Grappling hook

{{Short description|Device with multiple hooks attached to a rope}}

{{About|the tool|the martial arts term|Hooks (grappling)|the video game|Grappling Hook (video game){{!}}Grappling Hook (video game)}}

Image:Kaginawa.JPG climbing hook]]

File:Chain grapnel.JPG

A grappling hook or grapnel is a device that typically has multiple hooks (known as claws or flukes) attached to a rope or cable; it is thrown, dropped, sunk, projected, or fastened directly by hand to where at least one hook may catch and hold on to objects. Generally, grappling hooks are used to temporarily secure one end of a rope. They may also be used to dredge for submerged objects.

The device was invented by the Romans in approximately 260 BC.{{cite web |title=The Roman Navy and the Grappling Hook |url=https://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/2006/01/the_roman_navy_.html |website=Patent Pending |access-date=14 September 2019}}{{cite web |title=Naval Warfare |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/naval-warfare/Tactics-in-the-modern-era#ref511292 |website=Britannica |access-date=14 September 2019}} The grappling hook was originally used in naval warfare to catch ship rigging so that it could be boarded.{{cite web |title=Boarding Hooks |url=http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/grappling_hook.htm |website=The Pirate King |access-date=14 September 2019}}

Design

A common design has a central shaft with a hole ("eye") at the shaft base to attach the rope, and three or four equally spaced hooks at the end, arranged so that at least one is likely to catch on some protuberance of the target. Some modern designs feature folding hooks to resist unwanted attachment. Most grappling hooks are thrown by hand, but some used in rescue work are propelled by compressed air (e.g., the Plumett AL-52), line thrower, mortar, or a rocket.War in the Streets by Michael Dewar (Author)Publisher. David & Charles; Publication date. 30 Jan. 1992; {{ISBN|0715394770}}

Applications

= Military =

File:15th MEU Marines train in combined arms training 141208-M-ST621-015.jpg

Grappling hooks are used by combat engineers to breach tactical obstacles. When used as such, the grappling hook is launched in front of an obstacle and dragged backwards to detonate tripwire-fused land mines, and can be hooked on wire obstacles and pulled to set off booby traps on the wire. The rifle-launched grapnel (LGH), a single-use grappling hook placed on the end of an M4/M16 rifle, is used for this purpose.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/magazine/issues/1999/SEP-DEC/pdfs/SEP-DEC99.pdf|title=The Launch Grapnel Hook (LGH)|magazine=Infantry Magazine|date= September–December 1999|volume=89|issue=3|pages=4–5|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125102044/http://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/magazine/issues/1999/SEP-DEC/pdfs/SEP-DEC99.pdf|archive-date=25 January 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US5448937.pdf|title=US5448937.pdf|website=docs.google.com}} A crossbow-launched version has been produced.{{Cite web|url=http://www.saa-intl.com/products/crossbow.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715221520/http://www.saa-intl.com/products/crossbow.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 July 2011|title=SAA International, Ltd.|date=15 July 2011}} A grapnel can clear up to 99% of the trip-wires in a single pass.Field Manual 3–34.2 Combined Arms Breaching Operations. 31 August 2000. Para. C-57 and Table C-2 During WW2 British and German ships towed grappling hooks in the hope of snagging or damaging enemy submarines,{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Anti-Submarine Warfare |url=https://www.globecomposite.com/blog/history-anti-submarine-warfare |website=Globe Composite |access-date=14 September 2019}} a tactic also employed by the Japanese.{{cite book |last1=McDonald |first1=Craig R. |title=The USS Puffer in World War II: A History of the Submarine and Its Wartime Crew |date=2007 |isbn=9780786432097 |page=68|publisher=McFarland }} Grappling hooks were used by soldiers at the D-Day landings to aid in climbing the cliffs at the Normandy beaches. Some were rocket-propelled and launched from mortars.{{cite book|title=Commandos and Rangers of World War II |first=James |last=Ladd |date= 1 January 1979 |isbn= 9781131235172 |page= 241}}{{cite web | title=Rudder's Rangers and the Boys of Pointe du Hoc: The U.S. Army Rangers' Mission in the Early Morning Hours of 6 June 1944| website=US Army Historical Foundation | date=17 October 2016 | url=https://armyhistory.org/rudders-rangers-and-the-boys-of-pointe-du-hoc-the-u-s-army-rangers-mission-in-the-early-morning-hours-of-6-june-1944/|quote=Rocket-fired, grapnel-equipped ropes eventually become the primary tool of choice when ascending the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc.| access-date=22 April 2023}}

= Maritime =

File:Grapnel anchor in West Bengal.jpg

As well as the grapnel anchor, grapnels are used in the removal and repair of subsea cables. Large cable layer ships drag huge grapnels across the seabed until they snag a cable.{{cite web | title=Subsea Cables – Maintenance / Repair Operations|publisher=KIS-ORCA| date=2013 | url=http://www.kis-orca.eu/subsea-cables/maintenance-repair-operations#.UUQtd87P0Zk | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316082922/http://www.kis-orca.eu/subsea-cables/maintenance-repair-operations#.UUQtd87P0Zk | archive-date=16 March 2013 | url-status=dead}}

In popular culture

Grappling hooks, grapple guns, and their many variants have been a staple in many video games. {{cite web |title=30 years ago, Bionic Commando proved video game grappling hooks are awesome |url=https://www.avclub.com/30-years-ago-bionic-commando-proved-video-game-grappli-1827755958 |website=Games.Avclub |date=20 July 2018 |access-date=15 September 2019}}

Batman is often depicted with a handheld grappling gun.