I recently picked up assassins creed black flag (which is extremely non-realistic when it comes to historical and realistic accuracy, so don't worry about me thinking everything in black flag is 100% accurate) and I noticed that many ships in there (including the main characters) use a trireme like bow that is used to ram other ships, but I can't really say that I've ever heard that ramming is a commonly used tactics during this time spectrum (especially since it would put you into the range of several broadside shots. but I might be wrong).
I can see it being a good tactics during a large battle where you can have some ships supplying a distraction for lighter and faster ships that are moving in from the flank to board or ram the other enemy ships.
I tried searching a bit for this but I can't find any good sources regarding it.
I asked a similar question before, regarding the ship rams in Black Flag and Rogue. The answer is that rams were not a common naval tactic in the 15th-17th century. the ship rams in the assassin's creed would do horrible things to the sailing qualities of vessels in real life, which for brigs (like the Jackdaw) and sloops is a really, really bad idea. As in they could be out-sailed by a frigate. Rams didn't reappear (unless you count spar torpedos) until the rise of steam power and ironclads in the 1860s with the Battle of Lissa being rather influential.
Sources:
David Lyon's The Sailing Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, Built, Purchased and Captured, 1688-1860
Antony Preston's The World's Worst Warships.
Not op, but I have a follow up: Was ramming (without a ram) used at all during the age of sail? Maybe as a desperate emergency maneuver, when you were outgunned but heavier than the enemy ship? I think I remember reading about such a fight, but I thought even with a heavy, sturdy ship it would still be super risky.