Editing Greek fire (section)

===Projectors===
The use of tubular projectors (σίφων, ''siphōn'') is amply attested in the contemporary sources. Anna Komnene gives this account of beast-shaped Greek fire projectors being mounted to the bow of warships:{{sfn|Dawes|1928|p=292}}
<blockquote>As he [the Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexios I]]] knew that the [[Pisa]]ns were skilled in sea warfare and dreaded a battle with them, on the prow of each ship he had a head fixed of a lion or other land-animal, made in brass or iron with the mouth open and then gilded over, so that their mere aspect was terrifying. And the fire which was to be directed against the enemy through tubes he made to pass through the mouths of the beasts, so that it seemed as if the lions and the other similar monsters were vomiting the fire.</blockquote>

Some sources provide more information on the composition and function of the whole mechanism. The Wolfenbüttel manuscript provides the following description:{{sfn|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|pp=614–616}}
<blockquote>...having built a furnace right at the front of the ship, they set on it a copper vessel full of these things, having put fire underneath. And one of them, having made a bronze tube similar to that which the rustics call a ''squitiatoria'', "squirt," with which boys play, they spray [it] at the enemy.</blockquote>

Another, possibly first-hand, account of the use of Greek fire comes from the 11th-century ''[[Yngvars saga víðförla]]'', in which the [[Viking]] [[Ingvar the Far-Travelled]] faces ships equipped with Greek fire weapons:{{sfn|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|pp=616–617}}
<blockquote>[They] began blowing with smiths’ bellows at a furnace in which there was fire and there came from it a great din. There stood there also a brass [or bronze] tube and from it flew much fire against one ship, and it burned up in a short time so that all of it became white ashes...</blockquote>
The account, albeit embellished, corresponds with many of the characteristics of Greek fire known from other sources, such as a loud roar that accompanied its discharge.{{sfn|Ellis Davidson|1973|p=72}} These two texts are also the only two sources that explicitly mention that the substance was heated over a furnace before being discharged; although the validity of this information is open to question, modern reconstructions have relied upon them.{{sfn|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|pp=628–629}}{{sfn|Haldon|2006|p=315}}

[[File:Greek Fire mechanism after Haldon and Byrne.jpg|thumb|left|Proposed reconstruction of the Greek fire mechanism by Haldon and Byrne]]
Based on these descriptions and the Byzantine sources, John Haldon and Maurice Byrne designed a hypothetical apparatus as consisting of three main components: a bronze pump, which was used to pressurize the oil; a brazier, used to heat the oil (πρόπυρον, ''propyron'', "pre-heater"); and the nozzle, which was covered in bronze and mounted on a swivel (στρεπτόν, ''strepton'').{{sfn|Haldon|Byrne|1977|p=93}} The brazier, burning a match of linen or flax that produced intense heat and the characteristic thick smoke, was used to heat oil and the other ingredients in an airtight tank above it,{{sfn|Haldon|Byrne|1977|p=94}} a process that also helped to dissolve the resins into a fluid mixture.{{sfn|Haldon|2006|p=310}} The substance was pressurized by the heat and the use of a force pump. After it had reached the proper pressure, a valve connecting the tank with the swivel was opened and the mixture was discharged from its end, being ignited at its mouth by a flame.{{sfn|Haldon|Byrne|1977|p=95}} The intense heat of the flame made necessary the presence of heat shields made of iron (βουκόλια, ''boukolia''), which are attested in the fleet inventories.{{sfn|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|pp=624–626}}

The process of operating Haldon and Byrne's design was fraught with danger, as the mounting pressure could easily make the heated oil tank explode, a flaw which was not recorded as a problem with the historical fire weapon.{{sfn|Haldon|Byrne|1977|p=96}}{{sfn|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|pp=627–628}} In the experiments conducted by Haldon in 2002 for the episode "Fireship" of the television series ''Machines Times Forgot'', even modern welding techniques failed to secure adequate insulation of the bronze tank under pressure. This led to the relocation of the pressure pump between the tank and the nozzle. The full-scale device built on this basis established the effectiveness of the mechanism's design, even with the simple materials and techniques available to the Byzantines. The experiment used crude oil mixed with wood resins, and achieved a flame temperature of over {{convert|1000|C}} and an effective range of up to {{convert|15|m|sp=us}}.<ref>For a detailed description, cf. {{harvnb|Haldon|2006|pp=297–315}} An interesting characteristic displayed during these tests was that, contrary to expectations due to the flame's heat, the stream of fire projected through the tube did not curve upwards but downwards, as the fuel was not completely vaporized as it left the nozzle. This fact is important because medieval galleys had a low profile, and a high-arcing flame would miss them entirely.{{harvnb|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|p=621}}</ref>