Fire balls
Balls of fire (also called balls of fire, light balls or fireballs) are historical fire fighting equipment . These are spherical to long oval structures made from different materials (mainly linen and cordage ) and later filled with different very aggressively burning mixtures of solid materials. The fire or fireballs formed a separate group within the so-called serious war fireworks. They are first mentioned in the book of fireworks by Johannes Bengedans in 1450. Originals have survived from the 16th to the middle of the 19th century.
Manufacturing
First, individual sub-segments (usually four to six pieces) were cut out using a prefabricated template and these were sewn together to form a so-called incendiary bag. It was important to know how exactly the finished fire ball was to be used later, as it could be thrown either by hand, with different throwing devices (slingshots / catapults ) or from mortars . If it was used with a mortar (i.e. from a barrel weapon ), an exact calculation of the dimensions of the sub-segments as well as the addition for the later wrapping with outer coating was necessary so that the finished bale corresponded to the respective caliber and could be loaded without problems. After the incendiary bag had been completely sewn up to the later filling opening, the outside was now "pounded", ie impregnated with liquid pitch . Then the bag was turned inside out through the filling opening. On the one hand, the padded side was on the inside and, on the other hand, the bulges in the seams of the incendiary bag did not interfere with the subsequent knitting with rope. Now there were two options for filling. Either (in the case of immediate use) immediately with the fire mixture or (in the case of initially longer storage) with an inert substitute filling (e.g. with dry sand ).
The fire filling, which essentially consisted of saltpeter and sulfur (the well-known authors of the fireworks books of that time offer a variety of different mixtures) was then poured into the sack and compacted with a wooden pestle. After the filling opening had been sewn, the incendiary bag was knitted around. First a metal ring was fixed around the filling opening as the starting point for the knitting. Depending on the type of strapping (to date, seven different types have been proven on the basis of preserved original bales) such a ring was also fixed at the lower end. Now the net-like knitting could begin. In contemporary literature, the individual techniques are given different names in order to distinguish them, such as "snail band", "basket band" or "hunter band". Depending on the chosen knitting size, this resulted in a more or less dense net-like construction of stitches and knots, which gave the bale an enormous strength.
Finally, the finished bale was "baptized", i. H. dipped in a liquid mixture of pitch, resin , wax , paraffin , sulfur and / or saltpetre. The "baptism" fulfilled several tasks. After cooling, this coating became rock-hard and supported the shape of the ball. In addition, it represented an external impregnation of the ball and due to the composition of the baptism (here, too, different recipes have been handed down) this formed an additional viscous, long after-burning mass (when the actual set burned down).
commitment
Only immediately before use was the incendiary bag pierced at the upper end (in the area of the metal ring) with a special tool and a mostly wooden so-called “fire tube” (as a detonator ) inserted. This consisted of a conical shape of wood with a central hole into which a special ignition charge (based on black powder ) was pressed. This could either be lit by hand using a smoldering fuse or a torch, or by throwing it from a mortar using the flame ("from the haze") that arises when it is fired. For the throw from the mortar, the fire ball could be additionally reinforced with an iron dome on the lower pole (the side facing the propellant charge ) or in some cases with dome on both poles in order to better withstand the forces acting during firing and impact.
Very similar in the way they work, but due to the variety of designs they form an independent group of serious fireworks, the so-called carcasses should also be mentioned here. These basically represent a ball of fire that is additionally covered with a "skeleton" made of iron bands and iron domes, which gives it extreme external strength.
effect
After the fire tube (the igniter) had burned through, the aggressive incendiary device was ignited, which burned for up to several minutes depending on the size of the ball and was easily able to ignite fire loads effectively. Extinguishing with water was very difficult.
Fire balls are not to be confused with fire balls .
Additional reinforcement
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In order to make extinguishing and recovery attempts more difficult or even to prevent them completely, there was the possibility of embedding one or more hand grenades (depending on the size of the fire ball) in them. The "reinforcement" of the balls with self-shot elements (so-called "blows" or "murder blows") was very common. These were small iron tubes, forged together at the rear end, which were loaded with powder and one (or more) bullets in the handgun caliber (approx. 12-19 mm) used at the time and then hammered into the finished balls in different numbers from the outside.
When the incendiary device burned down (which is equivalent to that of a “forehead burner”), the blows were triggered at different times that the enemy could not foresee, and their projectiles were fired on all sides. In this way, attempts to extinguish the fire or rescue it were possible, if at all, only with considerable risk of injury or even death.
Cultural reception
Some of these ordnance have been preserved in various museums in Europe, such as the Army Museum in Stockholm , the Bavarian Army Museum , the Bernisches Historisches Museum , the Historisches Museum Basel , the Army History Museum Vienna , the art collections of the Veste Coburg , the Naval Museum Karlskrona, or the Armory Dresden .
literature
- Alfred Geibig: The power of fire - serious fireworks of the 15th - 17th centuries in the mirror of its neuter tradition . Art collections of the Veste Coburg, Coburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-87472-089-2 .
Web links
- Andreas Franzkoiwak: Balls of Fire. In: www.bummsbrigade.de. Retrieved September 1, 2016 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Alfred Geibig: The power of fire - serious fireworks of the 15th - 17th centuries in the mirror of its neuter tradition . Art collections of the Veste Coburg, Coburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-87472-089-2 , p. 75-120, 286-298 .