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{{Short description|Gelled incendiary mixture}}
{{About|flammable liquids used for flame-type weaponry|other uses}}
{{About|flammable liquids used for flame-type weaponry |other uses}}
[[File:Ecuadorian Kfir dropping napalm.jpg|thumb|An Ecuadorian Air Force [[IAI Kfir]] aeroplane drops napalm on a target during Dominic "Blue Horizon", a US-Ecuador joint military exercise.]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
'''Napalm''' is a mixture of a [[gelling agent]] and [[petroleum]] or a similar fuel for use in an [[incendiary device]]. It was initially used against buildings and later primarily as an [[anti-personnel weapon]] that sticks to skin and causes severe burns when on fire. Napalm was developed in 1942 in a secret laboratory at [[Harvard University]] in [[Massachusetts]] by a team led by chemist [[Louis Fieser]].<ref name=neer1>{{cite web |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v496/n7443/full/496029a.html |title=Napalm: An American Biography |author=Robert M. Neer |date=4 April 2013 |work=Nature 496 }}</ref> Its first recorded use was in the [[European theatre of World War II|European theatre of war]] during [[World War II]]; it was used extensively in [[Air Raids on Japan|incendiary attacks on Japanese cities]] in the [[Pacific War]].
{{Use American English|date=April 2022}}
[[File:F100 Napalm.gif|thumb|upright=1.35|[[North American F-100 Super Sabre]] dropping napalm in a training exercise]]


'''Napalm''' is an [[Incendiary device|incendiary]] mixture of a [[Thickening agent|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]] [[Salt (chemistry)|salt]]s of [[naphthenic acid|''na''phthenic acid]] and [[palmitic acid|''palm''itic acid]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/napalm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826104320/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/napalm|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 August 2013|title=Oxford Dictionaries – napalm: definition of napalm|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=neer1>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/496029a |title=Books in brief. Napalm: An American Biography Robert M. Neer Harvard University Press 352 pp. |journal=Nature |volume=496 |issue=7443 |page=29 |year=2013 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Of immediate first interest was its viability as an [[incendiary device]] to be used in American [[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 [[flamethrower]]s as well.
"Napalm" is a combination of the names of two of the constituents of the gelling agent: [[naphthenic acid]] and [[palmitic acid]], hence the word's origin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/napalm|title=Oxford Dictionaries - napalm: definition of napalm|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref> ''"Napalm B"'' is the more modern version of napalm and, although distinctly different in its chemical composition, it is often referred to simply as "napalm".<ref name="GS Napalm">[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/napalm.htm Globalsecurity.org article]</ref>


Napalm burns at temperatures ranging from {{convert|800|to|1200|C}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Szczepanski |first=Kallie |date=2017-02-10 |title=Napalm and Agent Orange in the Vietnam War |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/napalm-and-agent-orange-in-vietnam-war-195797 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920030323/https://www.thoughtco.com/napalm-and-agent-orange-in-vietnam-war-195797 |archive-date=2017-09-20 |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=ThoughtCo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dolan |first=Michael J. |date=September 1953 |title=Napalm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aJFAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA5-P9 |journal=Military Review |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=9–18}}</ref> 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 [[Air raids on Japan|incendiary attacks on Japanese cities]] in 1945. It was used also for [[close air support]] roles by the U.S military in the [[Korean War]], the [[Vietnam War]], and various others. Napalm has also fueled most of the [[flamethrowers]] (tank-, ship-, and infantry-based) used since World War II, giving them much greater range.
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== Forms ==


Napalm was used in [[flamethrower]]s, [[bomb]]s and [[Flame tank|tanks]] in World War II. It is believed to be formulated to burn at a specified rate and to adhere to surfaces to increase its stopping power. During combustion, Napalm rapidly deoxygenates the available air and generates large amounts of [[carbon monoxide]] and [[carbon dioxide]]. Napalm bombs were used during the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="GS Napalm"/>

Napalm was also used during the [[Korean War]], most notably during the defense of "[[Outpost Harry]]" in [[South Korea]] during the night of June 10–11, 1953 {{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}.

Alternative compositions exist for different uses, e.g. [[triethylaluminium]], a [[pyrophoric]] compound that aids ignition.


== Development ==
== Development ==
Use of fire in warfare has a [[early thermal weapons|long history]]. [[Greek fire]], also described as "sticky fire" (πῦρ κολλητικόν), is believed to have had a petroleum base. The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="GS Napalm"/> The supply of [[latex]] that had been used in these early forms of [[incendiary device]]s became scarce during the [[Pacific Theater of Operations]], since [[natural rubber]] was almost impossible to obtain after the capture by the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese army]] of the rubber plantations in [[British Malaya|Malaya]], [[Indonesia]], [[Vietnam]], and [[Thailand]].
The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="PATRv6">{{cite book |last1=Fedoroff |first1=Basil T. |url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/mode/2up |title=Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items |last2=Sheffield |first2=Oliver E. |publisher=Picatinny Arsenal |year=1974 |volume=6 |location=Morris County |pages=F56–F58 |chapter=Flame Throwers—Liquids and Gels |lccn=61-61759 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/page/n437 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> [[Latex]], used in these early forms of incendiary devices, became scarce, since [[natural rubber]] was almost impossible to obtain after the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese army]] captured the rubber plantations in [[British Malaya|Malaya]], [[Dutch Indies|Indonesia]], [[French Indochina|Vietnam]], and [[Thailand]].


This shortage of natural rubber prompted the [[chemist]]s at U.S. companies such as [[Du Pont]] and [[Standard Oil]], and researchers at [[Harvard University]], to strive 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 one to develop synthetic napalm, during 1942.<ref name="UofBristol">[http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm University of Bristol Webproject]</ref> "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."''<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105">{{cite book|last=Lindqvist|first=Sven|title=A History of Bombing|year=2001|publisher=The New Press|location=New York|isbn=1-56584-625-7|pages=105}}</ref>
This shortage of natural rubber prompted [[chemist]]s at US companies such as [[DuPont]] and [[Standard Oil of New Jersey]], and researchers at [[Harvard University]], to develop factory-made alternatives: [[Synthetic rubber|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.<ref name="UofBristol">{{cite web |year=2001 |title=Napalm |url=http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917002422/https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |archive-date=2003-09-17 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=chm.bris.ac.uk |publisher=University of Bristol}}</ref> "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 [[Muscle|musculature]], where it would continue to burn day after day."<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105">{{cite book |last=Lindqvist |first=Sven |author-link=Sven Lindqvist |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbombing0000lind_e5k9 |title=A History of Bombing |publisher=The New Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56584-625-8 |location=New York |page=105 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>


On 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the Harvard Business school.<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105"/> 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,<ref name=Noyes>{{cite book|last=Noyes|first=W.A. Jr. (ed.)|title=Science in World War II: Chemistry|year=1948|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|location=Boston|pages=392, 393}}</ref><ref name=Ithaca>{{Cite web|title=An Ithaca of sorts|url=http://www.aggregat456.com/2010/06/ithaca-of-sorts.html|first=Enrique|date=29 June 2010|accessdate=26 December 2012}}</ref> this new mixture of chemicals was widely used in the Second World War in [[incendiary bomb]]s and in [[flamethrower]]s.
On 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the [[Harvard Business School]].<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105"/> 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 Village (Dugway Proving Ground)|German]] and [[Japanese Village (Dugway Proving Ground)|Japanese towns]].<ref name="Noyes">{{cite book |title=Science in World War II: Chemistry |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1948 |editor-last=Noyes |editor-first=W.A. Jr. |location=Boston |pages=392–393}}</ref> This new mixture of chemicals was first approved for use on the front lines in 1943.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Guillaume |first=Marine |date=December 2016 |title=Napalm in US Bombing Doctrine and Practice, 1942-1975 |url=https://apjjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/article-1253.pdf |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=14 |issue=23 |pages=1–15}}</ref>


<!-- This paragraph involves production, not development; doesn't belong here but don't know where else to move it too...
From 1965 to 1969, the [[Dow Chemical Company]] manufactured napalm B for the American armed forces. After news reports of napalm B's deadly and disfiguring effects were published, Dow Chemical experienced some [[boycott]]s of all its products, and its recruiters for new chemists, [[chemical engineering|chemical engineer]]s, etc., graduating from college were subject to campus boycotts. The management of the Dow Chemical Company decided that "its first obligation was the government." Meanwhile, napalm B became a symbol for the Vietnam War.<ref>[http://www2.vcdh.Virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html Napalm]. .vcdh.virginia.edu. Retrieved on 2010-02-11.</ref>


From 1965 to 1969, the [[Dow Chemical Company]] manufactured napalm for the American armed forces.<ref name=":0" /> After news reports of napalm's deadly and disfiguring effects were published, Dow Chemical experienced [[boycott]]s of its products, and its recruiters for new chemists, [[chemical engineering|chemical engineer]]s, etc., graduating from college were subject to campus boycotts and protests.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://1967.wisc.edu/ |title=A Turning Point |author=University of Wisconsin-Madison |date=2017 |access-date= 26 October 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Worland |first=Gayle |date=8 October 2017 |title=50 years ago, 'Dow Day' left its mark on Madison |url=https://host.madison.com/wsj/article_47f7dc75-e30a-5a16-8cf1-044eebc66f18.html |access-date=26 October 2017 |magazine=Wisconsin State Journal}}</ref> The management of the company decided that its "first obligation was the government".<ref>[http://www2.vcdh.Virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html "Napalm History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134128/http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html |date=2011-10-06 }} Virginia Center for Digital History</ref> Meanwhile, napalm became a symbol for the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>[http://www2.vcdh.Virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html Napalm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134128/http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html |date=6 October 2011 }}. vcdh.virginia.edu. Retrieved on 11 February 2010.</ref>-->
== Military use ==
== Military use ==
=== World War II ===
[[File:French indochina napalm 1953-12 1.png|thumb|The French [[Aviation navale]] drops napalm over Viet Minh guerrilla positions during an ambush (December 1953).]]
[[File:Napalm Bombing of Brunei Bay, Borneo.jpg|thumb|Results of a 9 July 1945 napalm strike by a [[United States Army Air Forces|United States Army Air Force]] on a Japanese outpost off the coast of the island of [[Borneo]]]]
The first use of napalm in combat was in August 1943 during the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]], when American troops, using napalm-fueled [[flamethrower]]s, burned down a wheat field where German forces were believed to be hiding.<ref name=":1" /> Napalm incendiary bombs were first used the following year, although the exact date and battle are disputed.{{Efn|Claimed dates including a 15 February air raid on [[Pohnpei]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> a 6 March air raid on Berlin,<ref name="Berlin" /><ref name="bfbs">{{Cite web |date=2021-08-02 |title=What Is Napalm And Is It Still Used In Warfare? |url=https://www.forcesnews.com/technology/weapons-and-kit/what-napalm-and-it-still-used-warfare |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=BFBS Forces News}}</ref> and a 18 July air raid on [[Tinian]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Henry I. Jr. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofusmarin03usma |title=Central Pacific Drive |last2=Nalty |first2=Bernard C. |last3=Turnbladh |first3=Edwin T. |publisher=US Marine Corps |year=1966 |series=[[History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II]] |volume=3 |location=Washington D.C. |oclc=927428034 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>}}


Two-thirds of napalm bombs produced during WWII were used in the [[Pacific War]]. Napalm was often deployed against Japanese fortifications on [[Saipan]], [[Iwo Jima]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender.<ref name="Berlin">{{Cite book |last1=Kebler |first1=Brooks E. |url=https://archive.org/details/chemicalwarfares00kleb |title=The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat |last2=Birdsell |first2=Dale |publisher=United States Army |year=1966 |editor-last=Conn |editor-first=Stetson |location=Washington D.C. |pages=159-163, 630-635 |lccn=66-60001 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Following a shortage of conventional [[thermite]] bombs, General [[Curtis LeMay]], among other high-ranking servicemen, ordered [[air raids on Japan]] to start using napalm instead.<ref>
Napalm was first employed in [[incendiary bomb]]s and went on to be used as fuel for flamethrowers.<ref name="Harvard">{{Cite web|title=The Harvard Candle|url=http://www.aggregat456.com/2011/03/harvard-candle.html|first=Enrique|date=6 March 2011|accessdate=26 December 2012}}</ref>
{{Cite book |last=De Chant |first=John A. |title=Devilbirds: The Story of United States Marine Corps Aviation in World War II |publisher=Harper & Brothers Publishers |year=1947 |location=New York |page=155 |oclc=698844424}}</ref> A 1946 report by the National Defense Research Council claims that 40,000 tons of [[M69 incendiary|M69]]s were dropped on Japan throughout the war,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=E.E. |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0221598.pdf |title=Fire Warfare, Incendiaries and Flame Throwers |last2=Bogrow |first2=Alexander |last3=Engisch |first3=G.W. |last4=Haworth |first4=M.D. |last5=Hulse |first5=S.M. |last6=Keevil |first6=C.S. |last7=Knox |first7=W.T. |last8=McMillen |first8=E.L. |last9=Messing |first9=R.F. |publisher=National Defense Research Council |year=1946 |editor-last=Ewell |editor-first=Raymond H. |location=Washington D.C. |editor-last2=Newhall |editor-first2=Robert M. |last10=Mysels |first10=K.H. |last11=Reed |first11=C.E. |last12=Stanbury |first12=G.R.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wellerstein |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Wellerstein |date=August 30, 2013 |title=Who Made That Firebomb? |url=http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/30/who-made-that-firebomb |access-date=September 12, 2020 |website=RESTRICTED DATA: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog}}</ref> damaging 64 cities and causing more deaths than the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doan-Nguyen |first=Ryan H. |date=2023-02-16 |title=Napalm, Birthed in Harvard's Basement |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/2/16/napalm-scrut/ |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref>


German fortifications and transportation hubs were targeted with napalm during both [[Operation Overlord]] and the [[Battle of the Bulge]], sometimes in conjunction with artillery.<ref name="Berlin" /> During the [[Allied siege of La Rochelle]], napalm was dropped on the outskirts of the [[Royan pocket]], inadvertently killing French civilians.<ref>{{cite book |author=Zinn |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Zinn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC |title=The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy |publisher=Seven Stories Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-888363-54-8 |location=New York |pages=267–281 |chapter=The Bombing of Royan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC&pg=PA267 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
The first recorded strategic use of napalm incendiary bombs occurred in an attack by the [[USAAF]] on Berlin on 6 March 1944, using American AN-M76 incendiary bombs (with PT-1 (Pyrogel) filler).<ref>Kleber u. Birdsell, p.158.</ref><ref>An article in 'The Harvard Crimson' dated 12 October 1973 [http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/10/12/napalms-daddy-31-years-later-pin/ here] states that "The U.S. military started using napalm during the middle of 1942", but no source has been yet found (January 2013) to confirm this statement.</ref> The second known attack was a tactical operation by [[De Havilland Mosquito|De Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito FB Mk.VI]]s of [[No. 140 Wing RAF]], [[Second Tactical Air Force]] on 14 July 1944, which also employed the AM-M76 incendiary in a reprisal attack on the [[17th SS Panzergrenadier Division]] „Götz von Berlichingen“ in [[Bonneuil-Matours]]; soldiers of this [[Waffen SS]] unit had captured and then killed a British [[Special Air Service|SAS]] [[prisoner-of-war]], Lt. Tomos Stephens, taking part in [[Operation Bulbasket]], and seven local [[French resistance|Resistance]] fighters; although it was not known at the time of the air strike, 31 other POWs from the same SAS unit, and an American airman who had joined up with the SAS unit, had also been executed.<ref>McCue, P., p.104.</ref>


The [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) used napalm to a limited extent in both the Pacific War and the European Theater.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McCue |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul McCue |title=SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France, 1944 |last2=Baker |first2=Max |publisher=Pen and Sword Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-1-4738-1795-1 |location=Barnsley |pages=104}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McKinstry |first=Leo |author-link=Leo McKinstry |url=https://archive.org/details/hurricanevictoro0000mcki/mode/2up |title=Hurricane: Victor of the Battle of Britain |date=2011 |publisher=John Murray |isbn=978-1-84854-341-6 |location=London |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
Further use of napalm by American forces occurred in the Pacific Theater of Operations, where in 1944 and 1945, napalm was used as a tactical weapon against Japanese bunkers, pillboxes, tunnels, and other fortifications, especially on [[Saipan]], [[Iwo Jima]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Okinawa]], where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender. Napalm bombs were dropped by [[aviator]]s of the [[U.S. Navy]], the [[United States Army Air Forces]], and the [[U.S. Marine Corps]] in support of their ground troops.<ref>Reference: see any good biography of the WW II Marine Corps pilot [[John Glenn]], who dropped napalm on Okinawa. Also, see war films of American pilots dropping napalm on Japanese strong points on Okinawa{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}. See Report of the Commanding General Eighth Army on the Luzon Mop-up Operation (February 1946)</ref>
=== Korean War ===
Napalm was widely used by the US during the [[Korean War]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Harden |first=Blaine |date=2017-10-02 |title=How One Man Helped Burn Down North Korea |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/02/donald-nichols-book-north-korea-215665/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=POLITICO Magazine}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The ground forces in [[North Korea]] holding defensive positions were often outnumbered by Chinese and North Koreans, but US [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] and [[United States Navy|Navy]] [[naval aviator|aviator]]s 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.<ref name=":2" /> Napalm was used most notably at the beginning of the [[Outpost Harry|Battle of Outpost Harry]].<ref>{{Cite interview |last=Burkhalter |first=Thomas H. |interviewer=Mark Van Ells |title=Transcript of an Oral History Interview with THOMAS H. BURKHALTER |url=https://wisvetsmuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BurkhalterThomas-_OH509.pdf |access-date=2024-11-26 |publisher=[[Wisconsin Veterans Museum]] |date=1996-02-22 |quote=Outpost Harry we got air support, a mixed blessing... God, they’d drop napalm from enormous heights over there.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Elphick |first=James |date=2019-01-28 |title=How the soldiers of Outpost Harry decimated an entire Chinese Division |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/how-the-soldiers-of-outpost-harry-decimated-an-entire-chinese-division/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=We Are The Mighty}}</ref>


Eighth Army chemical officer Donald Bode reported that, on an "average good day", UN pilots used {{Convert|70000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (70,000 US gal; {{Convert|70000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of napalm, with approximately {{Convert|60000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (60,000 US gal; {{Convert|60000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of this thrown by US forces.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Neer |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/napalmamericanbi0000neer/mode/2up |title=Napalm: An American Biography |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-07301-2 |location=Cambridge |pages= |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' hailed "Napalm, the No. 1 Weapon in Korea".<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Pembroke |first=Michael |title=Korea: Where the American Century Began |publisher=Hardie Grant Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78607-473-7 |location=San Francisco |page=152}}</ref> [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|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".<ref name=":1" />
Then, when the U.S. Army Air Forces on the [[Marianas Islands]] ran out of conventional [[thermite]] [[incendiary bomb]]s for its [[B-29 Superfortress]]es to drop on Japanese cities, its top commanders, such as General [[Curtis E. LeMay]], turned to napalm bombs to continue its fire raids on the large Japanese cities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=De Chant|first= John A.|authorlink= |author2= |title=Devilbirds|year=1947|publisher= Harper & Brothers Publishers|location=New York|isbn= |page=155}}</ref>
=== Vietnam War ===
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[[File:US riverboat using napalm in Vietnam.jpg|thumb|A [[Monitor (Vietnam War)#Zippo Monitor|"Zippo"]] riverboat of the US [[Brown-water navy]] firing an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat-mounted [[flamethrower]] in Vietnam]]
{{Expand section|date=November 2024}}
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.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thevietnamwar.info/napalm-vietnam-war/|title=Napalm in Vietnam War|last=Rohn|first=Alan|website=The Vietnam War|date=18 January 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref> Reportedly about {{Convert|388000|ST|t|abbr=off|disp=output only}} (388,000 short tons; {{Convert|388000|ST|LT|disp=output only}}) of US napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973.<ref name=":1" /> 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 tunnel]]s. The effect was not always purely physical as its destructive effects and ability to spread uncontrolled had psychological effects on Vietnamese forces and civilians as well.<ref>{{cite web|title=Liquid Fire – How Napalm Was Used in the Vietnam War|url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/vietnam-war/history-napalm-vietnam-war.html/2|website=www.warhistoryonline.com|date=June 2016 |publisher=Nikola Budanovic|access-date=8 November 2017|ref=Napalm became a psychological weapon, as the enemy was terrified of the hell on earth caused by its use.}}</ref>


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=== Others ===
In the [[European Theater of Operations]] napalm was used by American forces<ref>''The Zinn reader: writings on disobedience and democracy'' Howard Zinn S.267''ff'' & 276 [http://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC&pg=PA267]</ref> in the [[Allied siege of La Rochelle|siege of La Rochelle]] in April 1945 against German soldiers (and inadvertently French civilians in [[Royan]]) - about two weeks before the end of the war.<ref>[[Howard Zinn]][http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416825 You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train. 2004 Documentary]</ref>
During the [[Greek Civil War]], after the capture of [[Mount Vitsi]] during [[Operation Pyrsos]], the [[Hellenic Air Force]] bombed [[Mount Grammos]]—a stronghold for the opposing [[Democratic Army of Greece]]—with US-supplied napalm.<ref>{{Cite book |last=House |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5lxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70 |title=A Military History of the Cold War, 1944–1962 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8061-4690-4 |page=70 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Featherstone |first1=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCKBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 |title=The Last Ottomans: The Muslim Minority of Greece, 1940–49 |last2=Papadimitriou |first2=Dimitris |last3=Mamarelis |first3=Argyris |last4=Niarchos |first4=Georgios |date=2011 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-0-230-29465-3 |page=211 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref>


The [[French Air Force]] regularly used napalm for close air support of ground operations in both the [[First Indochina War]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fall |first=Bernard B. |author-link=Bernard B. Fall |url=https://archive.org/details/StreetWithoutJoy |title=Street Without Joy |date=1961 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Harrisburg |pages=34–37, 197 |oclc=1020224769 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Grant |first=Rebecca |date=August 2004 |title=Dien Bien Phu |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2004/08/0804_August2004.pdf |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=Air Force Magazine |pages=78–86 |volume=87 |issue=8}}</ref> and the [[Algerian War]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Stora |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Stora |date=October 2007 |title=Avoir 20 ans en Kabylie |trans-title=Being 20 years old in Kabylie |url=https://www.lhistoire.fr/avoir-20-ans-en-kabylie |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=L'Histoire |pages=28–29 |language=fr |issue=324}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Kellou |first=Dorothee M. |title=A Microhistory of the Forced Resettlement of the Algerian Muslim Population During the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962): Mansourah, Kabylia |date=2012-04-18 |access-date=2024-11-27 |degree=MA |publisher=Georgetown University |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/557506/Kellou_georgetown_0076M_11824.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> At first, the canisters were simply pushed out the cargo doors of transport planes, such as the [[Amiot AAC.1]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forsgren |first=Jan |date=2022-02-07 |title=Cold War History: French Ju 52s |url=https://www.key.aero/article/cold-war-history-french-ju-52s |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Key Aero}}</ref> later mostly [[Douglas A-26 Invader|B-26]] bombers were used.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
Napalm B was also used during the [[Greek Civil War]] between the [[Greek Army]] and Communist rebels. During the last year of this Civil War, 1949, the United States increased its military aid to the [[Greek Government]] by introducing a new weapon to finish off the war: napalm B. The first napalm attack in Greece took place on the mountain of [[Grammos]], which was the stronghold of the Communist rebels.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}


Peruvian forces employed napalm throughout the 1960s against both communist insurgents and the [[Matsés]] indigenous group; four prominent Matsés villages were bombed during the [[:es:Masacre_a_comunidades_matsés_de_1964_(Perú)|1964 Matsés massacres]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Colby |first1=Gerard |author-link1=Gerard Colby |url=https://archive.org/details/ConquestOfTheAmazon |title=Thy Will Be Done – The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil |last2=Dennett |first2=Charlotte |date=1995 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=978-0-06-016764-6 |location=New York |page=466, 491-493 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
⚫
[[File:US riverboat using napalm in Vietnam.jpg|thumb|Riverboat of the U.S. [[Brown-water navy]] deploying an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat mounted [[flamethrower]] in Vietnam.]]


From 1968–1978, [[Rhodesia]] produced a variant of napalm for use in the [[Rhodesian Bush War]],<ref name="Fireforce">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Fireforce Exposed: Rhodesian Security Forces and Their Role in Defending White Supremacy |publisher=The Anti-Apartheid Movement |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-900065-04-0 |location=London |pages=39–40}}</ref> nicknamed ''Frantan'' (short for "frangible tank").<ref>{{cite book |last=Petter-Bowyer |first=P.J.H |title=Winds of Destruction: the Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot |publisher=30° South Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9584890-3-4 |edition=2nd |location=Johannesburg}}</ref> Around the same time, its ally [[South Africa]] targeted guerrilla bases in [[Angola]] with napalm during the [[South African Border War]].<ref name="Nortje">{{cite book |last=Nortje |first=Piet |title=32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit |publisher=Zebra Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-86872-914-2 |location=New York |page=158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baines |first=Gary |year=2012 |title=Vietnam Analogies and Metaphors: The Cultural Codification of South Africa's Border War |journal=Safundi |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |pages=73–90 |doi=10.1080/17533171.2011.642591}}</ref>
Napalm B was also widely used by the [[United Nations]] military forces during the [[Korean War]].<ref name="GS Napalm"/> These Allied ground forces in Korea were frequently outnumbered, and often greatly, by their Chinese and North Korean attackers, but the [[U.S. Air Force]] and the [[U.S. Navy]] [[naval aviator]]s had control of the air over nearly all of the [[Korean Peninsula]]. Hence, [[close air support]] of the ground troops along the border between [[North Korea]] and [[South Korea]] was vital, and the American and other U.N. aviators turned to napalm B as an important weapon for defending against communist ground attacks.


In 2018, Turkey was accused of using napalm in [[Operation Olive Branch]] against Kurdish nationalist groups.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dettmer |first=Jamie |date=2018-01-28 |title=Kurds Accuse Turks of Dropping Napalm |url=https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925211954/https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm/ |archive-date=25 September 2020 |access-date=8 August 2020 |website=Voice of America}}</ref>
Napalm B became an intrinsic element of U.S. military action during the Vietnam War; as forces increasingly employed its widespread tactical as well as psychological effects.<ref name=GlobalSecurity>{{cite web|title=Napalm in War|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/napalm-war.htm|work=GlobalSecurity.org|accessdate=8 May 2013}}</ref> Reportedly about 388,000 tons of U.S. napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973, compared to 32,357 tons used over three years in the Korean War, and 16,500 tons dropped on Japan in 1945.<ref name=neer1 />


== Antipersonnel effects ==
The [[U.S. Air Force]] and [[U.S. Navy]] used napalm with great effect against all kinds of targets to include [[troop]]s, [[tank]]s, buildings, jungles, and even [[railroad tunnel]]s. The effect was not always purely physical as napalm had psychological effects on the enemy as well.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}
{{One source|date=November 2024}}


When used as a part of an [[incendiary weapon]], napalm causes severe [[burn]]s. During [[combustion]], napalm [[deoxygenation|deoxygenates]] the available air and generates [[carbon monoxide]] and [[carbon dioxide]], so [[asphyxiation]], unconsciousness, and death are also possible.<ref name="emed" />[[File:The Terror of War.jpg|[[Phan Thi Kim Phuc]], burned with napalm at the age of 9 during the Vietnam War|thumb|right|300px]]Napalm is lethal even for dug-in enemy personnel, as it flows into [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]], tunnels, and [[bunker]]s, and drainage and irrigation ditches and other improvised troop shelters. Even people in undamaged shelters can be killed by [[hyperthermia]], [[radiant heat]], [[dehydration]], [[asphyxia]]tion, smoke exposure, or [[carbon monoxide poisoning]].<ref name="emed">{{Cite web |last=Vearrier |first=David |date=2022-03-02 |editor-last=Dembek |editor-first=Zygmunt F. |title=Napalm Exposure |url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833665-overview |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=eMedicine}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Kayne |first=Seymour M. |url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA057762 |title=Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items |publisher=Picatinny Arsenal |year=1974 |volume=8 |location=Morris County |pages=N2–N3 |chapter=Napalm |lccn=61-61759 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA057762/page/n185 |url-access= |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
Other uses include: by [[France]] during the [[First Indochina War]] (1946–1954), the [[Algerian War of Independence|Algerian War]] (1954–1962),<ref>[[Benjamin Stora]], "Avoir 20 ans en Kabylie", in ''[[L'Histoire]]'' n°324, October 2007, pp. 28–29 {{fr icon}}</ref> the [[Portuguese Colonial War]] (1961–1974), The [[Six-Day War]] by [[Israel]] (1967), in [[Nigeria]] (1969), [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] (1965 and 1971), Turkey during the Battle of Tylliria in Cyprus in 1964 and again during the invasion of [[Cyprus]] (1974), by [[Morocco]] during the [[Western Sahara War]] (1975–1991), [[Iran]] (1980–88), [[Brazil]] (1972), [[Egypt]] (1973), [[Iraq]] (1980–88, 1991), [[Angola]] (1993), [[Yugoslav Wars|Yugoslavia]] (1991-1996), and by [[Argentina]] (1982).<ref name="GS Napalm"/><ref>[http://www.naval-history.net/F48goosegreen.htm Goose Green, 2 Para in Falklands War 1982]. Naval-history.net. Retrieved on 2010-02-11.</ref>


⚫
One firebomb released from a low-flying plane can damage an area of {{convert|2500|sqyd|m2|sp=us|order=flip}}.<ref name="emed"/>
== Effects on people ==
[[File:TrangBang.jpg|thumb|June 8, 1972: [[Phan Thi Kim Phuc]], center left, after being burned in a napalm attack. ([[Nick Ut]] /AP)]]

<blockquote>''"Napalm is the most terrible pain you can imagine," said [[Phan Thị Kim Phúc|Kim Phúc]], a napalm bombing survivor known from a famous Vietnam War photograph. "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius (212°F). Napalm generates temperatures of 800 to 1,200 degrees Celsius (1,500-2,200°F)."''<ref name="UConn">Elizabeth Omara-Otunnu. University of Connecticut Advance. [http://www.advance.uconn.edu/2004/041108/04110803.htm Napalm Survivor Tells of Healing After Vietnam War]. November 8, 2004.</ref></blockquote>

When used as a part of an [[incendiary weapon]], napalm can cause severe [[burn]]s (ranging from [[wiktionary:superficial|superficial]] to [[subdermal]]), [[asphyxiation]], [[unconsciousness]], and death. In this implementation, napalm fires can create an atmosphere of greater than 20% [[carbon monoxide]]<ref name="GS Napalm"/> and [[firestorm]]s with self-perpetuating winds of up to {{convert|70|mph|km/h}}. One of the main anti-personnel features of napalm is that it sticks to human skin, with no practical method for removal of the burning substance. Napalm was used in the 1944–45 incendiary bombing of many Japanese cities that resulted in 330,000 deaths.

Napalm is effective against dug-in enemy personnel. The burning incendiary composition flows into [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]], [[trench]]es and [[bunker]]s, and drainage and irrigation ditches and other improvised troop shelters. Even people in undamaged shelters can be killed by [[hyperthermia]], [[radiant heat]], [[dehydration]], [[suffocation]], smoke exposure, or [[carbon monoxide poisoning]]. The [[firebombing]] [[Strategic bombing during World War II|raids on German cities]], e.g. [[Bombing of Dresden in World War II|Dresden]] and [[Bombing of Hamburg in World War II|Hamburg]], frequently caused death by this mechanism.<ref name="emed">[http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833665-overview CBRNE - Incendiary Agents, Napalm: eMedicine Emergency Medicine]. Emedicine.medscape.com-Retrieved on 2010-02-11</ref>

⚫
One firebomb released from a low-flying plane can damage an area of {{convert|2500|sqyd|sqm}}.<ref name="emed"/>


== International law ==
== International law ==
International law does not specifically prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets, but use against civilian populations was banned under [[Protocol on Incendiary Weapons|Protocol III]] of the United Nations [[Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons]] in 1980, which entered into force as international law in December 1983.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Docherty |first1=Bonnie |last2=Shortell |first2=Erin |last3=Macgale |first3=Jamie |last4=Chugh |first4=Aanchal |last5=Rather |first5=Shaiba |date=2020-11-09 |editor-last=Goose |editor-first=Steve |editor2-last=Wareham |editor2-first=Mary |title=They Burn Through Everything": The Human Cost of Incendiary Weapons and the Limits of International Law |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/11/09/they-burn-through-everything/human-cost-incendiary-weapons-and-limits |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Boddy |first=Alexis |date=2024-10-22 |editor-last=Joseph |editor-first=James |title=The Indiscriminate Danger of White Phosphorus: Exploring Its Use and Legal Status in Modern Warfare |url=https://www.jurist.org/features/2024/10/22/the-indiscriminate-danger-of-white-phosphorus-exploring-its-use-and-legal-status-in-modern-warfare/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Jurist News}}</ref> As of January 2023, 126 countries have ratified Protocol III.<ref name="status">{{cite web |title=Convention On Prohibitions Or Restrictions On The Use Of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious Or To Have Indiscriminate Effects (With Protocols I, II And III) |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20II/Chapter%20XXVI/XXVI-2.en.pdf |accessdate=14 January 2023 |publisher=United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 1342 |page=137}}</ref>
International law does not specifically prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets,<ref name="UConn"/> but use against civilian populations was banned by the [[United Nations]] [[Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons]] (CCW) in 1980.<ref>[http://www.worldinbalance.net/intagreements/1980-certainconventionalweapons.php Text of Convention on CCW at www.worldinbalance.net]</ref> [[Treaty#Protocols|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. The [[United States]] signed it almost three decades after the General Assembly adopted it, on January 21, 2009: President Barack Obama’s first full day in office. America’s ratification, however, is subject to a diplomatic reservation that says it can disregard the treaty at its discretion if doing so would save civilian lives.


== See also ==
== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
{{colbegin|2}}
* [[Early thermal weapons]]
* [[Flame fougasse]]
* [[Flame fougasse]]
* [[Greek fire]], an ancient flamethrowing weapon that may have resembled napalm
*[[German Village (Dugway proving ground)]]
* [[Greek Fire]]
* [[Japanese village]]
* [[M-69 Incendiary cluster bomb]]
* [[M-69 Incendiary cluster bomb]]
* [[Mark 77 bomb]]
* [[Mark 77 bomb]]
* [[Molotov cocktail]]
* [[Phan Thi Kim Phuc|Phan Thị Kim Phúc]]
* [[Triethylaluminium]]
* [[Triethylaluminium]]
* [[White phosphorus]]
* [[White phosphorus munitions]]{{div col end}}
{{colend}}


== Footnotes ==
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Notelist}}


==Further reading==
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

* Brooks E. Kleber and Dale Birdsell, [http://de.scribd.com/doc/48257221/115/The-Incendiary-Bomb-The-Strategic-Weapon ''The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat.''] (1966) Washington, DC: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1990.
* Paul McCue and Max Baker, ''SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France.'' Barnsley, S. Yorks: Pen and Sword Books, 2009.
* Robert M. Neer, ''Napalm: An American Biography.'' Cambridge, MA: Belnap Press, 2013.


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons|Napalm|Napalm}}
{{Commons category|Napalm}}
* {{YouTube|nqEy5NjJOrY|Hawker Tempest WW II testing including Napalm dropping}}
* {{YouTube|nqEy5NjJOrY|Hawker Tempest WW II testing including Napalm dropping}}

{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Incendiary weapons]]
[[Category:Incendiary weapons]]
[[Category:World War II weapons]]
[[Category:World War II weapons]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:Soaps]]
[[Category:Thickening agents]]

Latest revision as of 19:21, 4 January 2025

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 American 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 ranging from 800 to 1,200 °C (1,470 to 2,190 °F).[3][4] 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 by the U.S military in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and various others. Napalm has also fueled most of the flamethrowers (tank-, ship-, and infantry-based) used since World War II, giving them much greater range.

Development

[edit]

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

[edit]

World War II

[edit]
Results of a 9 July 1945 napalm strike by a United States Army Air Force on a Japanese outpost off the coast of the island of Borneo

The first use of napalm in combat was in August 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily, when American troops, using napalm-fueled flamethrowers, burned down a wheat field where German forces were believed to be hiding.[10] Napalm incendiary bombs were first used the following year, although the exact date and battle are disputed.[a]

Two-thirds of napalm bombs produced during WWII were used in the Pacific War. Napalm was often deployed against Japanese fortifications on Saipan, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and Okinawa, where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender.[11] Following a shortage of conventional thermite bombs, General Curtis LeMay, among other high-ranking servicemen, ordered air raids on Japan to start using napalm instead.[14] A 1946 report by the National Defense Research Council claims that 40,000 tons of M69s were dropped on Japan throughout the war,[15][16] damaging 64 cities and causing more deaths than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[17]

German fortifications and transportation hubs were targeted with napalm during both Operation Overlord and the Battle of the Bulge, sometimes in conjunction with artillery.[11] During the Allied siege of La Rochelle, napalm was dropped on the outskirts of the Royan pocket, inadvertently killing French civilians.[18]

The Royal Air Force (RAF) used napalm to a limited extent in both the Pacific War and the European Theater.[19][20]

Korean War

[edit]

Napalm was widely used by the US during the Korean War.[10][21][22] 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.[21] Napalm was used most notably at the beginning of the Battle of Outpost Harry.[23][24]

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.[10] The New York Herald Tribune hailed "Napalm, the No. 1 Weapon in Korea".[22] 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".[10]

Vietnam War

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

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.[9][25] 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.[10] 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 its destructive effects and ability to spread uncontrolled had psychological effects on Vietnamese forces and civilians as well.[26]

Others

[edit]

During the Greek Civil War, after the capture of Mount Vitsi during Operation Pyrsos, the Hellenic Air Force bombed Mount Grammos—a stronghold for the opposing Democratic Army of Greece—with US-supplied napalm.[27][28]

The French Air Force regularly used napalm for close air support of ground operations in both the First Indochina War[29][30] and the Algerian War.[31][32] At first, the canisters were simply pushed out the cargo doors of transport planes, such as the Amiot AAC.1;[33] later mostly B-26 bombers were used.[citation needed]

Peruvian forces employed napalm throughout the 1960s against both communist insurgents and the Matsés indigenous group; four prominent Matsés villages were bombed during the 1964 Matsés massacres.[34]

From 1968–1978, Rhodesia produced a variant of napalm for use in the Rhodesian Bush War,[35] nicknamed Frantan (short for "frangible tank").[36] Around the same time, its ally South Africa targeted guerrilla bases in Angola with napalm during the South African Border War.[37][38]

In 2018, Turkey was accused of using napalm in Operation Olive Branch against Kurdish nationalist groups.[39]

Antipersonnel effects

[edit]

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.[40]

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

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.[40] 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.[41]

One firebomb released from a low-flying plane can damage an area of 2,100 square meters (2,500 sq yd).[40]

International law

[edit]

International law does not specifically prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets, but use against civilian populations was banned under Protocol III of the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1980, which entered into force as international law in December 1983.[9][42][43] As of January 2023, 126 countries have ratified Protocol III.[44]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Claimed dates including a 15 February air raid on Pohnpei,[9][10] a 6 March air raid on Berlin,[11][12] and a 18 July air raid on Tinian.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Oxford Dictionaries – napalm: definition of napalm". Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  2. ^ "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. ^ Szczepanski, Kallie (10 February 2017). "Napalm and Agent Orange in the Vietnam War". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  4. ^ Dolan, Michael J. (September 1953). "Napalm". Military Review. 13 (6): 9–18.
  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 c d Guillaume, Marine (December 2016). "Napalm in US Bombing Doctrine and Practice, 1942-1975" (PDF). The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. 14 (23): 1–15.
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