Fireships are compared with later torpedo boats: small, fast craft could destroy much larger vessels when confinement, surprise, or poor handling denied the target room to respond. Attentive and adequately funded navies developed counters. The recurring promise of cheap craft defeating capital ships depended on training, maintenance, and prepared defenses as well as platform size. An inexpensive attacking type remained disruptive only until the target fleet funded and practiced an answer.
Notable Point · 1:06:03-1:07:42
Fireships punished fleets without prepared countermeasures
The loss of Prince Royal introduces fireships as fast attack craft whose effectiveness depended heavily on an enemy fleet's readiness.