The Almighty Hellburners of Antiquity

Hellburners were a type of fire ship best-known to have been used in Europe during the 16th century AD. Whilst hellburners were first used during the early modern period, fire ships were already in use during ancient times.

Fire Ships in the Peloponnesian War

Generally speaking, fire ships were ships that were filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire, and sent into an enemy fleet, either by steering or drifting. In an age when ships were constructed with wood, fire ships were dangerous weapons indeed. One example of the use of this weapon in ancient times can be found in The Peloponnesian War, which was written by the Greek historian, Thucydides”

In an attempt to set fire to the remainder of the Athenian fleet the Syracusans filled an old merchant ship with brushwood and pine logs and, with the wind in the right direction, set it to light and let it drift towards the Athenians. Put is fear again for their ships the Athenians devised counter-measures to extinguish the flames and keep the fireship at a distance, and so averted the danger.

A Change to Explosives

Whilst the goal of a fire ship was to set enemy ships on fire, hellburners were built to blow them up. Instead of being loaded merely with combustibles, these fire ships were laden with explosives, thus making them much more deadly. Hellburners are known to have been utilized during the Siege of Antwerp, and perhaps also during the more famous Battle of Gravelines.