Example of burners as they were used to inflate a ship bridge in the Scheldt. Passover of the Spanish Armada, by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, painted in 1796, depicts Drakes attack with burners on the Armada.
A burner is a ship filled with tar and explosives, then intentionally lit, and then sent to an enemy fleet of wooden ships to turn it off, or to freak the enemy panic giving them their formation. Burners were mostly old or cheap ships.
Traditional sailing ships were very vulnerable to fire. Beams were held together with tar, ropes were greased with grease, and the rags of armed ships were filled with gunpowder. So there was little on board that would not burn, which caused burners a huge threat to these ships.
When the wind was in the right direction, a burner could be released so that it would float in the direction of its target. During most fights, however, a burner had to be controlled by some crew members. The crew had to leave the ship at the last moment after having ignited the explosives of the explosives. Warriors were the most dangerous for ships that landed. In the open sea a well-equipped ship could dodge the burner and switch off with the guns. Boats were often used to intercept burners and to drag them away.
Significant attacks with burners are:
The use of burners stopped when wooden warships were replaced by metals. The concept was used again during World War II when, as part of Operation Chariot, the old torpedo boat hunter Campbeltown was stuffed with explosives and rammed in a dry dock at Saint Nazaire in France.
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