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

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 Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

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 Sylvester, Charles Herbert

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

I will take that vessel which we captured in the River of Gibraltar and make of her a fire ship.

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