Such a fireship could wreck havoc upon the enemy with terrifying rapidity.
This was the worlds first incendiary weapon, and the Greeks made good use of it on fireships.
The idea was to starve the population.
Giambellis request was denied and he was allowed to take only two smaller vessels, namedFortuynandHoop.
The pontoon bridge over the Scheldt built to create a blockade during the siege of Antwerp.
Giambelli turned the two ships into two of the biggest bombs Europe had ever seen up to that time.
He called them hellburners.
The whole thing was covered with a conventional wooden deck to give the appearance of a regular ship.
The detonator on theHoop, however, was a technological marvel.
It was historys first time bomb.
A hellburner blows up at Antwerp in 1585 during the siege of the city.
TheFortuynran aground on the river bank before reaching the bridge.
The bomb also fizzled out with only a partial explosion that did little damage to the Spanish forces.
TheHoopwent straight towards the bridge and struck heavily against it.
A large portion of the bridge also vanished.
It was the largest man-made, predetermined explosion up to that time.
Military historian Robert L. O’Connell called hellburners historys first weapon of mass destruction.
Antwerp was forced to surrender just four months later.
