fire ship

American  

noun

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

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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

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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

When the fire ship was fully fitted out in this manner, they prepared to enter the passageway into the lake.

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

But the truth was afterwards told us, that a fire ship from the city had been sent across and had burned the bridge, cutting off the retreat of the English that way.

From A Heroine of France by Evelyn Everett-Green

While our soldiers were holding their own, as usual, a Genoese fire ship exploded in the canal behind them.

From The Lion of Saint Mark A Story of Venice in the Fourteenth Century by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Night had fallen, and the Aquila blazed like a fire ship.

From The Rim of the Desert by Ada Woodruff Anderson