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Napalm

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This article is about flammable liquids used for flame-type weaponry. For other uses, see Napalm (disambiguation).

North American F-100 Super Sabre dropping napalm in a training exercise

Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic acid and palmitic acid.[1] A team led by chemist Louis Fieser originally developed napalm for the US Chemical Warfare Service in 1942 in a secret laboratory at Harvard University.[2] Of immediate first interest was its viability as an incendiary device to be used in fire bombing campaigns during World War II; its potential to be coherently projected into a solid stream that would carry for distance (instead of the bloomy fireball of pure gasoline) resulted in widespread adoption in infantry and tank/boat mounted flamethrowers as well.

Napalm burns at temperatures[3][4] ranging from 800 to 1,200 °C (1,470 to 2,190 °F). It burns longer than gasoline, is more easily dispersed, and adheres to its targets. These traits make it both effective and controversial. It has been widely used from the air and from the ground, the largest use having been via airdropped bombs in World War II in the incendiary attacks on Japanese cities in 1945. It was used also for close air support roles in the First Indochina War, the Algerian War, the Korean War, the Six-Day War, and the Vietnam War. Napalm has also fueled most of the flamethrowers (tank-, ship-, and infantry-based) used since World War II, giving them much greater range, and was a common weapon of urban combat by both the Axis and the Allies in World War II.[citation needed]

Development

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The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the Allied forces during World War II.[5] Latex, used in these early forms of incendiary devices, became scarce, since natural rubber was almost impossible to obtain after the Japanese army captured the rubber plantations in Malaya, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

This shortage of natural rubber prompted chemists at US companies such as DuPont and Standard Oil of New Jersey, and researchers at Harvard University, to develop factory-made alternatives: artificial rubber for all uses, including vehicle tires, tank tracks, gaskets, hoses, medical supplies and rain clothing. A team of chemists led by Louis Fieser at Harvard University was the first to develop synthetic napalm during 1942.[6] "The production of napalm was first entrusted to Nuodex Products, and by the middle of April 1942 they had developed a brown, dry powder that was not sticky by itself, but when mixed with gasoline turned into an extremely sticky and flammable substance." One of Fieser's colleagues suggested adding phosphorus to the mix which increased the "ability to penetrate deeply [...] into the musculature, where it would continue to burn day after day."[7]

On 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the Harvard Business School.[7] Tests under operational conditions were carried out at Jefferson Proving Ground on condemned farm buildings and subsequently at Dugway Proving Ground on buildings designed and constructed to represent those to be found in German and Japanese towns.[8] This new mixture of chemicals was first approved for use on the front lines in 1943.[9]

Military use

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World War II

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The first recorded strategic use of napalm was on 15 December 1943 in Papua New Guinea, where it acted as flamethrower fuel. Napalm incendiary bombs were first used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 15 February 1944 in the Pacific Theater;[9] by 6 March that year, AN-M76 bombs with PT-1 filler were being used in the European Theater.[10]

Napalm was often deployed against Japanese fortifications on Saipan, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and Okinawa, where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender. [citation needed] Following a shortage of conventional thermite bombs, several top USAAF commanders, such as General Curtis LeMay, ordered air raids on Japan to start using napalm instead.[11] 64 cities were targeted with napalm bombs, causing more deaths than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[12] A 1946 report by the National Defense Research Council claims that 40,000 tons of AN-M69s were dropped on Japan throughout the war.[13][14]

During the Allied siege of La Rochelle, napalm was dropped on the outskirts of the Royan pocket, inadvertently killing French civilians.[15] The Royal Air Force (RAF) used napalm to a limited effect during the Pacific and European Theaters.[16][17]

Greek Civil War

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During the Greek Civil War, after the 15 August 1949 capture of Mount Vitsi, the Hellenic Air Force extensively targeted Mount Grammos—a stronghold for the opposing Democratic Army of Greece—with US-supplied napalm.[18][19]

Results of a napalm strike by the Aviation Navale on suspected Viet Minh positions during the First Indochina War, circa December 1953

First Indochina War

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The French Air Force regularly used napalm for close air support of ground operations in the First Indochina War. At first, the canisters were simply pushed out the side doors of Ju 52 planes that had been captured in Germany, later mostly B-26 bombers were used.[20]

Korean War

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Napalm was widely used by the US during the Korean War.[21][22][23] The ground forces in North Korea holding defensive positions were often outnumbered by Chinese and North Koreans, but US Air Force and Navy aviators had control of the air over nearly all of the Korean Peninsula. Hence, the American and other UN aviators used napalm for close air support of the ground troops.[22] Napalm was used most notably during the battle "Outpost Harry" in South Korea during the night of 10–11 June 1953.[citation needed]

Eighth Army chemical officer Donald Bode reported that, on an "average good day", UN pilots used 260,000 liters (70,000 US gal; 58,000 imp gal) of napalm, with approximately 230,000 liters (60,000 US gal; 50,000 imp gal) of this thrown by US forces.[21] The New York Herald Tribune hailed "Napalm, the No. 1 Weapon in Korea".[23] British Prime Minister Winston Churchill privately criticized the use of napalm in Korea, writing that it was "very cruel", as US/UN forces, he wrote, were "splashing it all over the civilian population", "tortur[ing] great masses of people". He conveyed these sentiments to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar Bradley, who "never published the statement". Publicly, Churchill allowed Bradley "to issue a statement that confirmed U.K. support for U.S. napalm attacks".[21]

"Zippo" riverboat of the US Brown-water navy firing an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat-mounted flamethrower in Vietnam

Vietnam War

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Napalm became an intrinsic element of US military action during the Vietnam War as forces made increasing use of it for its tactical and psychological effects.[24] Reportedly about 352,000 tonnes (388,000 short tons; 346,000 long tons) of US napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973, compared to 29,354 tonnes (32,357 short tons; 28,890 long tons) used over three years in the Korean War, and 15,000 tonnes (16,500 short tons; 14,700 long tons) dropped on Japan in 1945.[2] The US Air Force and US Navy used napalm with great effect against all kinds of targets, such as troops, tanks, buildings, jungles, and even railroad tunnels. The effect was not always purely physical as napalm had psychological effects on the enemy as well.[25]

Rhodesian Bush War

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A variant of napalm was produced in Rhodesia for a type of ordnance known as Frantan between 1968 and 1978 and was used extensively by the Rhodesian Air Force during the Bush War.[26] In May 1978, Herbert Ushewokunze, minister of health for the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), produced photographic evidence of civilian victims of Rhodesian napalm strikes, which he circulated during a tour of the US.[26] The government of Mozambique and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) also issued claims at around the same time that napalm strikes against guerrilla targets had become a common feature in Rhodesian military operations both at home and abroad.[26]

Others

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The South African Air Force frequently dropped napalm from Atlas Impala strike aircraft during raids on guerrilla bases in Angola during the South African Border War.[27]

Other instances of napalm's use include: France during the Algerian War (1954–1962);[28] Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974); Turkey (1964) in the Republic of Cyprus; Peru during the 1964 Matsés massacres [es] and the counterinsurgency campaign against the Revolutionary Left Movement and the National Liberation Army (1965);[29] the Six-Day War by Israel (1967); in Nigeria (1969); in India and Pakistan (1965 and 1971); Egypt (1973); by Turkey (1974) the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus; by Morocco during the Western Sahara War (1975–1991); by Argentina (1982); by Iran (1980–88); by Iraq (1980–88, 1991); by Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in 1987 against Tamils (LTTE) in Sri Lanka; by Angola during the Angolan Civil War; and Yugoslavia (1991–1996).[30] In 2018, Turkey was accused of using napalm in its war against Kurdish militias over Afrin.[31]

Antipersonnel effects

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Phan Thi Kim Phuc, burned with napalm at the age of 9 during the Vietnam War

When used as a part of an incendiary weapon, napalm causes severe burns. During combustion, napalm deoxygenates the available air and generates carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, so asphyxiation, unconsciousness, and death are also possible.[32]

Napalm is lethal even for dug-in enemy personnel, as it flows into foxholes, tunnels, and bunkers, and drainage and irrigation ditches and other improvised troop shelters. Even people in undamaged shelters can be killed by hyperthermia, radiant heat, dehydration, asphyxiation, smoke exposure, or carbon monoxide poisoning.[32] Crews of armored fighting vehicles are also vulnerable, due to the intense heat conducted through the armor. Even in the case of a near miss, the heat can be enough to disable a vehicle.[33]

One firebomb released from a low-flying plane can damage an area of 2,100 square meters (2,500 sq yd).[32]

International law

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International law does not specifically prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets,[34] but use against civilian populations was banned by the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in 1980.[35] Protocol III of the CCW restricts the use of all incendiary weapons, but a number of countries have not acceded to all of the protocols of the CCW. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), countries are considered a party to the convention, which entered into force as international law in December 1983, as long as they ratify at least two of the five protocols. Approximately 25 years after the General Assembly adopted it, it was reported that the US signed it on 21 January 2009, Barack Obama's first full day in office as president.[36][37] Its ratification is subject to a reservation that says that the treaty can be ignored if it would save civilian lives.[37][38] The UN has also acknowledged that the US had ratified the CCW in March 1995, 13 years after the country became a signatory to it.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Oxford Dictionaries – napalm: definition of napalm". Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Books in brief. Napalm: An American Biography Robert M. Neer Harvard University Press 352 pp". Nature. 496 (7443): 29. 2013. doi:10.1038/496029a.
  3. ^ "Napalm and Agent Orange in the Vietnam War". www.thoughtco.com. ThoughtCo.
  4. ^ Military Review (Volume 13 Number 6 ed.). Command and General Staff College. April 1953. p. 13.
  5. ^ Fedoroff, Basil T.; Sheffield, Oliver E. (1974). "Flame Throwers—Liquids and Gels". Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items. Vol. 6. Morris County: Picatinny Arsenal. pp. F56–F58. LCCN 61-61759 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "Napalm". chm.bris.ac.uk. University of Bristol. 2001. Archived from the original on 17 September 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  7. ^ a b Lindqvist, Sven (2001). A History of Bombing. New York: The New Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-56584-625-8 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Noyes, W.A. Jr., ed. (1948). Science in World War II: Chemistry. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 392, 393.
  9. ^ a b Guillaume, Marine (December 2016). "Napalm in US Bombing Doctrine and Practice, 1942-1975" (PDF). The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. 14 (23): 1–15.
  10. ^ Kebler, Brooks E.; Birdsell, Dale (1966). Conn, Stetson (ed.). The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat. Washington D.C.: United States Army. p. 158 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ De Chant, John A. (1947). Devilbirds: The Story of United States Marine Corps Aviation in World War II. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. p. 155.
  12. ^ Doan-Nguyen, Ryan H. (16 February 2023). "Napalm, Birthed in Harvard's Basement". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  13. ^ Bauer, E.E.; Bogrow, Alexander; Engisch, G.W.; Haworth, M.D.; Hulse, S.M.; Keevil, C.S.; Knox, W.T.; McMillen, E.L.; Messing, R.F.; Mysels, K.H.; Reed, C.E.; Stanbury, G.R. (1946). Ewell, Raymond H.; Newhall, Robert M. (eds.). Fire Warfare, Incendiaries and Flame Throwers (PDF). Washington D.C.: National Defense Research Council.
  14. ^ Wellerstein, Alex (30 August 2013). "Who Made That Firebomb?". RESTRICTED DATA: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  15. ^ Zinn, Howard (1997). "The Bombing of Royan". The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy. New York: Seven Stories Press. pp. 267–281. ISBN 978-1-888363-54-8 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ McCue, Paul; Baker, Max (1990). SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France, 1944. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-4738-1795-1.
  17. ^ McKinstry, Leo (2011). Hurricane: Victor of the Battle of Britain. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-1-84854-341-6 – via Internet Archive.
  18. ^ House, Jonathan M. (28 April 2014). A Military History of the Cold War, 1944–1962. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780806146904 – via Google Books.
  19. ^ Featherstone, Kevin; Papadimitriou, Dimitris; Mamarelis, Argyris; Niarchos, Georgios (2011). The Last Ottomans: The Muslim Minority of Greece, 1940–49. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-230-29465-3 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ Fall, Bernard B. (2018) [1961]. Street Without Joy. Guilford, CT: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3654-1.
  21. ^ a b c Neer, Robert (2013). Napalm: An American Biography. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 99–103. ISBN 978-0-674-07301-2 – via Internet Archive.
  22. ^ a b Harden, Blaine (2 October 2017). "How One Man Helped Burn Down North Korea". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  23. ^ a b Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. San Francisco: Hardie Grant Books. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-78607-473-7.
  24. ^ Rohn, Alan (18 January 2014). "Napalm in Vietnam War". The Vietnam War. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Liquid Fire – How Napalm Was Used in the Vietnam War". www.warhistoryonline.com. Nikola Budanovic. June 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  26. ^ a b c Anti-Apartheid Movement, (various) (1979). Fireforce Exposed: Rhodesian Security Forces and Their Role in Defending White Supremacy. London: The Anti-Apartheid Movement. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-0900065040.
  27. ^ Nortje, Piet (2003). 32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit. New York: Zebra Press. p. 158. ISBN 1-868729-141.
  28. ^ Benjamin Stora, "Avoir 20 ans en Kabylie", in L'Histoire n°324, October 2007, pp. 28–29 (in French)
  29. ^ Colby, Gerard; Dennett, Charlotte (1995). Thy Will Be Done – The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil. New York: HarperPerennial. p. 466, 491-493. ISBN 9780060167646.
  30. ^ Goose Green, 2 Para in Falklands War 1982. Naval-history.net. Retrieved on 11 February 2010.
  31. ^ "Kurds Accuse Turks of Dropping Napalm | Voice of America – English". www.voanews.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  32. ^ a b c Napalm Exposure at eMedicine
  33. ^ Seymour M. Kaye (1 January 1978). "Napalm". Encyclopedia of explosives and related items. Vol. 8. Picatinny Arsenal. pp. N2–N3. LCCN 61-61759.
  34. ^ Omara-Otunnu, Elizabeth (8 November 2004). Napalm Survivor Tells of Healing After Vietnam War. University of Connecticut Advance.
  35. ^ "worldinbalance.net". www.worldinbalance.net. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  36. ^ Neer, Robert (2013). Napalm, An American Biography. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 224. ISBN 978-0-674-07301-2.
  37. ^ a b "Napalm, An American Biography". www.napalmbiography.com.
  38. ^ Los Angeles Times (24 February 1995). "Military in no hurry to dispose of napalm". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  39. ^ "UNTC". Treaties.un.org. Retrieved 15 March 2022.

Further reading

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