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

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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

Nevertheless many ships drifted from their course; fourteen of them were found by a fire ship and conducted to Halifax.

From The Voyage of The First Hessian Army from Portsmouth to New York, 1776 by Albert Pfister

The remainder of the fleet, consisting of three ships of war, five transports, and a fire ship, reached Falta between the 11th and 20th of December.

From With Clive in India Or, The Beginnings of an Empire by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

The fire ship in its place at the head of the line soon met the largest ship, and instantly grappled itself firmly to her side.

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

He placed one of these in command of each fire ship, and gave him four of the sailors.

From A Knight of the White Cross : a tale of the siege of Rhodes by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

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