Early Thermal Weapons - Types of Weapons - Flaming Arrows, Bolts, Spears and Rockets

Flaming Arrows, Bolts, Spears and Rockets

Lit torches (burning sticks) were likely the earliest form of incendiary device. They were followed by incendiary arrows, which were used throughout the ancient and medieval periods. The simplest flaming arrows had oil- or resin-soaked tows tied just below the arrowhead and were effective against wooden structures. Both the Assyrians and the Judeans used fire arrows at the siege of Lachish in 701 BC. More sophisticated devices were developed by the Romans which had iron boxes and tubes which were filled with incendiary substances and attached to arrows or spears. These arrows needed to be fired from loose bows, since swift flight extinguished the flame; spears could be launched by hand or throwing machine.

Flaming arrows and crossbow bolts were used throughout the period. Fifteenth-century writer Gutierre Diaz de Gamez witnessed a Spanish attack on the Moorish town of Oran in 1404 and later described how "During the most part of the night, the galleys did not cease from firing bolts and quarrells dipped in tar into the town, which is near the sea. The noise and the cries which came from the town were very great by reason of the havoc that was wrought."

A 2 m (2.2 yd) long iron crossbow-bolt probably designed to carry a fire cartridge was found in a 13th-14th century castle in Vladimir, Eastern Russia. Such large machine-thrown bolts were ideal for incendiary weapons. The Mongols used an "ox-bow" machine to throw bolts which had been dipped in burning pitch, with a range of 2500 paces.

Anna Comnena records that at the 1091 Battle of Levunium, lighted torches were fixed to spears.

The Chinese Song Dynasty created fire arrows - rockets attached to arrows and launched in mass through platforms, and later created rockets such as the huo long chu shui, a multistage rocket used in naval combat. Primitive rockets made from bamboo and leather were used by the Mongols, under Genghis Khan, but were inaccurate. However, the Fatamids used "Chinese arrows" from the 11th Century, which probably included saltpetre. The Mamluks experimented with a rocket-powered weapon described as "an egg which moves itself and burns."