Fireship: The Terror Weapon of the Age of Sail

by Peter Kirsch

The fireship was the guided missile of the sailing era. Packed with incendiary (and sometimes explosive) material, it was aimed at its highly inflammable wooden target by volunteers who bailed out into a boat at the last moment. This is a history of a potent, much used but little understood weapon.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2009