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

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 Pfister, Albert

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 Wrong, George McKinnon

On the 16th of October, 1746, he was made lieutenant of a frigate, and at the time of his offer was still only captain of a fire ship.

From Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part 2. The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century by Benett, Léon

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 Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)