The 2 types of ship classes the games had enemy ships with rams on their bows were brigs and man o' wars. In the games, the ships often charged at almost impossible high speeds (for an 18th century warship) at enemy ships.
Here are some examples:
*Note AC:BF is set between 1715-20 in the Golden Age of Piracy, and AC Rogue is set between 1752-60, and is set in the French and Indian War.
AC:BF's main protagonist's ship. Class : Brig.
[Standard navy brig, according to AC] (http://41.media.tumblr.com/17630b45221533435afc840aa9a1340f/tumblr_mtirrkADNf1sxg0bpo5_1280.jpg)
Boss battle ship, Spanish man o' war, AC:BF
AC Rogue's main protagonist's ship. Class : Sloop-of-war
So I'm wondering, did some warships during the Age of Sail could have actually rams applied to them? Or is this completely fictional?
In principle there were still a few galleys around that someone could have fitted a ram to but I don't think anyone did. As for the ships pictured no way. Those rams are going to horrible things to the sailing qualities which for brigs and sloops is a really really bad idea. As in they would be out-sailed by a conventionally built frigate bad.
Rams didn't reappear (unless you count spar torpedos) until the rise of steam power and ironclads the 1860s with the Battle of Lissa being rather influential.
Looking at the Morrigan other problems are:
Carronades:didn't fire explosive rounds
Mortar: mortars of any size were only carried on specialist ships and were used for targeting shore instillations rather than other ships
Steel armour:Since solid iron shot was the standard during the period armour had to be of a certain quality and thickness to be of any use. Thin stuff just tended to turn into a shower of metal splinters that greatly inconvenienced the crew.
Ignoring the Puckle gun since game designers seem to really like them for some reason
The nominal source for this kind of thing would be David Lyon's The Sailing Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, Built, Purchased and Captured, 1688-1860
For the revival of the ram its covered amoung other places in Antony Preston The World's Worst Warships.
