Editing Fire ship (section)

===19th and 20th centuries, obsolescence===
From the beginning of the 19th century, [[Steam engine|steam]] propulsion and the use of iron, rather than wood, in shipbuilding gradually came into use, making fire ships less of a threat.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

During the [[American Civil War]], the [[Confederate States Navy]] occasionally used fire rafts on the [[Mississippi River]]. These were [[flatboats]] loaded with flammable materials such as pine knots and [[rosin]].<ref name="Foote">{{Cite book |last1=Foote |first1=Shelby |title=The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=9780307744678 |page=355 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_UB3DZu_RgC&q=fire+raft+civil+war&pg=PA355 |access-date=6 March 2017|language=en|date=2011-01-26 }}</ref> The fire rafts were set alight and either loosed to drift on the river's current towards the enemy (for example at the [[Battle of the Head of Passes]])<ref name="Foote" /> or else pushed against Union ships by tugboats (as at the [[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip]]).<ref name="Tucker">{{Cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer |title=A Short History of the Civil War at Sea |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780842028684 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fHZuqCB-cRQC&q=fire+raft+civil+war&pg=PA78 |access-date=6 March 2017 |language=en|year=2002 }}</ref>

During [[World War II]] in September 1940, there was a British sortie codenamed [[Operation Lucid]] to send old [[oil tanker]]s into French ports to destroy barges intended for [[Operation Sealion|the planned invasion of Britain]]; it was abandoned when both tankers broke down.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4009-22SEP02.htm|title=Battle of Britain, September 1940 |work=naval-history.net| first= Don |last= Kindell| access-date= December 20, 2023}}</ref> Ships or boats packed with explosives could still be effective. Such a case was [[Operation Chariot]] of 1942, in which the old destroyer {{HMS|Campbeltown|I42|6}} was packed with explosives and rammed into the dry dock at [[Saint-Nazaire]], [[France]], to deny its use to the battleship ''[[German battleship Tirpitz|Tirpitz]]'', which could not drydock anywhere else on the French west coast. In the Mediterranean, the [[Regia Marina|Italian Navy]] made good use of high-speed boats filled with explosives, mostly against moored targets. Each boat, called by the Italians [[MT explosive motor boat|MTM (''Motoscafo da Turismo Modificato'')]], carried {{convert|300|kg}} of explosive charge inside its [[bow (ship)|bow]]. Their best-known action was the 1941 [[Sinking of HMS York|assault on Souda Bay]], which resulted in the destruction of cruiser {{HMS|York|90|6}} and the [[Norway|Norwegian]] tanker ''Pericles'', of 8,300 [[tonnage|tons]].<ref>{{cite book| last1= Greene| first1= Jack |last2= Massignani| first2= Alessandro| title= The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943| publisher= Chatham Publishing| place = London| year= 1998| page= 141 |isbn= 1-86176-057-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last= Sadkovich| first= James| title= The Italian Navy in World War II| publisher= Greenwood Press| place= Westport| year= 1994| page= 25 |isbn= 0-313-28797-X}}</ref>

The successful [[USS Cole bombing|attack]] by Yemeni insurgents in a speedboat packed with explosives on the guided missile destroyer {{USS|Cole|DDG-67|6}} in 2000 could be described as an extension of the idea of a fireship. Another explosive ship attack took place in April 2004, during the [[Iraq War]], when three motor craft laden with explosives attempted the bombing of Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal in the [[Persian Gulf]]. In an apparent [[suicide bombing]], one blew up and sank a [[rigid inflatable boat]] from {{USS|Firebolt|PC-10|6}} as it pulled up alongside, killing two US Navy personnel and one member of the [[US Coast Guard]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.stripes.com/news/suicide-bombing-attack-claims-first-coast-guardsman-since-vietnam-war-1.19271 |title= Suicide bombing attack claims first Coast Guardsman since Vietnam War| first= Kendra |last= Helmer| work= [[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]| date= 27 April 2004| access-date= December 20, 2023}}</ref>