Greek fire

[druiaghtagh]

What was it and was it actually used in naval battles please

[Quizmonster]

Click http://www.greece.org/Romiosini/greek_fire.html for theories as to its composition. The Columbia Encyclopedia refers to two victories by the Byzantines over Saracen fleets in 678 and 717 AD using Greek fire, so it does seem to have been actually used in naval battles.

[andrewfuzzy]

There was a program on Monday nights Channel 4 that had experts recreating machines ( cathedral cranes, balista, GREEK FIRE) and they used pictures from history to recreate the machines that produced greek fire, and they said that it was actually used on ships. It basically consisted of a boiler type vessell with a fire underneath (heating the oil) then a vacuum type system with a two man pump (similar to a seesaw) this pumped the oil type substance through to the pipe which jetted it out across a lit flame which ignited the oil. historuical pictures and accounts said that the flame burst out from a lions head.