Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Book in excellent unread/unused condition. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> Fireship For centuries on board any warship in the days of sail this cry provoked hor- ror and fear. At worst it meant serious injury or death for the whole crew and many would rather jump overboard or surrender than fall victim to the flames. However if the would- be victim could keep a cool head there were many ways to avert the danger. It was a matter of remaining sufficiently single-minded determined and cold-blooded. What in fact was a fireship? It was not necessarily a specific ship type and the term only defined its function. It could be nothing more than a vessel whose hold was filled with read- ily inflammable material – that was the usual type. But it might also be a ship crammed with a large amount of high explosive that could blow sky-high at any moment. There was no obvious visible difference and this made every attempt to disarm a fireship a trial of courage. Subject to wind tide and wave action sailing ships did not have complete freedom of movement like modern powered vessels so despite every effort it was not always possi- ble to avoid a fireship. To those on board the target it often appeared to be fixed in the path of the approaching fireship.’ Crews felt defenceless and were forced to watch help- lessly as their doom approached – as in a nightmare where you are nailed to the spot. When the ship was first ignited black smoke erupted from it and soon afterwards bright flames engulfed the rigging and sails. At this point panic often set in because every sailor was aware that he was standing on (MP)