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Hellburners (
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
: ''hellebranders'') were specialised
fireships A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...
used in the Siege of Antwerp (1584–1585) during the Eighty Years' War between the Dutch rebels and the Habsburgs. They were floating bombs, also called "Antwerp fire", and did immense damage to the Spanish besiegers. Hellburners have been described as an early form of
weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...
.


First use against Antwerp ship bridge

The hellburners were constructed by the Italian engineer
Federigo Giambelli Federigo Giambelli (or Gianibelli; also given as Genebelli or Genibelli in contemporary English texts), was an Italian military and civil engineer who worked in Spain, the Spanish Netherlands and England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. ...
, who had been hired and subsidised by
Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
, unofficially supporting the rebels, to assist the city. In the winter of 1585, Antwerp was besieged by the army of
Alexander Farnese Alessandro Farnese may refer to: * Pope Paul III (1468–1549), Roman Catholic Bishop of Rome *Alessandro Farnese (cardinal) (1520–1589), Paul's grandson, Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal-nephew * Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (1545–1592), ...
, the commander of the Habsburg forces in the
Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...
, who had constructed a ship bridge over the River
Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
near Kalloo between Antwerp and the sea, to starve the population by blockade; it had been completed on 25 February. To supply the city it was imperative to destroy the ship bridge. Giambelli first proposed to use three medium-sized merchantmen, the ''Oranje'', ''Post'' and ''Gulden Leeuw'', but this was refused, only two smaller vessels being made available: the ''Fortuyn'' ("Fortune") and ''Hoop'' ("Hope") of about seventy tons. The innovative part of the project consisted in the ''Hoop'' employing a
fuse Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...
consisting of a combined
clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mec ...
and
flintlock Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also know ...
mechanism provided by an Antwerp
watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their part ...
, Bory; the ''Fortuyn'' used a delayed fuse mechanism. To ensure destruction, very large charges were used. To intensify and channel the explosion, an oblong "fire chamber" was constructed on each ship, 1 metre in diameter. The bay was fitted with a brick floor, 30 centimetres thick and 5 metres wide; the walls of the chamber were 1.5 metres thick; the roof consisted of old tombstones, stacked vertically and sealed with
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
. The chambers with a length of 12 metres were each filled with a charge of about of high-quality corned
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
. On top of the chambers a mixture of rocks and iron shards and other objects was placed, again covered in slabs; the spaces next to the chambers were likewise filled. The whole was covered with a conventional wooden deck. The two fireships were successfully used in the night of 4–5 April 1585. Giambelli had prepared 32 normal fireships to be first launched in several waves to deceive the Spaniards. In fact the commander supervising the operation, Vice-Admiral Jacob Jacobsen, set all ships on their course in quick succession, from fort ''Boerenschans'', the hellburners last. The current and ebb tide carried the ships towards the bridge. The decks of the hellburners were piled with wood and small charges with slow fuses, which gave the impression that they were conventional fireships, causing the Spanish troops to try to extinguish the fire. The ''Fortuyn'' ran ashore on the west river bank some distance from the bridge and its, probably only partial, explosion did little damage to the Spanish forces, but the ''Hoop'' drifted along the same bank between the river shore and a protective row of anchored ships forming a raft in front of the main bridge and touched the latter near the junction of the fixed wooden shore structure and the attached ships. When the
time bomb A time bomb (or a timebomb, time-bomb) is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use (or attempted use) of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They are ...
aboard the ''Hoop'' exploded, about eight hundred troops were killed, the sconce ''Santa Maria'' was devastated, and the ship bridge was ripped apart over a distance of 60 metres; the blast was heard in an 80-kilometer radius. Farnese was wounded in the explosion. However, the damage to the bridge was quickly repaired, and a rebel relief fleet failed to exploit the opportunity to break through, because it was at first mistakenly thought the attempt at the bridge had been unsuccessful.
Last of all came the two infernal ships, swaying unsteadily with the current; the pilots of course, as they neared the bridge, having noiselessly effected their escape in the skiffs. The slight fire upon the deck scarcely illuminated the dark phantom-like hulls. Both were carried by the current clear of the raft, which, by a great error of judgment, as it now appeared, on the part of the builders, had only been made to protect the floating portion of the bridge. The 'Fortune' came first, staggering inside the raft, and then lurching clumsily against the dyke, and grounding near Kalloo, without touching the bridge. There was a moment's pause of expectation. At last the slow match upon the deck burned out, and there was a faint and partial explosion, by which little or no damage was produced... The troops of Parma, crowding on the palisade, and looking over the parapets, now began to greet the exhibition with peals of derisive laughter. It was but child's play, they thought, to threaten a Spanish army, and a general like Alexander Farnese, with such paltry fire-works as these. Nevertheless all eyes were anxiously fixed upon the remaining fire-ship, or "hell-burner," the 'Hope,' which had now drifted very near the place of its destination. Tearing her way between the raft and the shore, she struck heavily against the bridge on the Kalloo side, close to the block-house at the commencement of the floating portion of the bridge. A thin wreath of smoke was seen curling over a slight and smouldering fire upon her deck... The clockwork had been better adjusted than the slow match in the 'Fortune.' Scarcely had Alexander reached the entrance of Saint Mary's Fort, at the end of the bridge, when a horrible explosion was heard. The 'Hope' disappeared, together with the men who had boarded her, and the block-house, against which she had struck, with all its garrison, while a large portion of the bridge, with all the troops stationed upon it, had vanished into air. It was the work of a single instant. The Scheldt yawned to its lowest depth, and then cast its waters across the dykes, deep into the forts, and far over the land. The earth shook as with the throb of a volcano. A wild glare lighted up the scene for one moment, and was then succeeded by pitchy darkness. Houses were toppled down miles away, and not a living thing, even in remote places, could keep its feet. The air was filled with a rain of plough-shares, grave-stones, and marble balls, intermixed with the heads, limbs, and bodies, of what had been human beings. Slabs of granite, vomited by the flaming ship, were found afterwards at a league's distance, and buried deep in the earth. A thousand soldiers were destroyed in a second of time; many of them being torn to shreds, beyond even the semblance of humanity. Richebourg disappeared, and was not found until several days later, when his body was discovered; doubled around an iron chain, which hung from one of the bridge-boats in the centre of the river. The veteran Robles, Seigneur de Billy, a Portuguese officer of eminent service and high military rank, was also destroyed. Months afterwards, his body was discovered adhering to the timber-work of the bridge, upon the ultimate removal of that structure, and was only recognized by a peculiar gold chain which he habitually wore. Parma himself was thrown to the ground, stunned by a blow on the shoulder from a flying stake. The page, who was behind him, carrying his helmet, fell dead without a wound, killed by the concussion of the air.


Influence on the Battle of Gravelines

The events in Antwerp gave the hellburners an immediate notoriety; the concept generated enormous interest with military experts all over Europe. The fireships sent against the Spanish Armada on 7 August 1588 in the night before the Battle of Gravelines were taken to be hellburners, because Giambelli was known to be employed by Elizabeth in England at that date, and eight regular warships, much larger than typical fireships of the time, had been sacrificed for the attack. They were actually nowhere near as deadly; the English at that moment lacked even the gunpowder to resupply their ships for regular use, but were successful in breaking the fleet's formation, their mistaken identity contributing to the panic. Giambelli was in fact working on constructing a mined ship beam from masts, costing £2000, to block the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
against an invasion.Folio society review
of ''
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada ''The Armada'' is a popular history by Garrett Mattingly—a historian who taught at Columbia University—about the attempt of the Spanish Armada to invade England in 1588. It was published in 1959 by Houghton Mifflin Company, and Mattingly wo ...
''


References

{{reflist


External links


''The Hellburners of Antwerp''
picture) Explosive weapons 16th century in Antwerp Ship types