The cannon came into its own at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, when the European Holy League — wonderful name, by the way — destroyed the Ottoman navy. Fourteen years later, an Italian engineer in the employ of the Dutch — named Frederico Gianibelli or Federigo Giambelli; spelling was flexible then — developed a mine, or, more poetically, a hellburner:
In 1585, Gianibelli was lving in Amsterdam in the Spanish Netherlands. The city was in the midst of a siege by Spanish forces under the Duke of Parma. The Duke blockaded the city by building a 2,400-foot wooden bridge across the Scheldt River, which effectively blocked off the city’s access to the sea and to English reinforcements. Destroying the bridge would be complicated. Half of the bridge rested on piles and the other half on boats that were chained together.Gianibelli hit on the idea of sending a fleet of ships filled with explosives to blow up the bridge. The local government proved unconvinced by his plan and limited his resources to two exploding ships and 32 small fireboats. Gianibelli’s plan was to fill the holds of two exploding ships, Fortune and Hope, with 7000 pounds of gunpowder each. Fortune was armed with a slow burning fuse and Hope with a clockwork timer, both designed so that the ships would explode when they arrived at the bridge. On top of each ship’s hold, he placed a six-foot-deep layer of tombstones that he covered with “a pyramid, made of heavy marble slabs.” He filled the inside of the pyramid with mill stones, cannon balls, and various other metal and stone objects. The debris on top of the ship helped maximize the force of the explosion by directing the charge toward the bridge, though it is uncertain whether Gianibelli knew that it would do that. It also became lethal fragments flying through the air, cutting down hundreds of Spanish soldiers, which is likely why Gianibelli intended it to do.
The fireboats arrived at the rafts supporting the bridge first. Most became entangled in the hooks and spearheads of the bridge’s defenses or simply ran aground. The failure of these boats to cause any real damage drew cries of derision from the Spaniards on the bridge. The exploding ships followed shortly and drew up against the side of the bridge. The Fortune was the first to arrive. A small explosion was heard, but it produced no damage to either ship or bridge. A group of Spanish soldiers boarded the vessel and put out the few small fires they found. The party quickly left the ship.
The Hope arrived shortly, coming to rest near the juncture of the stationary and floating sections of the bridge. Smoke trailed upwards from small fires on the deck of the ship. The Duke ordered a group of soldiers aboard to investigate and watched from nearby as the men explored the ship. Somehow sensing trouble, a young ensign named De Vega managed with great effort to convince the Duke to move away from the ship. Moments after the Duke left, the clockwork timer on Hope detonated, blowing a 200-foot hold in the bridge and killing between 800 and 1000 Spaniards.
In the end, however, the commander of the Dutch naval forces, Admiral Jacobzoon, failed to take advantage of the breech, and Spaniards were able to repair the bridge during the night.