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44-728: HMS Phoenix was built as a fireship as part of the 1693–94 programme of Fireships. After her commissioning she spent time in the English Channel then joined the Fleet for the Battle of Vigo Bay followed by the Battle of Velez-Malaga . She went aground in the Isles of Scilly and was salvaged. While laid up at Plymouth in 1708 was rebuilt as a 24-gun sixth rate. After recommissioning she spent her time in Home Waters, North America and

88-400: A chain fixed here for mooring the escape boat rather than a rope that may have been damaged by the fire. Because fireships were used relatively rarely and only in specific tactical conditions even in their heyday, and there was always demand for small cruisers and warships, most purpose-built 'fireships' served long careers as ordinary warships without ever being used for their actual purpose. Of

132-583: A depth of hold of 9 ft 2 in (2.8 m). The tonnage calculation would be 375 5/94 tons. Her gun armament would be twenty 6-pounder 19 hundredweight (cwt) guns mounted on wooden trucks. She was completed on 12 March 1728 at a cost of £4,752.19.11d to build her hull only. She commissioned in 1727 under Captain Aurthur Jones, RN for service in Home Waters. Captain Jones died in January 1731 and

176-580: A fire ship attack since the Spanish Armada, and also the last significant success for fire ships. Though fire ships as a specified class sailed with the British Royal Navy for another century, they would never have a significant impact on a naval victory. Once the most feared weapons in naval arsenals, fire ships had declined in both importance and numbers, so that by the mid-18th century only five to six British fire ships would be at sea at

220-721: A fire ship filled with bundles of kindling, dry reeds, and fatty oil. Fire ships were employed to decisive effect by the Vandals against the armada sent by the Eastern Roman Empire , in the Battle of Cape Bon (468) . The invention of Greek fire in 673 increased the use of fire ships, at first by the Greeks and afterward by other nations as they came into possession of the secret of manufacturing this substance. In 951 and again in 953 Russian fleets narrowly escaped destruction by fire ships. While fire ships were used in

264-599: A fire ship that destroyed two Macedonian siege towers and other siege engines at the Siege of Tyre (332 BC) . Carthaginian fire ships destroyed many Roman vessels and came close to burning the entire Roman fleet in a battle in 149 BC during the Third Punic War . In ancient China in the Battle of Red Cliffs (208) on the Yangtze River Huang Gai assaulted Cao Cao 's naval forces with

308-489: A fireship, her gun armament was only eight 6-pounder 19 hundredweight (cwt) guns on wooden trucks, When she was upgraded to a 24-gun sixth rate in 1711 her gun armament was increased to twenty 6-pounder 19 hundredweight (cwt) guns mounted on wooden trucks and four 4-pounder 12 cwt guns on wooden trucks on the quarterdeck (QD). She commissioned in April 1709 as an 8-gun fireship under the command of Commander Thomas Graves, RN. She

352-439: 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,

396-670: A time, and the Royal Navy attempted only four attacks using modern fire ships between 1697 and 1800. Hastily outfitted ad hoc fire ships continued to be used in naval warfare; for example, a large number of fire rafts were used in mostly ineffective attacks on the British fleet by American forces during the American Revolution at Philadelphia, on the Hudson River, and elsewhere. The end of the modern fire ship came in

440-570: A variation on the fire ship, intended to cause damage by blowing up in proximity to enemy ships. Fireships were used to great effect by the outgunned English fleet against the Spanish Armada during the Battle of Gravelines , the Dutch in the raid on the Medway , Chinese warlord Sun Quan in the Battle of Red Cliffs , and the Greeks in their war of independence . The Tyrians launched

484-418: 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 . The role of incendiary vessels changed throughout

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528-549: The Norwegian tanker Pericles , of 8,300 tons . The successful attack by Yemeni insurgents in a speedboat packed with explosives on the guided missile destroyer USS  Cole in 2000 could be described as an extension of the idea of a fireship. Another explosive ship attack took place in April 2004, during the Iraq War , when three motor craft laden with explosives attempted the bombing of Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal in

572-797: The Persian Gulf . In an apparent suicide bombing , one blew up and sank a rigid inflatable boat from USS  Firebolt as it pulled up alongside, killing two US Navy personnel and one member of the US Coast Guard . In October 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine , several kamikaze unmanned surface vehicles were used against Russian naval vessels at the Sevastopol Naval Base , with support of UAVs . During Operation Prosperity Guardian , Houthis used several kamikaze unmanned surface vehicles to attack ships in

616-608: The Province of Georgia and the Carolinas , and Native American Creek , Chickasaw , Shawnee and Uchees . The campaign began in December 1739, and by January Oglethorpe was raiding Spanish forts west of St. Augustine. In May 1740, Oglethorpe undertook an expedition to capture St. Augustine itself. In support of that objective, Oglethorpe first captured Fort San Diego, Fort Picolotta, Fort San Francisco de Pupo , and Fort Mose ,

660-591: The War of Jenkins' Ear . In 1741 she was involved in the defence of Charlestown, South Carolina , from Spanish pirates. She returned Home in April 1742. She underwent a survey in May 1742 and was condemned. She was hulked at Woolwich in November 1742 by Admiralty Order (AO) 9 November 1742. She was sold at Woolwich by AO 16 June 1744 for £201 on 28 June 1744. Fireship Hellburners , also called "explosion ships", were

704-711: The Allied victory over the Turks at the Battle of Navarino in 1827. The first modern fireships were put to use in early 17th century Dutch and Spanish fleet actions during the Thirty Years War . Their use increased throughout that century, with purpose-built fireships a permanent part of many naval fleets, ready to be deployed whenever necessary. Initially small and often obsolete smaller warships were chosen as fireships but by 1700 fireships were being purpose-built with specific features for their role. Most were adaptations of

748-509: The Maidstone Group. She was launched on 28 May 1709. The dimensions after rebuild were gundeck 93 feet 6 inches (28.5 metres) with a keel length of 76 feet 9 inches (23.4 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 25 feet 10.5 inches (7.9 metres) with a depth of hold of 9 ft 8 in (2.9 m). The tonnage calculation would be 273 21/94 tons. As she would be completed and commissioned as

792-518: The Medieval period, notably during the Crusades , these were typically ships that were set up with combustibles on an ad hoc basis. The career of the modern fire ship, as a naval vessel type designed for this particular function and made a permanent addition to a fleet, roughly parallels the era of cannon-armed sailing ships, beginning with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and lasting until

836-589: The Mediterranean, the Italian Navy made good use of high-speed boats filled with explosives, mostly against moored targets. Each boat, called by the Italians MTM ( Motoscafo da Turismo Modificato ) , carried 300 kilograms (660 lb) of explosive charge inside its bow . Their best-known action was the 1941 assault on Souda Bay , which resulted in the destruction of cruiser HMS  York and

880-521: The Spanish loss was 10 killed. The Spanish managed to send supply ships through the Royal Navy blockade and any hope of starving St. Augustine into capitulation was lost. Oglethorpe now planned to storm the fortress by land while the navy ships attacked the Spanish ships and half-galleys in the harbor. Commodore Pearce, however resolved to forgo the attack during hurricane season. Oglethorpe gave up

924-665: The US Navy at the Battle of Tripoli Harbor in 1804 and by the British Navy's Thomas Cochrane at the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809, but for the most part they were considered an obsolete weapon by the early 19th century. Warships of the age of sail were highly vulnerable to fire. Made of wood, with seams caulked with tar, ropes greased with fat, and stores of gunpowder, there was little that would not burn. Accidental fires destroyed many ships, so fire ships presented

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968-470: The West Indies. She was rebuilt again in 1727 before finally being sold in 1744. Phoenix was the seventh named ship since it was used for a 20-gun ship purchased in 1546, rebuilt in 1558 and sold in 1573. She was ordered as a fireship on 16 November 1693 to be built under contract by John Gardner & John Dalton of Rotherhithe. She was launched on 16 March 1694. She was commissioned in 1694 under

1012-506: The age of the modern fire ship. The systematic use of fire ships as part of naval actions peaked around the Third Anglo-Dutch War . Whereas just twenty years before a naval fleet might have six to seven fire ships, by the Battle of Solebay in 1672 both the Dutch and English fleets employed typically between 20 and 30 fire ships, and sometimes more. By this time, however, admirals and captains had become very experienced with

1056-651: The beginning of the 19th century, steam propulsion and the use of iron, rather than wood, in shipbuilding gradually came into use, making fire ships less of a threat. During the American Civil War , the Confederate States Navy occasionally used fire rafts on the Mississippi River . These were flatboats loaded with flammable materials such as pine knots and rosin . The fire rafts were set alight and either loosed to drift on

1100-667: The coast of Scotland. She was with Admiral Byng's Fleet in the Baltic in 1717. In February 1718 she sailed to the Republic of Pirates in Nassau to help those intending to take the king's pardon for pirates who were willing to surrender and abandon piracy . After the Bahamas, she proceeded to New York. She returned to Home Waters in 1721. She was surveyed at Deptford in 1727. She was dismantled and her timbers were moved to Woolwich to begin

1144-491: The colony of Georgia "to annoy the Subjects of Spain in the best manner" possible. To pursue these orders, Oglethorpe encouraged his Creek allies to begin attacking Spaniards and Florida Indians. On November 13, a group of Spaniards landed on Amelia Island and killed two British soldiers. In response, Oglethorpe began a punitive campaign with a mixed force of British regulars ( the 42nd Regiment of Foot ), colonial militia from

1188-869: The command of Captain Edward Rigby, RN. In December 1694 she was under the command of Captain John Douglas, RN for service in the English Channel. On 1 October 1697 she was under command of Captain Hercules Mitchell followed in 1701 Captain Joseph Soanes, RN. Captain John Mitchell, RN was in command for the Battle of Vigo Bay on 12 October 1702.In 1703 Commander John Trotter, RN. At the Battle of Velez-Malaga on 13 August 1704 she

1232-478: The early 19th century, when the British began to use hastily outfitted fire ships at engagements such as Boulogne and Dunkirk despite the presence of purpose-built fire ships in the fleet. The last modern fire ship in the British Royal Navy was Thais , the only designated fire ship out of the entire navy of 638 warships when she was converted to a ship sloop in 1808. In the Greek War of Independence , 1821–1832,

1276-520: The extensive use of fire ships by the Greeks allowed them to counterbalance the Turkish naval superiority in terms of ship size and artillery power. As the small fire ships were much more maneuverable than 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 serious danger for

1320-408: The fire would not bring down the masts prematurely and thus deprive the fireship of motive power. Grappling hooks would be fitted to the ends of the yardarms so that the fireship would become entangled in its target's rigging. A large sally-port door was let into the rear quarter of the ship (usually the starboard side) to allow easy exit for the crew once the fire had been set and lit. There was often

1364-494: The first free black settlement in America. Oglethorpe deployed his batteries on the island of Santa Anastasia while a British naval squadron blockaded the port. On 24 June Oglethorpe began a 27-day bombardment. On 26 June a sortie by 300 Spanish and free blacks attacked Fort Mose held by 120 Highlander Rangers and 30 Indians. In the Siege of Fort Mose , the garrison was taken by surprise with 68 killed and 34 captured while

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1408-662: The five fireships used in Holmes's Bonfire of 1666 three had been in service with the Royal Navy for over a decade before being deployed on their final mission. While only used sparingly during the Napoleonic Wars , fire ships as a distinct class were part of the British Royal Navy until 1808, at which point the use of permanently designated fire ships attached to British squadrons disappeared. Fire ships continued to be used, sometimes to great effect, such as by

1452-401: The forecastle and quarterdeck to also help ensure a good draught for the fire. The gunports would be hinged at the bottom (rather than the top as on other warships) so that they would be kept open by gravity rather than ropes (which would otherwise burn thorough), further ensuring a good air supply. On the other hand, the lower parts of the masts would be surrounded by 'coffer dams' to ensure that

1496-469: The limitations of fire ship attacks and had learned how to avoid them during battle. Great numbers of fire ships were expended during the Third Dutch War without destroying enemy men-of-war, and fire ships had become a way to harass and annoy the enemy, rather than destroy him. The successful use of fire ships at the Battle of La Hogue and Cherbourg in 1692 marked both the greatest achievement of

1540-438: The lives of nearly 2,000 sailors. Phoenix ran ashore between Tresco and St Martin's and had to be beached, but could be kept seaworthy and finally managed to reach Portsmouth . She was salved and laid up at Plymouth during 1708/09. On 12 March 1708 she was ordered to be rebuilt as a 24-gun sixth rate. She was taken in hand by Joseph Bingham of Plymouth for the rebuilding process. She would be rebuilt to dimensions similar to

1584-449: The rebuilding process. She was ordered rebuilt at Woolwich on 23 March 1727 under the guidance of John Hayward, Master Shipwright of Woolwich. Her keel was laid in April 1727 and launched on 16 January 1728. The dimensions after rebuild were gundeck 106 feet 0 inches (32.3 metres) with a keel length of 87 feet 10 inches (26.8 metres) for tonnage calculation. The breadth would be 28 feet 4 inches (8.6 metres) with

1628-558: The red sea. Notable fire ship attacks include: [REDACTED] Media related to Fire ships at Wikimedia Commons Siege of St. Augustine The siege of St. Augustine was a military engagement that took place during June–July 1740. It involved a British attack on the city of St. Augustine in Spanish Florida and was a part of the much larger conflict known as the War of Jenkins' Ear . In September 1739, King George II sent orders to Governor James Oglethorpe of

1672-511: The river's current towards the enemy (for example at the Battle of the Head of Passes ) or else pushed against Union ships by tugboats (as at the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip ). During World War II in September 1940, there was a British sortie codenamed Operation Lucid to send old oil tankers into French ports to destroy barges intended for the planned invasion of Britain ; it

1716-720: The ship was paid off. In 1732 she was under Captain William Douglas, RN for service at Jamaica. She returned Home to pay off in 1734. She underwent a small repair at Woolwich from May to December 1735 costing £988.10.1d. Captain Charles Fanshaw, RN took over in 1737 for service in Carolina from 1738 to 1740 then she was in Georgia operations in June 1740. She played a minor role in the 1740 Siege of St. Augustine during

1760-563: The ships of the Turkish fleet. Many naval battles of the Greek war of independence were won by the use of fire ships, notably the burning of the Ottoman flagship off Chios in June 1822. The successful use of fireships required the use of the element of surprise (a visible similarity with modern-day naval special operations). It is considered an important landmark in Greek naval tradition . From

1804-445: The usual small warships of the day – brigs or ship-rigged sloops-of-war with between 10 and 16 guns. The practical design features of purpose-built fireships included a lattice-work false deck below the planks of the main deck – the planks would be removed and the combustibles and explosives stacked on the lattice, which gave good draught and ensured the fire would hold and spread. A number of square-section chimneys would be let into

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1848-458: Was abandoned when both tankers broke down. Ships or boats packed with explosives could still be effective. Such a case was Operation Chariot of 1942, 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 not drydock anywhere else on the French west coast. In

1892-533: Was damaged in a collision with HMS St Albans on 10 September 1709. She was paid off at Portsmouth on 28 September 1709. She was recommissioned in 1710 under Commander Edward Blacket, RN (promoted to captain in January 1713) for service in the English Channel and North Sea. She underwent a considerable repair at Woolwich between March and May 1713. She went to New England in 1714/15. On 5 October she came under command of Captain Vincent Pearce, RN for service on

1936-602: Was under the command of Commander Edmund Hicks, RN as part of the cester squadron. On 9 March 1705 Captain Michael Sansom, RN took command for service in the Mediterranean. In 1707, she belonged to Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell 's fleet. She saw action during the unsuccessful Battle of Toulon and was present during the great naval disaster off the Isles of Scilly when Shovell and four of his ships ( Association , Firebrand , Romney and Eagle ) were lost, claiming

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