Fireships for Xmas!

Burning of the Royal James at the Battle of Solebay -Willem van de Velde.

On the run into Xmas, I have allotted my current modelling time to working on some projects for friends and fellow naval enthusiasts, which for one of them has seen me embark on some work to produce some seventeenth century fireships for my pal 'Captain Steve' whose company I have enjoyed on several of my own French Revolutionary and Napoleonic projects, but whose real passion is for an earlier period in the age of sail that has seen him dallying with Mr Barry Hilton's amazing models that accompany his Mad for War rules, and which I have enjoyed seeing up close at shows like Partizan in previous years.

Barry Hilton's marvellous game recreating the Dutch attack on the Medway, seen at Partizan in 2022
JJ's Wargames - Partizan 2022

Barry has produced some extraordinary vistas with his models and terrain boards that really bring to life the battles that characterised the post English Civil War period and of course the Anglo-Dutch War, and I find his work very inspirational for my own efforts, in a completely different era and scale of age of sail, but with plenty to admire in the modelling skills on show.

Mad for War Facebook Page
The League of Augsburg Shop - Mad for War

I have spent the last four and bit years working on 1:700 age-of-sail models that I can virtually build, paint and rig in my sleep these days, and so turning to focus on some 1:1200 models caused me to do a bit of planning prior to starting them, scouring all the sites, YouTube videos and other sources for painting and modelling ideas before preparing these little masterpiece sculpts for putting together, they needing to be affixed to the bases they are supplied with, which is a nice touch if you prefer using acrylic clear bases instead, and then priming them prior to painting. 

A fire ship or fireship is a vessel deliberately set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar manoeuvre, and have been used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history; with the prospect of a fiery demise also serving as a considerable shock and awe strategy to harm the morale of enemy crews.

A depiction of an 18th century French fireship displaying its specialized features that include an exit door between the two aftmost gunports; the chain securing an escape boat; an aperture below the exit door to light a fuse; and grappling hooks on the yardarms.

Ships often used for fireship tactics were sometimes surplus, obsolete or purpose-built vessels filled with gunpowder or other combustibles, but could also be improvised from active warships purposefully set on fire during engagements, such as if a vessel expended its munitions or had some other reason to be abandoned in battle.

The systematic use of fire ships as part of naval actions peaked around the Third Anglo-Dutch War, with the Battle of Solebay in 1672, the opening battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672-74, seeing both the Dutch and English fleets employing some 20 and 30 fire ships.  

The Burning of the Royal James at the Battle of Solebay, 28 May 1672 - Willem van de Velde, the Younger.
In the left foreground is a Dutch ship sinking, viewed from off the port bow, with only the fore part above the water but with bowsprit and foremast still standing. This is presumably a fireship expended in an attempt to burn the 'Royal James'. The 'Royal James dominates the right side of the painting. She is shown in port-broadside view with Jan van Rijn's fireship, the 'Vrede', in flames and about to run aboard her by the fore chains. The 'Royal James' has her torn topsails set and her fore and main courses have the clews hauled up. Sandwich's blue flag at the main is blowing out in the light wind. Men are shown jumping overboard and hanging to the rigging to avoid the fire both fore and aft. In the right foreground is the ship's boat in which the fireship's crew is escaping after setting light to their vessel.

On the evening before the battle, Admiral Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, urged the Duke of York to take the fleet to sea to avoid the risk of being surprised by the Dutch while at anchor on a lee shore in Solebay (Southwold Bay, Suffolk) on the English east coast. 

Admiral Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich

The advice was not taken and the Dutch fleet, commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, did appear and attacked Sandwich's unsupported squadron in the bay. 

Sandwich, in the 'Royal James', 100 guns, was heavily engaged with the squadron of Admiral Van Ghent, who sent in two fireships. The 'Royal James' sank them both but a third fireship, commanded by Jan van de Rijn, grappled the English flagship and set her ablaze. When she was engulfed by the flames Sandwich tried to escape by boat, but it was swamped by people who jumped into her with him and he was drowned.

In time, admirals and captains became very experienced with the limitations of fire ship attacks and had learned how to avoid them during battle, seeing a great numbers of fire ships expended during the Third Dutch War without destroying enemy men-of-war, and seeing the use of fire ships as more of a way to harass and annoy the enemy, rather than destroy him. 

The successful use of fire ships at the Battle of La Hogue and Cherbourg in 1692 marked both the greatest achievement of a fire ship attack since the Spanish Armada, and also the last significant success for fire ships. 

These little models, and boy are they little after working with 1:700, were a very pleasant excursion from my normal painting roster and if you have a desire to build yourself a fleet from this era I would have no hesitation in recommending them as being very satisfying in terms of enough detail to be able to highlight and to the eye as a group of models when seen on the table.

This period of naval warfare is one I have never gamed so I will be looking forward to Steve building his collection so I might get to have a go, and my interest has certainly been peeked by the scenarios and glorious Mad for War rule book that has lots more in it in terms of scenarios, fleet lists and painting guides and other associated topics.

https://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/shop/product-1196.html

However I still have lots to occupy my time with, with several age of sail projects already in the ship yard to be getting on with for the foreseeable and a new fleet project to be worked on in the next twelve months which I will be showcasing in the next post.

As regards to other Xmas projects for friends, work has now turned to some merchant ships and Indiamen, followed by some privateers and naval raiders, that I have promised for Jack and his son Charlie - more anon

JJ