Derivative incendiary weapons of Greek fire

Timeline

1. 1171–1173Aegean Sea and Constantinople fleet bases · Aegean SeaAfter the Komnenian naval reforms, dromon warships still carried bronze siphons at the bow, with Greek fire prepared in imperial workshops according to hereditary secret formulas; Manuel I vigorously expanded the fleet to counter Venetian and Genoese power and patrol the eastern Mediterranean, and the siphon remained in service as the signature Byzantine naval weapon.
2. c. 1175–1177Eastern Mediterranean sea lanes · Eastern MediterraneanBesides bow-mounted siphons, the Byzantine navy also hurled incendiaries in clay pots via catapults; strict secrecy of the formula made it difficult for foreign powers to replicate true Greek fire, but Arab and Latin forces widely used derivative incendiaries such as mixtures of asphalt, petroleum, and sulfur, creating tactical echoes of and countermeasures to Byzantine fire attacks.
3. 1178–1180Byzantine Empire · Byzantine EmpireLater 12th-century sources record Greek fire's combat use far less than 9th–10th-century sources; scholars attribute this to the frequency of engagements, documentary genres, and formula secrecy rather than immediate discontinuation of the weapon. Around Manuel's death (1180), powers across the eastern Mediterranean still maintained vigilance and developed countermeasures against incendiary naval warfare owing to the Byzantine fire-attack tradition.