The only one that explicitly mentions them, yep. It’s a recounting of the british attack on a US fort during the war of 1812, which was attacked by, among other things, british bomb ships (mortar carriers). The actual bombs being referenced would be called shells in the modern era. Interestingly many others refer to guns and cannons and incoming fire and etc. as well; China’s makes explicit reference to being shelled (tho as I have had it explained, it’s also a bit of quite clever wordplay: 冒着敌人的炮火，前进 can mean both “withstand their (physical) guns/cannons” and “stand up in the face of their (metaphorical) aggression”)
USA USA USA! But for real, we started the war, yes, but we had reasonable cassus belli (embargoing our trade with france and kidnapping our seamen into the british navy) and the poem is about a defensive battle.
I still think our national anthem should be a secularized version of the battle hymn of the republic.
Which is weird, since it was written in 1814, and I can’t think of any bombs that burst in the air back then other than fireworks. Were they shooting fireworks in a battle?
The British Navy fired mortars — whose projectiles can explode midair — from bomb ships to bombard Fort McHenry, along with using Congreve rockets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baltimore
The US National Anthem is the only one in the whole world that mentions bombs.
The only one that explicitly mentions them, yep. It’s a recounting of the british attack on a US fort during the war of 1812, which was attacked by, among other things, british bomb ships (mortar carriers). The actual bombs being referenced would be called shells in the modern era. Interestingly many others refer to guns and cannons and incoming fire and etc. as well; China’s makes explicit reference to being shelled (tho as I have had it explained, it’s also a bit of quite clever wordplay: 冒着敌人的炮火，前进 can mean both “withstand their (physical) guns/cannons” and “stand up in the face of their (metaphorical) aggression”)
USA USA USA! But for real, we started the war, yes, but we had reasonable cassus belli (embargoing our trade with france and kidnapping our seamen into the british navy) and the poem is about a defensive battle.
I still think our national anthem should be a secularized version of the battle hymn of the republic.
Which is weird, since it was written in 1814, and I can’t think of any bombs that burst in the air back then other than fireworks. Were they shooting fireworks in a battle?
The British Navy fired mortars — whose projectiles can explode midair — from bomb ships to bombard Fort McHenry, along with using Congreve rockets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baltimore
Lobbing fused rounds has been a thing as long as we’ve been lobbing things that explode.