fire ship

American  

noun

1. a vessel loaded with combustibles and explosives, ignited, and set adrift to destroy an enemy's ships or constructions.

---

fire ship British  

noun

1. a vessel loaded with explosives and used, esp formerly, as a bomb by igniting it and directing it to drift among an enemy's warships

---

Etymology

Origin of fire ship

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fire ship

Somers died when the fire ship he commanded exploded in Tripoli Harbor.

From Washington Times ● May 27, 2017

After this his men gathered all the pitch, tar and brimstone they could find in the town, and with them stocked the fire ship, which we have spoken of before.

From Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5 by Charles Herbert Sylvester

Burying himself in the water to the nose he sent his fire ship down the stream toward the two scows intending for it to enter just between them.

From The Keepers of the Trail A Story of the Great Woods by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

On the following night July 28th, the French tried to destroy the British fleet by a fire ship.

From A Canadian Manor and Its Seigneurs The Story of a Hundred Years, 1761-1861 by George McKinnon Wrong

The fire ship was ordered to go ahead of the rest of the vessels, and at the earliest moment to grapple with the largest of the Spanish ships.

From Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5 by Charles Herbert Sylvester