fire ships
Burning naval weapons
Fire ships are vessels loaded with combustibles and explosives, set ablaze and directed toward enemy fleets to ignite them.
The tactic was used from ancient times through the age of sail: The English sent fire ships against the Spanish Armada at anchor.
The term occasionally appears figuratively for anything deployed as a destructive, sacrificial weapon.
- blazeIntense burning fire
- incendiaryCausing or designed for burning
- heatTransferred thermal energy
- smokeAirborne combustion byproduct
- tarFile bundling utility
up in flames · wooden hulls · naval blockade · naval warfare · combustion · spark · flammable · Spanish Armada · Armada · torch · pitch · ash · burning · intentional · battle tactics · inferno · man-of-war · ignition
- naval historybattleships, naval battles, naval history, admiral, battleship
- naval warfarenaval battles, naval battle, battleship, destroyer, sea battles
- Asian NaviesPLAN, destroyers, frigates, submarines, submarine
- naval vesselswarships, warship, destroyers, cruiser, battleship
fire shipspatrol boats
Armed coastal surveillance craft
hospital ships · blockade runners · supply ships · troopships · rescue vessels
fire shipsflagships
Fleet commanders' vessels
capital ships · ships of the line · battleships · aircraft carriers · dreadnoughts