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Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588-08-08 by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, painted 1796, depicts Drake's fire ship attack on the Spanish Armada

This article is about a unit of warfare. For the fire-fighting vessel, see Fireboat.

A fire ship was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered (or, if possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and make the enemy break formation. Ships used as fire ships were old and worn out or inexpensive vessels. An explosion ship or hellburner was a variation on the fire ship, intended to cause damage by blowing up in proximity to enemy ships.

One famous use of a fire ship happened in 208 at the Battle of Red Cliffs, when Huang Gai assaulted the enemy naval with a fire ship filled with bundles of kindling, dry reeds, and fatty oil.

The invention of Greek fire in 673 caused increased use of fire ships, at first by the Greeks and afterward by other nations as they became possessed of the secret of the manufacture of the compound. In 951, and again in 953, Russian fleets narrowly escaped destruction by fire ships.[1]

Warships of the age of sail were also highly vulnerable to fire. With seams caulked with tar, ropes greased with fat, and holds full of gunpowder, there was little that would not burn. Accidental fires destroyed many ships, so fire ships presented a terrifying threat.

With the wind in exactly the right direction a fire ship could be cast loose and allowed to drift onto its target, but in most battles fire ships were equipped with skeleton crews to steer the ship to the target (the crew were expected to abandon ship at the last moment and escape in the ship's boat). Fire ships were most devastating against fleets which were at anchor or otherwise restricted in movement. At sea, a well-handled ship could evade a fire ship and disable it with cannon fire. Other tactics were to fire at the ship's boats and other vessels in the vicinity, so that the crew could not escape and therefore might decide not to ignite the ship, or to wait until the fire ship had been abandoned and then tow it aside with small maneuverable vessels, such as galleys.

During the period of the Crusades their use was frequent. In 1370 the English used them at Zuruckee. Their use peaked during the 18th and 19th centuries, with fireships such as HMS Pluto a permanent part of any naval fleet, ready to be deployed whenever necessary.

Constantine Kanaris (1793–1877) in escape boat after the fire ship attack on the Turkish flagship at the Greek island of Chios during the Greek War of Independence - Painting by Nikiforos Lytras

The attack on the Turkish flagship in the Gulf of Eressos at the Greek island of Lesvos by a fire ship commanded by Papanikolis during the Greek War of Independence - Painting by Volanakis

In the Greek War of Independence, 1821-1832, Greek fire ships were manned and sailed alongside a big Turkish ship (the flagship, if possible), attached to her with hooks, ropes and grips, and then set on fire by the captain alone when the crew was in the escape boat. As the small fire ships were more easy to handle compared with enemy ships of the line, especially in the coasts of the Aegean Sea where the islands, islets, reefs, gulfs and straits restrained big ships from being easily moved, they were a big danger for the ships of the Turkish fleet. Many naval battles of the Greek war of independence were won by the use of fire ships.

Operation Crossroads (Event Baker), conducted at Bikini Atoll (1946).

Soon after the beginning of the nineteenth century the decline of fire ships began, and the development of steam and the change from wood to iron in shipbuilding nearly destroyed their usefulness.[2] The use of fire ships was fully discontinued after the end of wooden fighting ships. An extension of the concept was however used in Operation Chariot of World War II, in which the old destroyer HMS Campbeltown was packed with explosives and rammed into the dry dock at Saint-Nazaire, France, to deny its use to the battleship Tirpitz, which could drydock nowhere else on the French west coast.

In 1946, as part of Operation Crossroads, the American landing ship LSM-60 demostrated the potential of fire ships armed with nuclear weapons. A total of eight vessels were sunk in the test (in addition to LSM-60, which was obliterated), including the carrier USS Saratoga.

Notable fire ship attacks include:

• Alexander the Great's Siege of Tyre in 332 BC. The Tyrians used the fire ship in attempt to destroy Alexander's mole.[3]
• Syracuse in their battle with the Athenian fleet
• Huang Gai's attack on Cao Cao at the Battle of Chibi, 208.
• Siege of Antwerp in 1585. Both fire ships and exploding vessels were employed together for the first time.[4]
• Francis Drake's attack on the Spanish Armada moored at Gravelines in 1588. The fire ships did no damage, but the Spanish scattered in panic and were easy prey for English ships.
• Maarten Tromp's attack on the Spanish fleet moored off the Kent coast in the Battle of the Downs in 1639. The Spanish fleet was destroyed.
• Michiel de Ruyter's attack on the anchored English fleet at the battle of Solebay in 1672 in which HMS Royal James was burned and her captain Edward Montagu killed.
• The destruction of 15 French ships of the line, including Soleil Royal, Admirable and Triomphant in 1692, after the Battle of La Hougue.
• US Atttack on Tripoli during the First Barbary War in 1804 by USS Intrepid.
• The Russian attack on the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Chesma, 1770.
• Thomas Cochrane's attack on the French in the Battle of the Basque Roads, 1809.
• Many Greek attacks on large Turkish ships during the Greek War of Independence, 1821-1832.
• Chinese attacks on British ships during the Opium Wars, 1839-1842.

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