Suicide bomber ship as powerful as '16th-century nuclear weapon'

An Italian weapons expert once created the most powerful suicide bomber ship of the Middle Ages.

Bomb ship detonated to break the siege in Antwerp. Photo: Wikipedia.

In 1584, the English-backed Dutch secessionist movement waged an 80-year war for independence from the Spanish Empire. The Spanish court mobilized a large fleet of warships tosiege of the rebel city of Antwerp.

These warships were tied together, forming a 243-meter-long floating barrier across the river mouth.Scheldt, blocking the supply route ofAntwerp.To relieve the siege of Antwerp, Italian weapons expert Federigo Giambelli proposed using suicide bombers, a weapon with destructive power comparable to "16th-century tactical nuclear bombs".according toWar Is Boring.

To carry out this plan,Giambelli turned the two ships, Fortyn and Hoop, into the largest bombs in European history at the time. Inside the holds, Giambelli built a brick floor and thick wooden walls, and filled them with 2.5 tons of the best gunpowder. He covered the roofs with tombstones for extra strength.Workers also piled rocks around the train, camouflaging the giant bomb to look like a normal train.

The gunpowder on the Fortyn was ignited byslow burning matchThe Hoop, on the other hand, used a timing mechanism that was a technological leap forward for the time. An Antwerp craftsman created a mechanical timer to detonate the Hoop, making it the world’s first remotely programmed and detonated weapon of mass destruction.

On the night of April 4, 1584, the Antwerps set the Fortyn and Hoop adrift, joined by the regular fire ships, down the Scheldt. The Spanish paid little attention to them. When they drifted near the shore and crashed into the blockade line, they simply pushed them away with their lances to prevent the fire from spreading.

The Fortyn ran aground near the barrier and failed to fully explode, causing the Spanish soldiers to laugh at it, thinking it was a poor quality suicide bomber. This made them complacent when they discovered the Hoop had collided with it.blockade. Spanish soldiersJump on the train to put out the fire without knowing death was lurking.

At this moment, the timer activated, creating a huge explosion that blew away more than 60 meters of blockade and 1,000 Spanish soldiers. Large blocks of wood, stone fragments and bodies were thrown kilometers away, the explosion could be heard from 80 kilometers away. This was the largest man-made explosion ever seen on Earth at that time.

Tactically, the suicide bomber had limited effectiveness. The military itselfAntwerp alsoThe Spanish were shaken by the explosion and were unable to take advantage of the Spanish confusion to break out. A few months later, the Spanish Empire re-established the massive blockade, which continued until Antwerp fell in 1585.

British suicide boats attack the Spanish fleet anchored in Calais. Photo: Wikipedia.

Strategically, however, the weapon changed history. Three years after fleeing to England, Giambelli built a wooden barricade to protect the Thames. The fact that this genius was working for the British made it difficult for the Spanish military to sit idly by.

In 1588, Spain launched the largest naval attack in history on England. A fleet of ships carrying 20,000 infantry and cavalry, commanded by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, crossed the English Channel to join forces with the Duke of Parma.

On the night of August 7, 1588, while the fleet was in Calais, the English sent eight suicide ships into the area where the Spanish fleet was anchored. Haunted by the horrific explosion on the riverScheldt, qThe Spanish fleet was frightened and quickly cut the anchor ropes and maneuvered to avoid the attack, causing the entire fleet to be scattered and unable to regroup. The Spanish fleet was unable to join the Duke of Parma's army, ending the invasion before it even began.

Britain had stopped a large-scale invasion with just eight conventional suicide boats, but in reality, Giambelli never built more suicide boats for Britain or any other country. The mere presence of this weapon genius in Britain was enough to deter the enemy's superior fleet.

Suicide bombers have never been widely used because the amount of gunpowder used in one attack is too expensive, enough for an entire army or fleet. They can also only be deployed once and do not guarantee a high success rate, Weintz said./.

According to VNE