this off in a way that doesn't get you both killed.
** This was changed in the sequel, ''Battlefront II'', where smashing your ship against the side of an Imperial Star Destroyer on Mon Calamari cruiser does absolutely nothing.
** One of the ''VideoGame/RebelAssault'' games has a mission that requires the player to protect a kamikaze cargo ship until it can hit a shield generator.
** This is in fact the [[AscendedGlitch canon ending to that mission.]] Wedge Antilles just ejected before he crashed, [[FridgeBrilliance which explains why he started the next mission in a different ship.]]
* In ''VideoGame/XWing'', the trope can be played hilariously straight. Rebel ships have shields. [=TIE=] fighters, interceptors, and bombers do not. [[ExploitedImmunity Do the math]].
** The situation is, of course, inverted in the sequel ''VideoGame/TIEFighter''. Veteran players soon learned to hate the A-wing fighter, not for its speed but for its unerring ability to hurl its cockpit directly through their windscreen upon being destroyed. In the instance where capital ships perform ramming (e.g. Battle 12 Mission 1), the result is a mutual kill but is downplayed due to the ramming ship containing explosives.
** The ''VideoGame/XWingVsTieFighter'' expansion pack ''Balance of Power'' uses this heavily in the final Rebel mission. After the player does sufficient damage to the ''Executor''-class Super Star Destroyer ''Vengeance'', a trio of Dreadnought cruisers drop out of hyperspace to ram it from behind, battering down whatever shields it has left. Then a Corellian Corvette rams its bridge tower to finish it off. All four ramming ships are unmanned and packed full of heavy explosives, which is appropriate given the sheer size of the Super Star Destroyer (and the fact that there's no Death Star handy for it to collide with after the bridge is destroyed). Any pilot worth his salt will however lower enemy shields instantly by attacking the shield generators. Just like in the movie...
* Plot point in ''VideoGame/JediStarfighter''. In mission 7, "Hammer and Anvil", the last action that Captain Orsai takes with his doomed cruiser ''Kethor'' is to ram into one of the shield generator platforms and expose Nod Kartha to attack. [[HeroicSacrifice Because the Kethor's already so badly damaged, Orsai has to pilot it into the generator manually]] after his crew bail in the {{Escape Pod}}s.
* In ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' ramming your ship into things will hurt them. In the first level of ''Shadows'' you can spend lives to quickly wreck a couple of the [=AT-ATs=] to speed things along, though this will mean missing the Challenge Points you get for tripping them. This tactic sadly doesn't work on them in ''Rogue Squadron'' but it does wreck most other targets.
** In the "Razor Rendezvous" mission of ''Rogue Squadron II'', you can suicide-ram the Star Destroyer's bridge after taking down its shields and still complete the mission without penalty, even if it was your last life (as the life count decrement happens at respawn). During the Battle of Endor, you can also ram the bridges of two star destroyers bearing down on Home One, but you'll lose lives and also possibly scrub any challenge medal runs for that mission.
** In ''Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike'', part of one mission involves escorting an unmanned Gallofree Yards transport as it rams the control center of a shipyard.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' games, numerous servers have a house rule that ramming enemy vehicles results in the rammer being kicked from the server. You would expect that smacking a plane into a plane would destroy them both, and it usually does, much to the chagrin of the flyboys. Ground vehicles ram each other with about as much effect as you would expect, depending on what rams into what. In ''[[VideoGame/Battlefield2142 BF2142]],'' the ''infantry'' can ram vehicles using Drop Pods (think ''Franchise/StarshipTroopers''). Initially, it was powerful, if hard to aim. However, post-patches, this ability was seriously {{nerf}}ed, in part to prevent physics exploitation.
** A tactic that players developed in ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany'', which has survived as far as ''VideoGame/Battlefield4'', is to set C4 on a light, fast vehicle like an ATV or Jeep, and drive at a heavy vehicle like a tank. Two packs of C4 will take out a tank, and as long as you bail out properly, the vehicle's momentum will carry it into the tank, and you can blow it up at your leisure. More inventive players have put C4 on unlikely vehicles, like helicopters, jet planes, and ''[=UAVs=]''.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': During the [[spoiler:final attack on the Citadel, the [[EldritchAbomination Reaper]], [[SapientShip Sovereign]], is so [[ImplacableMan massive, durable, and well-shielded]] that he doesn't even bother to avoid ships in his path; he just speeds ahead, ramming clean through several turian cruisers that are unlucky enough to be in his path in order to reach the Tower before the Citadel arms close]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' you can send a right click command KAMIKAZE! to turn your ship (regardless of size) into flying torpedo. In skillful hands, even the humble unarmed harvester can rack up quite a kill score. A ship simply trying to move through the space occupied by another can lead to spectacular results as well, though both ships will take damage; courtesy of some oddities in the engine and AI, the weird needle-shaped super-carriers in the nebula missions seem to score most of their kills when they sideswipe your ships whilst trying to aim their forward guns. Then there's that one level when the enemy strap a thruster-pack on a planetoid and use it as a really big missile...
** Sometimes small enemy ships will scatter once the main force has been destroyed then one by one return and attempt to ram your mothership.
** In the sequel ''Homeworld: Cataclysm'' one of the ships is the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Minion-class Ramming Frigate]], a converted asteroid tug equipped with a short-range fusion torch. If the enemy ship survives the initial hit it will be pushed out of the battle by the Ramming Frigate and left some distance away. A few of these can be used to DivideAndConquer. Ironically, ''Cataclysm'' actually nerfed the ramming mechanic by making collisions non-fatal unless the 'kamikaze' order is given. Too bad it's not that useful in the campaign where physical contact with a Beast ship will instantly infect the frigate as well.
--->'''Minion pilot:''' Sorry, I chipped your hull paint!
*** The game backstory provides an interesting justification to the frigate's existence: Somtaaw non-combatants are usually ordered to flee at the first sight of trouble. However, on one occasion the ''Kuun-Lan'' was attacked by Turanic raiders while mining a valuable radioactive asteroid field. Seeing that the Acolytes are being overwhelmed, two Minions working nearby defied retreat orders and instead, the crews clocked the engines to maximum and tossed the attacking carrier into a turbulent [[AsteroidThicket asteroid field]] where it was destroyed by repeated impacts.
*** In the same game, Mimics can disguise themselves as asteroids or even enemy ships. Though they made effective scouts, it was quickly discovered that these ships made very effective kamikaze attacks, since they could disguise themselves to get close enough to an enemy ship without raising suspicion. Especially since Mimics were usually crewed by those who have lost their entire family in the Kharakian Genocide and thus had nothing to lose. Cue the Quantum Explosives research option whose description states that while building a dedicated kamikaze ship is a regrettable thing, the command staff finds peace in the thought that their brothers and sisters took the maximum amount of enemies with them.
** The second-to-last mission of ''Homeworld 2'' has the enemy command carrier pull this as a last-ditch attack. If you've killed all its forces and have it cornered, it'll launch a wave of fighters to kamikaze the closest thing they can find. It's more for spite than anything, as your attacking force will only be mildly inconvenienced by the loss of the few ships destroyed.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has "Blazing Star", the Last Word Spell Card of Marisa. When [[KamehameHadoken massive laser beams]] [[GonnaNeedMoreX aren't powerful enough]], she just [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer applies more firepower]], and uses it as a RocketJump to attack by ramming.
* Used successfully by the Flynn Brigade in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' to divert a laser blast aimed at a city.
* ''VideoGame/WildArms4'' has [[TheSmartGuy Arnaud]] using Plane Fu to kill one of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Brionac Lieutenants]], crashing an ''entire squadron'' of fighter jets right on top of him to make him really dead.
* Starkiller from ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' can throw a ''Star Destroyer'' out of orbit [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/8/20/ into people.]]
** Force Unleashed II arguably trumps it when Starkiller[[spoiler:'s clone (maybe)]] flies an evacuated Rebel cruiser down to Kamino and bails out at the last minute, resulting in a gigantic ship smashing into the main Imperial cloning facility. Also, judging by the flash, the ship's reactors went up on impact.
*** The ship was already heavily damaged by the battle and the droids. The only was to take Kamino was to destroy its shield generator. Hence the crash.
* Pick a 2D scrolling shooter. Any 2D scrolling shooter. A good chunk of the enemies will attempt to ram your ship/plane along with shooting at it, both being equally deadly in games with OneHitPointWonder vehicles. One of the best examples is the ''194X'' series.
** For that matter, almost any arcade or arcade-ish game will have many if not the majority of your enemies seek only to smash into you to cause damage, often without any weapons ''except'' ramming.

* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': Player characters eventually get a skill called "Ramming Speed", which can only be used if the ship is below 50% HP. There are no ship collisions unless this command is used (In-universe (but not in-game) fluff suggests that the navigational deflectors prevent this). If the command is given, the ships hit each other. If shields happen to be down on one ship on the facing side, hurting happens. Not recommended unless you have your own shields up and strong.
* In ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace'', when faced with [[spoiler: the destruction of a third of his homeland's fleet by an invading vanguard fielding more ships than exist in his homeland's galaxy in a matter of minutes]], [[spoiler: [[SmugSnake Captain Novikov]]]] suddenly grows a backbone and, rather than retreat, decides to ram the exposed enemy flagship in a desperate attempt to stop them. [[spoiler:He gets through, but the impact proves... [[SubvertedTrope singularly ineffective]].]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Eremon:''' Did you feel a thump?]]
** Later in Act 2, [[spoiler:this is subverted again when Eremon desperately tried to ram Yuri's ship after Yuri defeated him in a fleet engagement. Eremon managed to make contact just as his ship was destroyed, but it's only a glancing blow that barely scratches the paintjob]].
* In ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe'', Due to the AI's tendency to go into head-to-head duels with the player, this happens irritatingly often. Of course, when you still have shields and your opponent doesn't, especially when he's flying one of the notoriously [[FragileSpeedster weak-hulled GalSpan]] ships and you're flying a [[FlyingBrick Bora fighter]], the results can be hilarious. But all too often, because of the ridiculously short ranges that happen in dogfighting, this happens when your shields are already drained...

* Averted in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' as an intentional tactic. The developers have [[WordOfGod expressed a dislike for kamikaze ships]] and have therefore left them out. There is a variant here, though: [[ColonyDrop ships can smash into planets]], destroying the ship and damaging the planet (but adding to its resources). [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Sparky]] can also ram ships and destroy them, but it is unknown whether [[HordeOfALienLocusts the Locust fleetworld]] takes any damage from this.
** Two other variants to this rule exists: Firstly, the Kinetic Kill missile is a high-level kinetic weapon that's effectively a guided warhead without a payload. The results of hitting an enemy ship with it are... Noticeable. Secondly, try putting a tractor beam on a defensive satellite. Since the satellite rotates, the ship it ensnares will rotate with it due to the beam... And usually ram right into the planet the satellite defends, insta-killing the poor ship. That's right: You can intentionally make a weapon that makes the enemy do kamikaze rammings of your own planets.
*** This may still be preferable to letting the ship live, as most ships usually have better weapons than defense satellites and will rain even more destruction on the planet than the ramming will cause.
* While not exactly a ship, in ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', Vincent manages to destroy [[spoiler:Omega Weapon hopped up on ALL of the Lifestream]] by dive-bombing it. The result [[spoiler: destroys both of them & seems to have turned Omega's remains into a new moon. Vincent gets better, though]].
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** Like her father mentioned in the "Literature" section, Miranda Keyes can pull off some pretty ballsy ramming maneuvers too; back when she was a lieutenant in charge of the unarmed science vessel ''Hilbert'', she found three allied corvettes being attacked by a Covenant destroyer. Keyes responded by having the ''Hilbert'' overload its engines and ram into the destroyer, destroying the latter's shields and nudging it towards a nearby planet's gravity well, with the two ships then falling together through the atmosphere at terminal velocity before crashing onto the surface. And then the ''Hibert''[='s=] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill fusion core detonated, obliterating both ships]]. The corvettes were saved, but Miranda was one of only two members of the crew to make it to the escape pods.
** In the last mission of ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', [[spoiler:Carter]], fatally injured and piloting an equally fatally-damaged Pelican, rams the craft into a Scarab to clear a path for Emile and Noble Six.
--->'''[[spoiler:Carter:]]''' ''(radio)'' Noble, you've got a... situation.\\
'''Emile:''' Motherf... we can get past it, sir!\\
'''[[spoiler:Carter:]]''' No, you can't. Not without help.\\
'''Emile:''' [[spoiler:Commander]], you don't have the firepower.\\
'''[[spoiler:Carter:]]''' I've got the mass.\\
'''Emile:''' ... Solid copy. Hit 'em hard, boss.\\
'''[[spoiler:Carter:]]''' You're on your own, Noble. [[spoiler:Carter]] out. ''(*WHAM*)''
** Earlier, in ''Reach''[='s=] "Tip of the Spear", the player's Falcon is forced to ram through the Spire's DeflectorShields, which causes the chopper to crash and kills all of the non-Spartan crew.
** In Episode One of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'''s ''Spartan Ops'' campaign, the UNSC ''Infinity'' returns to Requiem six months after the single-player campaign to clear out the rest of the Covenant remnant forces there, starting by popping out of slipspace and plowing straight through a Covenant armored cruiser, ripping the alien ship in half without suffering any damage from the impact.
** In ''VideoGame/HaloWars2'', the Ark sends a swarm of sentinels to [[spoiler:destroy the Banished carrier ''Enduring Conviction'' after the UNSC logistics AI Isabel [[StormingTheCastle takes control of the carrier and fires on the Banished settlement below]], penetrating the surface of the Ark in the process. This was done by ramming thousands of sentinels in a line across a structural weak point on the carrier, severing its prow]].
* In Siter Skain's ''VideoGame/RefleX'', [[ClimaxBoss Raiwat Virgo]] tries this against the player's ship, the Phoneix, as a DesperationAttack. It does have the good sense to put up its giant energy shield first. [[spoiler:The player has an even more powerful energy shield, so activating it prevents any damage from taking place.]]
* In ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' Sherry attempts to ram the Elsior with the last bit of strength her ship can muster. Subverted however because just before her ship impacts the Elsior it explodes doing no harm.
** In the sequel trilogy, ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'', the Holy Blood's LimitBreak, Photon Diver, is basically this, as it tucks out its outer wings and pierces through the enemy targed at high speed. It's a guaranteed OneHitKill to any non-boss vessel.
* In ''F/A-18 Hornet'', you can destroy many targets, including a dam, by crashing into them; just make sure to eject beforehand. Even so, you may get [[NonStandardGameOver captured by the enemy]].
* Subversion in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'': during one helluva EnemyMine situation, Pit and Palutena are looking for a way into the base for [[spoiler:the 'freaky alien' Aurum]]. However, the only access is protected by an energy barrier that only the ships can pass through. [[spoiler:Hades]] then proceeds to 'make [[spoiler:freaky alien]] lemonade' by ramming one of the battleships into it, providing a safe (albeit 'hot hot hot hot HOT!') way in.
* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'': In the attack on the Apparoid homeworld, just when the final shield-generating enemies blocking access to the Apparoid Queen have been destroyed, more activate deep within the planet, where none of the Star Fox team can reach them. [[spoiler: Peppy]] deals with that by crashing the already-doomed [[spoiler: Great Fox]] into the shield to blow it open. [[spoiler: Fortunately, the bridge ejected, Peppy and ROB are okay.]]
* Tassadar does this to the Overmind in ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' with his carrier flagship ''Gantrithor'', channeling the energies of the Khala and Void [[YinYangBomb togther]] through the hull to ensure he kills it.
* Ramming in ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' is generally not an option, as none of the ships, even the AI drones, are crazy enough to risk themselves by slamming into an opponent... but there are exceptions.
** The Rockmen build ''extremely'' sturdy ships, and are almost constantly at war with the vicious Mantis and their hunting parties, who have a tendency to decorate their ships with the viscera and parts of their kills. A player-controlled Rock cruiser that encounters a Mantis ship with such trophies can ram them to completely disable the enemy's engines, with your vessel completely unharmed.
** There is one blue text option where you use a drone to repair a disabled Rock ship's engines while two Mantis ships fight over their prize. Rather than taking the opportunity to jump away and perhaps manage to repair their ship they elect to instead [[TakingYouWithMe ram one of the Mantis vessels]], destroying themselves, the vessel they hit and the other with the debris, leaving you with a very large amount of scrap for the taking.
* Ramming in ''VideoGame/SpaceEngineers'' is ''extremely'' potent, to the point where many players place [[SpaceIsAnOcean reinforced ramming prows on their ships]] or just straight up build [[{{BFS}} enormous sword spaceships]]. On the other hand, ramming in third-dimensional space is no easy task, especially if your target is actively maneuvering, and there's the issue of actually repairing your ship after spearing it through the enemy. The AttractMode main menu background and the original trailer show gratuitous ship ramming, including one ship snapping in half by a larger one plowing through its central spine.
* Ramming is annoyingly easy in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarplanes'', and usually mutually destructive.
* In ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'', the SpacePlane Aerospace Fighters are for the most part, pretty durable against return fire save AntiAir weapons like the LB-X class shotguns. However, two fighters ramming each other will almost always result in mutual destruction. A {{Good Bad Bug|s}} with the [[JokeCharacter otherwise jokeish]] ''Sparrowhawk'' scout plane allows it to usually survive ramming aircraft, or at least leave the pilot alive so he can bail; the usage of cheap, disposable ''Sparrowhawks'' as one-way AntiAir missiles against expensive ''Shiva'' heavy fighter/bombers led to many jokes, including a video where a developer replaced the Arrow IV cruise missile model with a Sparrowhawk.
* Deconstructed during an early skirmish in ''VideoGame/CallofDutyInfiniteWarfare'': a SATO captain orders his crew to slam their own ship into an enemy vessel in order to force a retreat. It works but a lot of friendlies die in aftermath [[spoiler:including the captain who ordered the maneuver, forcing a FieldPromotion for the PlayerCharacter]].
* ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Liberation Day'': With the Sunrider having just taken a crippling hit that knocked out all its weapons and [[spoiler:the Alliance flagship Machiavelli Actual]] poised to obliterate [[spoiler:his home planet Cera]] with a weapon of mass destruction, Kayto Shields gives his crew the order to abandon ship and rams the Sunrider into the [[spoiler:Machiavelli]]. [[spoiler:He lives, but both ships are destroyed]].
* Basic Probe combat between [[VillainProtagonist your]] {{AI|IsACrapshoot}}'s probes and Drifter probes in ''VideoGame/UniversalPaperclips'' amounts to them flying into each other at high speeds. Whichever probe destroys the other depends on how high your probes' Combat stat is (and once you research "The OODA Loop", their Speed stat as well).

* ''VideoGame/{{Overload}}'' has a smash attack that can be used to ram enemies to deal damage to them. While it isn't the wisest option against enemies equipped with circular saw blades, it can still be helpful to speed up clearing large numbers of enemies and as an alternative when no other weapon is available.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}'''s opening segment has [[SpacePirates Grayson Hunt]] drunkenly ram his ship into [[BigBad General Sarrano]]'s ''much'' larger battle cruiser. It only works because he smashed it directly through the command center.
* In ''VideoGame/SierraOps Episode I: Collapsing Daybreak'', a Martian frigate will overload its reactors and attempt to ram the UTV flagship ''Beerkelium'' during the Rhines ending. The attempt fails when Junius Fahrenheit overcharges his [[AMechByAnyOtherName Exoframe]]’s DeflectorShields and intercepts the frigate, physically stopping it in its tracks before it can reach the flagship.
* In the ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'', there's Charles. Poor guy means well, but him trying to help Henry by ramming his helicopter into things just doesn't work. [[spoiler:Except for one option in ''Completing the Mission'']]. In one route of ''Completing the Mission'', it's Henry who rams the helicopter he hijacked into a control tower, prompting the fail screen to ask if he thinks himself to be Charles.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'': There are two plans to stop the [[ColonyDrop Eurasia space colony from smashing into Earth and possibly causing a mass extinction event]]. The first involves using [[WaveMotionGun the Engima Cannon]] to blast it to pieces, but it's very old and needs patching up. The second and far more risky plan is to prep an old space shuttle and fly it right into the colony to destroy it (and because the autopilot is busted with no way to fix in time, someone's gotta fly it manually up there). Zero volunteers for that second plan. If you chalk it up [[RandomNumberGod to numbers]], the cannon has a one-in-ten chance of succeeding (and if failing, only pushing the colony back a bit and giving them an hour or two more), and the shuttle seven-out-of-ten. Even in the best-case scenario with the shuttle (which Zero will in fact survive), Eurasia's wreckage will still impact Earth to cause horrific damage. [[spoiler:In the worst-case scenario, not only does the shuttle fail to destroy Eurasia and the colony crashes with devastating results, Zero being at ground-zero of the destruction will survive and absorb the virus on said colony to awaken his SuperPoweredEvilSide.]]
* In various ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' entries, the attack "Shin Shine Spark" used by Shin Manga/GetterRobo and its counterpart Shin Dragon are portrayed like this. They'll gather Getter Energy into them, then fly into their opponents to obliterate them.
* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'': In order to board the Angel Gate, Prier seizes control of Homard's Airship and prepares to make a crash landing into the gate; the cutscene shows she fires the ship's main cannon to blow open a passage and make ramming easier. That said, Homard does read her the riot act for doing so. In the PSP's UpdatedRerelease, the "Overlord Priere" story has the titular Overlord use ''herself'' to ram into the Angel Gate.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Starsector}}'' it's a viable tactic, although if the enemy ship explodes it'll strip your ship's armour and a good chunk, if not all, of your hull. Any ship with a speed-increasing system is more effective at it, with the Luddic Path's ''Prometheus MKII''s being especially fond. The one that really takes the cake is the ''Odyssey'' though. It's a capital ship which gives it lots of mass and the plasma burn it has over sextuples its already respectable speed for a brief moment. If you activate the shields at the right time, the combined repulsion from the shields and the momentum from the plasma burn can launch ships across the map if it doesn't destroy them outright.
* The finale of the Allied and Epsilon Campaigns in ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'' sees the [[PlayerCharacter Allied Commander]] ram the crippled [[TheBattlestar Paradox Engine]] into the Epsilon Army's [[MindControlDevice Mental Omega Tower]] in a HeroicSacrifice to take it out before it mind controls the whole planet. It doesn't destroy it, but ''does'' damage it enough to delay the activation and slow its projection rate, allowing surviving friendlies the time to [[{{Teleportation}} Chronoshift]] the remains of the attack force and Paradox Engine away to later protect themselves before the Mental Omega's mind control wave engulfs the planet.

* ''Literature/TheJenkinsverse'': Justified by aliens being, by human standards, rather terrible at warfare. Several humans have programmed autopilots on shuttles or dropships to turn them into very large guided missiles. Since aliens don't have any actual missiles at first, this is their only option, and it works because the aliens are completely unprepared for it. Adrian Saunders is particularly fond of letting his ship get boarded, killing all the boarders, and then sending the boarding pod back at the enemy as a kinetic projectile. It takes a minute for anyone to realize what's happening, and by then it's too late. Eventually actual missiles and missile counter measures are introduced, causing a sharp drop in instances of this trope.

'''Worf:''' ''(angrily pounds his console)'' Then perhaps today ''is'' a good day to die! '''PREPARE FOR RAMMING SPEED!'''

* During the final battle the ''Manga/OutlawStar'' rams the BigBad ''twice'', [[spoiler:the second time killing him for good]]. Of course this is somewhat justified by the ''Outlaw Star'' being [[spoiler:powered by the Galactic Leyline. Or course, the BigBad was powered by it too, but he's evil, so it's OK]]. Also justified by the fact that the ships are designed for close combat in general. They have arms and fight with giant knives on occasion.
* Vincent Alzey of ''Anime/LastExile'' seemed to prefer this maneuver in his battle against the ''Silvana''. However, the captain of the ''Silvana'', Alex Rowe, expected such a tactic. It helps that the ''Urbanus''-class ships are equipped with a gigantic, reinforced spike on their bows, and extend wing-like {{chainsaw|Good}}s from the sides. The ships are made explicitly for ramming, which is what Alex was counting on.
* Vincent uses a similar trick in the sequel series ''Anime/LastExileFamTheSilverWing'' as well.
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': A tactic [[TheHero Kouji]] favors when he is battling a [[CoolAirship flying fortress]] is ramming through it, destroying and blowing up so much as he is able before using one of [[HumongousMecha Mazinger's]] stronger attacks to blast the airship off the sky.
* That tactic was also used sometimes by Tetsuya Tsurugi from ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and Duke Fleed from ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' (in fact, one of the CMOA of ''UFO Robo Grendizer'' happened one of the times Duke used that stratagem). Flying {{Robeast}}s in those series often attempting to ram the enemy, too.

* In ''Anime/CombattlerV'', the Choudenji Spin -- ramming through the enemy -- is often used like a FinishingMove. Combattler uses the Choudenji Tatsumaki -- paralyzing the enemy by blasting it with a stream of electricity -- and then rams through its adversary [[SpectacularSpinning as spinning endlessly]]. That movement tends to leave a nice gaping hole in the MonsterOfTheWeek.
** Its second finishing move the [=GranDasher=] also involves ramming, this time having the eponymous mecha fire a hard-light road, transform into a vehicle, and run along that road into the hapless opponent.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'':
** The team's ''flying battleship with legs'' rams into one of the four generals' personal Gunmen, as well as their capital ship; the former is successful due to the ''sheer'' difference in size, while the other works because of the RuleOfCool. The battleship's main body is essentially a giant blade.
** Giga Drill Breaker and all variations thereof are basically just one mecha ramming the other enemy with a [[{{BFS}} Big Fucking]] [[ThisIsADrill Drill]].
** ''Lagann-hen'' takes it to the logical extreme. In the series, the Moon tried to crash into Earth but didn't really do anything else. In the movie, the Moon transforms into the Cathedral Lazengann as soon as its defenders are gone then tries to punch the Earth in a unique take on ColonyDrop.
* ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' and ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'':
** The original "Daedalus Attack" ("Daedalus Maneuvre" in ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'') from ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' consists of focusing the ship's DeflectorShields onto the bolted-on Landing ship Daedalus, quite literally punching its bow into an enemy ship, and opening the forward hatch to allow the mecha inside to launch a MacrossMissileMassacre (with a little BeamSpam, for good measure). The maneuver falls out of use when the enemy provokes it in order to launch a boarding operation (and a little friendly fire incident). But still, not bad for something thought up in the middle of the battle it's first used in...
*** Its use in "Love Drifts Away"/"Force of Arms" takes it one step further. After completing the Maneuver above with it's whole body, the SDF-1 then activates its full BeehiveBarrier shield. This is the same malfunctioning shield that took out all of Toronto... and they've [[spoiler:activated it right next to the core of Boddole Zer/Dolza's flagship]]. The SDF-1 is crippled afterwards.
*** It makes a comeback in the GrandFinale of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', to spectacular effect. It's called "Macross Attack" here, though.
** Not to be outdone, ''Robotech'' has some spectacular ramming actions in its second part, "The Masters" (aka ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross''). The first time is when a crippled REF ship rams one of the Masters' seemingly invincible mothership and explodes, [[TakingYouWithMe destroying both]], but the most spectacular is when general Emerson, seeing that the troops trying to board the Masters'/Zor's flagship through a hull breach have encountered excessive resistance, ''rams the enemy with his own flagship Tristar in such a way it only grazes the hull, enlarging the breach and running over the enemy bioroids opposing the boarding''. Later, the final battle against the Masters/Zor features Earth ships ramming the enemy motherships and self-destructing. [[spoiler: The ''Tristar'' is the first to do it.]]
** In ''Robotech''[='s=] "The New Generation" (aka ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada''), the Invid (Inbit) in space combat tend to [[ZergRush send ludicrous amounts of flying mechas]] to ram the enemy warships. It's frightengly effective, as [[WeHaveReserves they are just that numerous]].
*** Then brought full circle when a ''Garfish''-class light cruiser, the Invid's usual victim, pops out of nowhere and rams one of their communication towers before self-destructing.
* In ''Manga/{{Biomega}}'', when his [[ExpositionFairy Ninja Butterfly]] informs him that his fighter jet is out of missiles and advises him to retreat, Zoichi responds with: "I still have one projectile left."
* ''Anime/{{Raideen}}'': "God Bird, Change! Chojun Set!" Subverted in that [[BolivianArmyEnding we aren't told whether the attack was actually successful.]] However, it's an actual attack in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''.
* ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'': Harlock likes to ram his ship, the ''Arcadia'', into things so much that the ship has a retractable, Bowie knife-shaped ram hidden in the prow. Note that the ''Arcadia'' always seems to survive such ramming unscathed, even against much bigger ships. To be fair, the Mazone ships seem to be made of tissue paper by comparison to the Arcadia -- possibly due to being crewed by a race of plant-life that burns like paper as it dies... although a more Freudian explanation could be at work...! And in ''Endless Odyssey'', at least the Arcadia fires off several shots from the entire forward facing cannon batteries before whipping out the bowie knife and ramming the eldritch abomination in question....
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'':

* In ''Anime/{{Planetes}}'' the [[WesternTerrorists Space Defense Front]] commandeers a satellite remotely and intends to crash it into the space station [=ISVP 7=] so that the resulting debris cloud would effectively cut off Earth from space (a scenario known in RealLife as "Kessler Syndrome"). Pilot [[ActionMom Fee Carmichael]] objects to this, not because of any world-saving impetus or anything, but because the [=SDF=] blowing up Smoking Rooms in every other station has kept her from having a nice, peaceful smoke, and the target station hosts the last available Smoking Room in orbit. To the stupefaction of her crew, she goes alone and takes her own ship and rams the satellite just before impact. Both the satellite and her ship the ''Toybox I'' are crippled and fall into the atmosphere, but she ejects in a rescue pod and splash down in the ocean (and [[WhatTheHellHero gets chewed out by her crew]] on the sheer improbability of her survival.) She's hailed as a space-saving hero, gets paid vacation time, gets a brand new ship... and gets her long overdue smoke.
* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'':
** The "Hell and Heaven" move consists in [=GaoGaiGar=] ramming its fists against the enemy.
** The J-Phoenix, where J and Renais ''set the J-Ark on fire and ram it against the enemy''.
* ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'':
** In the second movie, the ''Yamato'' skips past Desler's WaveMotionGun by space warping, only to warp right next to Desler's ship, ramming it. This works well enough to punch a hole in it, but there's little lasting damage to either ship.
** And in ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'', episode 23 has a part where a Gamilas cruiser is on the receiving end of the Yamato's bow after it uses its Wave Motion Shield as a battering ram.

* ''Anime/GetterRobo'':
** At the end of the first season of the anime, [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Musashi Tomoe piloted the Lady Command into the core of the Dinosaur Army base, while taking heavy fire, through increasingly narrow corridors.]]
** Getter Shine Spark, the Getter Dragon's most powerful attack, [[PowerGlows covers it in energy]] as it flies towards the target. Subverted in that it pulls out of its path and sends the energy flying into the target.
** If Shin Getter Robo, from the manga continuity specifically, is featured in a ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' game, it will typically play this trope extremely straight with the Shin Shine Spark.

* In another accidental case, USS ''John F. Kennedy'' (CV-67) collided with one of her escorts, USS ''Belknap'' (CG-26) in 1975. While not a direct hit (neither ship's hull came into contact with the other), being an aircraft carrier ''John F. Kennedy'' has a massive overhanging flight deck. Which pretty much ripped off ''Belknap''[='=] [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Belknap_collision_damage.jpg entire superstructure]]. Since ''Belknap'' had until just a few months earlier been rated as a destroyer (a "tin can"), ''John F. Kennedy'' became known in the US Navy as the "Can Opener".

'''Worf:''' Perhaps today ''is'' a good day to die! '''PREPARE FOR RAMMING SPEED!'''

** "ComicBook/ThoseEmeraldEyesAreShining": ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} stops Weber's World from colliding with United Planets' main fleet base by ramming herself against it at enormous speed, knocking the artificial planetoid right off its collision course.

* The [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honorverse]] has never portrayed ramming as a credible offensive tactic in space combat since the series' MinovskyPhysics make it entirely impractical for several reasons. First, ships cannot project DeflectorShields perpendicular to their axis of acceleration, making any ship on a collision course an easy target for return fire; second, ships can change acceleration far more easily than they can change course, giving a strong advantage to the evading ship even if it is larger and slower; and third, even if these problems could be solved, the evading ship could simply pitch its impenetrable gravity bands towards the approaching ship, destroying it like an egg hitting a brick wall. However, there is one {{Downplayed|Trope}} example in the first novel where Harrington deliberately clips the impeller wedge of a Havenite courier boar with her own ship's. In that case, it was done with the element of surprise to overload and disable the boat's drive; if Harrington had wanted it destroyed, a single shot from a laser mount would have been far simpler.

* Used, and Subverted ''while'' using it in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration''. The ''Rhinoceros''-class [[MilitaryMashupMachine Land Battleships]] used by the Divine Crusaders all have great big blades mounted on their bows for ramming attacks. However, late in the second game, when TheNeidermeyer's ship is badly damaged, he tries to ram the ''Kurogane'', the ship being captained by his rival. Unfortunately, [[TooDumbToLive he forgot]] that the ''Kurogane'' just happens to have a [[ThisIsADrill big-ass]] ''[[ThisIsADrill drill]]'' mounted on the front...oops.

** During Emily Wong's livetweeting the Reaper invasion just prior to the release of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [[spoiler:DyingMomentOfAwesome she rams her skyvan into a Reaper.]] However, given that these things can shrug off impacts that can be measured in percentages of the speed of light, her shuttle probably didn't do much.

'''Flintlocke:''' ''' ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill EV'RYTHING!!]]'' '''\\

* Two sailboat crews were attacked by RuthlessModernPirates in the Gulf of Aden. They deterred one pirate vessel with shotgun fire. When the other came around, the captain of one yacht chose to [[http://www.ethiopianreview.com/articles/14522 "ram the bastards,"]] [[OhCrap much to the pirates' surprise]].

*** In the climax, [[spoiler:Rocket Raccoon flies his ship straight into the ''Dark Aster'', knocking out Ronan for a while and causing his ship to crash]].

* In the ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'', there's Charles. Poor guy means well, but him trying to help Henry by ramming his helicopter into things just doesn't work. [[spoiler:Except for one option in "Completing the Mission".]]

* The finale of the Allied and Epsilon Campaigns in ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'' sees the [[PlayerCharacter Allied Commander]] ram the crippled [[TheBattlestar Paradox Engine]] into the Epsilon Army's [[MindControlDevice Mental Omega Tower]] in a HeroicSacrifice to take it out before it mind controls the whole planet. It doesn't destroy it, but ''does'' damage it enough to allow surviving friendlies to [[{{Teleportation}} Chronoshift]] the remains of the attack force and Paradox Engine away to later protect themselves by the time the Mental Omega's mind control wave engulfs the planet.

* The finale of the Allied and Epsilon Campaigns in ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'' sees the [[PlayerCharacter Allied Commander]] ram the crippled [[TheBattlestar Paradox Engine]] into the Epsilon Army's [[MindContolDevice Mental Omega Tower]] in a HeroicSacrifice to take it out before it mind controls the whole planet. It doesn't destroy it, but ''does'' damage it enough to allow surviving friendlies to [[{{Teleportation}} Chronoshift]] the remains of the attack force and Paradox Engine away to later protect themselves by the time the Mental Omega's mind control wave engulfs the planet.

* The finale of the Allied and Epsilon Campaigns in ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'' sees the Allied Commander ram the cippled [[TheBattlestar Paradox Engine]] into the Epsilon Army's Mental Omega Tower in a HeroicSacrifice to take it out before it mind controls the whole planet. It doesn't destroy it, but ''does'' damage it enough to allow surviving friendlies to [[{{Telepotation}} Chronoshift]] the remains of the attack force and Paradox Engine away to later protect themselves by the time the Mental Omega's mind control wave engulfs the planet.

* The finale of the Allied and Epsilon Campaigns in ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'' sees the Allied Commander ram the damaged and inoperable [[TheBattlestar Paradox Engine]] into the Epsilon Army's Mental Omega Tower in a HeroicSacifice to take it out before it mind controls the whole planet.

* Tassadar does this to the Overmind in ''VideoGame/StarCraftI''.

* Happens, with its potential ineffectiveness lampshaded, in ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic Sigma'', when Captain Testarossa needs to get the ''Tuatha De Danaan'' out of a dock blocked by a Behemoth-class HumongousMecha.

** ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014'}}':
*** Quill points out to Rocket that while the maintenance pods they're in don't have weapons, they're designed to be unbelievably tough. Cue Rocket smashing half a dozen Necrofighters to pieces by ramming them thanks to fight happening in the constraining inner space of Knowhere.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': Ramming is incredibly effective against Republic ships. As the author states ''Star Wars'' ships are extremely fragile in comparison to Imperial warships and are not designed with ramming in mind. In addition, even the smaller Imperial ships are twice the size of almost all ''Star Wars'' warships. As such Imperial ships are able to cleave right through Venators and other Republic/Separatist ships without suffering any damage. It's made worse since ''Star Wars'' ships need to get up close for their weapons to have any impact on Imperial warships. This tactic is used against them by Grievous, however, via packing his ships with explosives so that when they are rammed they can inflict major damage.

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'':

* In the climatic scene of ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'', Ethan Hunt has stolen a helicopter and is using it to chase another helicopter carrying the BigBad who has the detonator for two nuclear bombs and is armed with a squad automatic weapon. As Ethan has no weapons at all, he does this as the [[ItsTheOnlyWay only option left to him]].

* In the ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0415.html strip here,]] which follows Pete missing ''everything'' in the entire battle. He gives the required line "'''Ramming Speed.'''"
* In ''Webcomic/FlintlockesGuideToAzeroth'', Flintlocke's party crash their captured blimp in the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind in an attempt to stop the Horde raid.
-->'''Flintlocke:''' RAMMING SPEED!\\
'''Bloodrose:''' What are we ramming?\\
'''Flintlocke:''' ''' ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill EV'RYTHING!!]]'' '''\\

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In the GrandFinale, Sokka and Toph hijack one of the Fire Nation airships, and uses it to take out several others [[spoiler:by maneuvering so one of the airship's sharp edges slices through the gasbags of the targeted airships. While it does work, the ramming airship eventually lost integrity and fell apart, failing to destroy three of the airships they were trying to bring down. Hilariously, they just repeated the tactic with the remaining airships]].

* In a flashback in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', it turns out the last remaining Thanagarian ship rammed into a capital ship of an enemy fleet, causing a '''massive''' explosion that took out the rest of the fleet with it. This actually is possibly the most ''realistic'' outcome with starships of that size ramming into each other on this page.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': In one of the early episodes, Rock [[{{Ramprovisation}} uses a derelict ship to ramp the title boat]], then fire a torpedo directly into an attack helicopter -- and flips them the bird in the process, establishing that Rock's got a bit of attitude behind him after all (as he's normally a somewhat milquetoast accountant and negotiator that plays a rather Chick-ish role in the show where violence is concerned).
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': In "Imitation Gold", The Naked Sun turns into the Great Naked Blade, but gets heavily damaged by the Primordial Life Fiber's missiles. Mako with her 2-Star Goku Uniform on decides to start the turbines (which are literally treadmills) and power up the Great Naked Blade, allowing it to destroy the core with Ryuko's help.
* ''Anime/SuperAtragon'': The climax of the opening battle and the final battle: [[spoiler:the ''Ra'' and ''Liberty'' turn to ram each other, after the ''Liberty'''s drill-missiles are foiled by the ''Ra'' 's rocket-anchors, the Ra plows through the Liberty's bow, destroying her and killing Avatar]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Mega-giant Ursula is finally taken down by ramming a ship's [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice prow straight through her]]. Ouch.

* Played at its most blatant in ''Film/JawsTheRevenge''. Apparently ramming a sailboat into a [[ArtisticLicenseBiology roaring shark]] will cause it to [[StuffBlowingUp explode]]. Great stuff, guys. To be fair, that was the studio-ordered ''second'' ending of the movie. The original ending had the shark bellowing away as the prow of the boat skewers it like a cocktail weenie, the shark's weight tearing the boat in half as both sink into the water.

* Possibly the Ur-example of this trope is the galley fight sequence of the film ''[[Film/BenHur1959 Ben-Hur]]''. At the very least it's probably the {{Trope Maker|s}} for yelling "Ramming speed!" In this case it's an order to the galley slaves to row very fast for a short burst.
* In ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'', Frankie Cook rams one of Totenkopf's underwater machines with her amphibious fighter/sub to allow Sky Captain to make his way to Totenkopf's lab, but ejects just in time.

* ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire'' has Athenian ships made this way to ram unto the Persian ships to destroy them quickly. To quote "Themistocles: The Persian ships are strong at the front, but they are weak in the middle", thus those numerically superior Persian fleet must retreat or they'll be reduced a lot.
* At the end of ''Film/AssaultOnAQueen'', the sub surfaces too close to the Coast Guard cutter for them to use their main guns. Instead, the captain orders the cutter to ram the sub.

* In ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'', the British torpedo ram ''Thunder Child''... well... ''rams'' and destroys a Martian [[HumongousMecha tripod]] which has waded out into the Thames Estuary. A second tripod blasts the ship with its [[DeathRay heat ray]] and promptly gets rammed with/blown up by the ship's flaming remains.[[note]]Interestingly, the "torpedo ram" concept never really caught on with the navies of the world, but they were the newest concept in weaponry round about the time that Wells wrote his novel. They were not intended to ram enemy ships, but to ram their way through harbor defenses in order to get in close to the ships at anchor and fire torpedoes. The captain of the ''Thunder Child'' opted to ram after the ship had been crippled by a Martian heat ray.[[/note]]

* ''Series/TheBoys2019''. In "Over The Hill With The Swords Of A Thousand Men", [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman The Deep uses his powers]] to send sharks ramming into their motor yacht, forcing the Boys to AbandonShip in a speedboat. Then Deep appears riding the back of a sperm whale which he uses to cut off their escape route. Crazy b***d that he is, Billy Butcher just keeps accelerating, ramming straight into the whale, totaling the speedboat and [[BloodyHilarious covering them all in whale guts]].

** ''[[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/steampunkconveyances/ GURPS Vehicles: Steampunk Conveyances]]'' has details for a “torpedo ram”, an historical design which, despite its heroic appearance in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'' (see above), didn’t turn out to be that great an idea. A brief scenario suggestion in the book does actually find a situation in which torpedo rams could be useful.

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1522 SCP-1522-1]] does this [[spoiler: as part of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge after its mate, SCP-1522-2, is [[MoralEventHorizon sunk by the GOC launching an unprovoked attack]]]]. It does this at '''''Mach 4'''''. The ship on the receiving end of such a blow is destroyed so thoroughly that even its size and classification cannot be determined. [[LeaveNoSurvivors Not even a lifeboat is left intact.]] SCP-1522-1 survived the impact unscathed, [[DrivenToSuicide but not the aftermath]]. Notable for SCP-1522-1 being a humble fishing trawler.

* Subverted in episode 15 of ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater''. After the ''Nautilus'' is crippled by deep-charges and narrowly missed by torpedoes, the enemy submarine attempts to ram it. However, the ''Nautilus'' proves much more resistant than the Neo-Atlantean sub, who totally crushes its prowl in the process before exploding (although it leaves a mark).

The reason for this, of course, is that space ramming depictions are probably based on the SpaceIsAnOcean mindset, and the cultural memory of RealLife [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfNavalWarfare naval tactics]] of the [[AncientRome ancient]] [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece world]]. Before the advent of cannons, ramming the other ships was the main method for taking them out (other than burning or boarding). Note that this is where the term "ramming speed" comes from -- the horator would begin beating the drums faster so the rovers at the oars of the galleys rowed faster in order to drive the ram deep into the side of the enemy ship. Ramming tactics made a brief comeback in the latter half of the nineteenth century, with steamships, when [[MadeOfIron they started making ships out of metal instead of wood]] which made older cannons obsolete. Even then, battleships continued to be built with bows designed for ramming for many years after the tactic ceased to be relevant. In fact, in the early years of ironclad battleships, their armor was so effective against the relatively primitive guns of the era that ramming was seen as the only viable tactic against an ironclad. Even past this point, many ships have done a LOT of damage to each other with accidental or deliberate ramming, in particular sinking a large number of surfaced submarines.

* In ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', the British torpedo ram ''Thunder Child''... well... ''rams'' and destroys a Martian [[HumongousMecha tripod]] which has waded out into the Thames Estuary. A second tripod blasts the ship with its [[DeathRay heat ray]] and promptly gets rammed with/blown up by the ship's flaming remains.[[note]]Interestingly, the "torpedo ram" concept never really caught on with the navies of the world, but they were the newest concept in weaponry round about the time that Wells wrote his novel. They were not intended to ram enemy ships, but to ram their way through harbor defenses in order to get in close to the ships at anchor and fire torpedoes. The captain of the ''Thunder Child'' opted to ram after the ship had been crippled by a Martian heat ray.[[/note]]

** ''[[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/steampunkconveyances/ GURPS Vehicles: Steampunk Conveyances]]'' has details for a “torpedo ram”, an historical design which, despite its heroic appearance in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' (see above), didn’t turn out to be that great an idea. A brief scenario suggestion in the book does actually find a situation in which torpedo rams could be useful.

** In fact, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo_ram whole ship class]] was created to ram through harbor defenses and deploy torpedoes against ships docked there, called the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Torpedo Ram]]. The class never really took off, although it did "produce" one great fictional vessel: the heroic [[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds HMS]] ''[[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds Thunder Child]]''.