How did the Archimedes claw reportedly attack Roman ships?

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Portrait of Archimedes by Giuseppe Nogari shows an elderly man with white hair and beard, holding a compass, gazing downward, set against a dark background. — Archimedes Archimedes, oil on canvas by Giuseppe Nogari, 18th century; in the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Moscow. Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician and inventor.

During the Siege of Syracuse, Archimedes designed a defensive mechanism often referred to as the "claw." This device consisted of a powerful hook attached to a rotating crane. When a Roman warship approached the city walls, the hook would latch onto the vessel, lifting it partially or entirely out of the water to capsize it.1