[NoraSpinnor]

“Greek fire” (more accurately, the Byzantines’ liquid fire) was a short-range naval flamethrower used from the 7th–14th centuries CE. Unlike pitch pots or flaming arrows, this was a projected incendiary: a pressure-pumped stream of burning liquid blasted from bronze nozzles on ships. Contemporary accounts emphasized terror at sea: flames that clung, smoke and thunder, and the unnerving sight of fire continuing to burn on water.

“Greek fire” (more accurately, the Byzantines’ liquid fire) was a short-range naval flamethrower used from the 7th–14th centuries CE. Unlike pitch pots or flaming arrows, this was a projected incendiary: a pressure-pumped stream of burning liquid blasted from bronze nozzles on ships. Contemporary accounts emphasized terror at sea: flames that clung, smoke and thunder, and the unnerving sight of fire continuing to burn on water.

Modern scholarship and careful bench tests point to light natural petroleum as the core fuel, sometimes thickened with tree resins to help it adhere; ideas about gunpowder-like additives or “self-igniting on contact with water” quicklime don’t hold up well under scrutiny. Crucially, the secret hinged on the delivery device.

The Byzantine “liquid fire” system was a compact naval flamethrower built around a sealed bronze reservoir, piston pumps, and a forward nozzle (a siphōn) mounted on a ship’s bow. Crews hand-pumped a light, sticky petroleum mixture from the tank, building pressure so the fluid could be jetted as a continuous stream. Ignition occurred right at the muzzle, likely by a permanent flame or heated tip, so what hit the target was already burning. Robust valves kept the pressure steady, the bronze plumbing resisted heat and corrosion, and the nozzle geometry produced a tight, arcing spray that could reach tens of meters in calm conditions. In action, a team coordinated the pumps while the nozzle-man aimed, using shields and wet hides to protect the assembly from heat and enemy missiles. The result was a terror weapon optimized for sea fights: a clinging flame that spread across rigging and decks, and even across patches of water, made possible by a well-guarded marriage of petroleum chemistry, hydraulic pressure, and disciplined crew drill.

Most don’t look to the 7th-14th centuries for tech, but there was much more ingenuity than most people realize.
How would you have combatted “Greek fire” in battle?
Would you have been able to?

You can find out more about how it was made here:

[DREW]

No fire suits? No worries, I’ll just jump into this ocean… oh wait, that’s on fire too? Well shit….

[Author]

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