Byzantine Fire Ships

Type Object Region Byzantine Time 678–1204

Byzantine warships fitted with Greek fire projectors, the core weapon of Eastern Mediterranean sea control from the 7th to 11th centuries.

Timeline

678Sea of Marmara—Bosphorus Strait · Byzantine EmpireAccording to Theophylact, Byzantine fire ships used the formula of the Syrian-born Callinicus to destroy the Arab besieging fleet with siphon-projected flame, the first time Greek fire showed devastating power at sea.
718Bosphorus Strait · Byzantine EmpireFire ships under Leo III again burned the joint Arab and Bulgar fleet with flame-projecting tactics in the Bosphorus Strait and Sea of Marmara, consolidating Greek fire's status as a pillar of imperial coastal defense.
1031–1040Aegean Sea · Byzantine EmpireBy the late Macedonian dynasty the imperial fleet was smaller than at its height, but warships equipped with Greek fire were still deployed on Aegean and southern Italian routes to strike Arab pirates and Norman raiders.
1100–1204Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireAs imperial finances worsened and Venetian naval power rose, Byzantine fire ships dwindled; the Greek fire formula and siphon technology, kept as state secrets, were gradually lost, and after the Fourth Crusade the traditional fire-ship fleet ceased to exist.

Greek Fire, Poison Arrows and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World — Adrienne Mayor (2003)
Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century — Irfan Shahîd (1995)