Napalm (naphthenic and palmitic acids) is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in military operations. The term napalm is a combination of the names of its derivatives (coprecipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids).[1] Colloquially, napalm is used as a generic reference to several flammable liquids used in warfare, often jellied gasoline.[2] "Napalm B" is the modern variant of napalm and, although chemically different, is often referred to simply as napalm.[2]
Napalm B is not actually napalm but is a mixture of polystyrene and benzene and is used as a thickening agent to gel the gasoline. Napalm B has a huge advantage over the original napalm its ignition can be well controlled. This was a great advantage to soldiers using it, as there were many accidents with soldiers smoking around napalm, often resulting in fratricide.[3] There are a number of other forms of napalm B. One of these types of napalm is Fallbrook napalm. It is a mixture of 46 parts polystyrene, 33 parts gasoline and 21 parts benzene.
The agent was made famous in the Iggy and the Stooges song, "Search and Destroy".
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Usage of fire in warfare has a long history; thickened burning compositions proved their advantages. The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the Allied forces in World War II.[2] The latex used in these early forms of incendiary warfare became logistically difficult to use in the Pacific theatre as natural rubber was in short supply; which prompted the researchers of chemical companies Du Pont and Standard Oil, as well as researchers at Harvard University, to engage in a government competition to develop a superior alternative. A team of chemists lead by Louis Fieser at Harvard were the first to develop napalm in 1942 for the U.S. Army.[1]
Between 1965–1969, Dow Chemical Company manufactured napalm for the US government. After news reports of the weapon's effects the company experienced boycotts of its products and its recruiters faced virulent protests on college campuses. The company however decided that "its first obligation was the government". Meanwhile, napalm became a symbol of the Vietnam War.[4]
Napalm is composed of a mixture of salts of aluminum, naphthenic acids (produced from crude oil) and palmitic acids (found in palm oil or coconut oil) which create an "aluminum soap".[1] When this "soap" is mixed with gasoline, aviation gasoline, JP-4, or JP-5,[5] it produces a syrupy brown incendiary substance.[2] The viscosity of the mixture can be adjusted by fuel/thickener ratio; flamethrowers require composition with lower viscosity while firebombs require thicker formulation. Thickened gasoline is less flammable, burns slower and at higher temperature and sticks to the target, allowing longer effect and therefore higher chance of ignition or thermal damage. The slower burn rate also means lower consumption of burning fuel en route to the target.
In the early 1950s, Norway developed its own napalm, based on fatty acids in whale oil. The reason for this development was that the American-produced thickening agent performed rather poorly in the cold Norwegian climate. The product was known as Northick II.[6]
Modern napalm is composed primarily of benzene and polystyrene, and is known as napalm-B,[2] super-napalm, NP2, or also Incendergel. The commonly quoted composition is 21% benzene, 33% gasoline (itself containing about 1–4% benzene to raise its octane number), and 46% polystyrene. The mixture is difficult to ignite; a reliable pyrotechnic initiator, often based on thermite (for traditional napalm) or white phosphorus (for newer compositions), has to be used.[5][7]
Original napalm burns 15–30 seconds, napalm-B can burn for up to 10 minutes.[7]
Napalm 877 was used in flamethrowers and bombs by the US and Allied forces, to increase effectiveness of flammable liquids. The substance is formulated to burn at a specific rate and adhere to surfaces. Napalm is mixed with gasoline in various proportions to achieve this. Another useful (and dangerous) effect, primarily involving its use in bombs, was that napalm "rapidly deoxygenates the available air" and creates large amounts of carbon monoxide causing suffocation. Napalm bombs were notably used in the Vietnam War.[2] Lesser known is the first defensive use of napalm during the Korean War at Outpost Harry on the night of June 10–11, 1953.
Alternative compositions exist for different uses, e.g. thickened pyrophoric agent based on triethylaluminium that ignites itself when exposed on air.
When used as a part of an incendiary weapon, napalm can cause severe burns (ranging from superficial to subdermal) to the skin and body, asphyxiation, unconsciousness, and death. In this implementation, explosions can create an atmosphere of greater than 20% carbon monoxide[2] and firestorms with self-perpetuating windstorms of up to 70 mph.[8]
One of the main features of napalm is that it sticks well to the naked skin, and hence it leaves no real chance for removing the burning napalm from the skin of the victim. The song Napalm Sticks to Kids remind us, that there were civil and even very young victims suffering from this feature of napalm.
Napalm is suitable for use against dug-in enemy personnel. The burning incendiary composition flows into foxholes, trenches and bunkers, and drainage and irrigation ditches and other improvised troop shelters. People even in undamaged shelters can be killed by hyperthermia/heat stroke, radiant heat, dehydration, suffocation, smoke exposition, or carbon monoxide poisoning. The firebombing raids on German cities, e.g. Hamburg, frequently caused death by this mechanism; the resulting deformation to the baked corpses was referred to as Bombenbrandschrumpfleichen (incendiary-bomb-shrunken bodies).[7]
One firebomb released from a low-lying plane can damage area of 2500 sq.yards.
Napalm was first used as fuel for flamethrowers and went on to be used more prevalently in firebombs.[2]
In 1942 after research at Harvard University scientist found that a jelly gasoline like substance burnt slower and thus was far more effective. They found that mixing an aluminum soap powder of naphthene and palmitate (hence na-palm), also known as napthenic and palmitic acids, with gasoline produced a brownish sticky syrup that burned more slowly than raw gasoline. This new mixture of chemicals was widely used in the Second World War in flame throwers and fire bombs. Napalm bombs burned out 40% of the area of Japanese target cities in the World War. Popular weapons continue to be developed, and napalm was no exception. With many more compounds available after World War II, a safer and just as effective napalm compound was developed.[9]
On July 17, 1944, napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by 14 American P-38 Lightning aircraft of the 402nd Fighter Squadron / 370th Fighter Group on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France.[10] Further use by the Allied forces occurred in the Pacific theater (warfare) against Japanese cities.[11] In the Western theatre, the Royal Air Force and US Army Air Forces dropped several hundred thousand firebombs on the city of Dresden, destroying over 90% of the city center.[12] Napalm was used in the siege of La Rochelle in April 1945 against German soldiers (and inadvertently French civilians) - about two weeks before the end of the war.[13]
Napalm was also used in the Greek civil war Between the Greek govermental army and US against the communist rebels. At the last year of the civil war US increased their aid by suggesting a new weapon to finish the war. It was in 1949 when the first napalm test took place in the mountain Grammos, which was the communist stronghold.
Napalm was also used by US forces in the Korean War.[2]
The US Air Force and US Navy used napalm with great effect against all kinds of targets to include troops, tanks, buildings and even railroad tunnels. The demoralizing effect napalm had on the enemy became apparent when scores of Vietnamese troops began to surrender to aircraft flying overhead. Pilots noted that they saw surviving enemy troops waving white flags on subsequent passes after dropping napalm. The pilots radioed to ground troops and the enemy combatants were captured.[14]
More recent uses include: by France during the First Indochina War (1946–1954) and the Algerian War (1954–1962),[15] in Nigeria (1969), India & Pakistan (1965 & 1971), Turkey used napalm bombs to depopulate entire towns and villages in Cyprus (1964, 1974) villages where the Turkish minority lived where spared, by Morocco during the Western Sahara War (1973–1991), Iran (1980–88), Israel (1967, 1982), Brazil (1972), Egypt (1973), Iraq (1980–88, 1991, 2003–present), 1993 Angola, by Argentina during the Falklands War.[5][16]
"Napalm is the most terrible pain you can imagine," said Kim Phúc, a napalm bombing survivor known from a famous Vietnam War photograph. "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. Napalm generates temperatures of 800 to 1,200 degrees Celsius."[17]
Phúc sustained third-degree burns to half her body and was not expected to live after the attack by South Vietnamese aircraft. But thanks to assistance from South Vietnamese photographer Nick Ut and American doctors she survived a 14-month hospital stay and 17 operations. Subsequently, after the Communist take-over she was used as a propaganda tool by the Vietnamese Government.[18]
Home-made napalm was used by peace activists to destroy draft records (see Catonsville Nine).
International law does not prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets,[17] but use against civilian populations was banned by the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in 1980.[citation needed] Protocol III of the CCW restricts the use of all incendiary weapons, but a number of states have not acceded to all of the protocols of the CCW.[citation needed] According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), states are considered a party to the convention, which entered into force as international law in December 1983, if they ratify at least two of the five protocols. The United States, for example, is a party to the CCW but did not sign protocol III.[19]
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Napalm is the name for a number of flammable liquids that have been used in warfare. Often it is jellied gasoline. Napalm is actually the thickener in such liquids. When it is mixed with gasoline, the thickener makes a sticky incendiary gel. It was developed by the U.S. in World War II by a team of Harvard chemists. The team leader was Louis Fieser. The name Napalm has comes from the ingredients that were first used to make it. Coprecipitated aluminum salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids. These were added to the flammable substance to cause it to gel.[1]
One of the major problems of early incendiary fluids (such as those used in flamethrowers) was that they splashed and drained too easily. The U.S. found that flamethrowers that use a gasoline gel are able to shoot farther and are more useful. Gasoline gel was difficult to manufacture because it used natural rubber, which was in high demand and expensive. Napalm provided a far cheaper alternative. It solved the problems involved with rubber-based incendiaries.[1]
Nowadays, napalm is mostly made of benzene and polystyrene, and is known as napalm-B.[1]
Napalm was used in flamethrowers and bombs by the U.S. and Allied forces, to increase the usefulness of flammable liquids. Napalm is made to burn at a specific rate and stick to materials. This is done by mixing different of amounts of Napalm and other materials. Another useful (and dangerous) effect, primarily involving its use in bombs, was that napalm "rapidly deoxygenates the available air" . It also creates large amounts of carbon monoxide causing suffocation. Napalm bombs were also used in the Vietnam War to clear landing zones for helicopters.[1]
Though napalm was a 20th century invention, it is part of a long history of incendiary materials in warfare. However, historically, it was primarily liquids that were used (see Greek fire). An infantry-based flammable liquid fuel weapon, the flamethrower, was introduced in World War I by the Germans, variations of which were soon developed by other sides in the conflict.[1]
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[[File:|thumb|right|250px|Riverboat of the U.S. Brownwater Navy shooting a burning mix of napalm from a riverboat's flamethrower in Vietnam]]
On July 17, 1944, napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France.[2] Napalm bombs were first used in the Pacific Theatre during the Battle of Tinian by Marine aviator. Its use was complicated because of problems with mixing, fusing and the release mechanisms.[3] In World War II, Allied Forces bombed cities in Japan with napalm, and used it in bombs and flamethrowers in Germany and the Japanese-held islands. It was used by the Greek army against communist guerrilla fighters during the Greek Civil War, by United Nations forces in Korea, by Mexico in the late 1960s against guerrilla fighters in Guerrero and by the United States during the Vietnam War.
The most well-known method of delivering napalm is from air-dropped incendiary bombs. A lesser-known method is the flame throwers used by combat infantry. Flame throwers use a thinner version of the same jellied gasoline to destroy gun emplacements, bunkers and cave hideouts. U.S. Marines fighting on Guadalcanal found them very effective against Japanese positions. The Marines used fire as both a casualty weapon as well as a psychological weapon. Men have a natural fear of fire. They found that Japanese soldiers would abandon positions in which they fought to the death against other weapons. Prisoners of war confirmed that they feared napalm more than any other weapon thrown at them.
Napalm became one of the preferred weapons of the Korean War. Pilots returning from the war zone often remarked they would rather have a couple of gasoline tanks full of napalm to drop than any other weapon, bombs, rockets or guns. The U.S. Air Force and Navy used napalm with great effect against all manner of targets to include troops, tanks, buildings and even rail road tunnels. The demoralizing effect napalm had on the enemy became apparent when scores of North Korean troops began to surrender to aircraft flying overhead. Pilots noted that they saw surviving enemy troops waving white flags on subsequent passes after dropping napalm. The pilots radioed to ground troops and the North Koreans were captured. [4]
Napalm has been used recently in wartime by or against: Iran (1980–88), Israel (1967, 1982), Nigeria (1969), Brazil (1972), Egypt (1973), Cyprus (1964, 1974), Argentina (1982), Iraq (1980–88, 1991, 2003 - ?), Serbia (1994), Turkey (1963, 1974, 1997), Angola, United States.
In some cases, napalm disables and kills its victims very quickly. Those who do survive suffer up to 5th degree burns. These damage parts of the skin which does not have pain receptors. However, victims who suffer 2nd degree burns from splashed napalm will be in significant amounts of pain.[1]
Philip Jones Griffiths describes its use in Vietnam:
| “ | NAPALM. The most effective "anti-personnel" weapon, it is euphemistically described as "unfamiliar cooking fluid" by those apologists for American military methods. They automatically attribute all napalm cases to domestic accidents caused by the people using gasoline instead of kerosene in their cooking stoves. Kerosene is far too expensive for the peasants, who normally use charcoal for cooking. The only "cooking fluid" they know is very "unfamiliar" – it is delivered through their roofs by U.S. planes.
Some of its finer selling points were explained to me by a pilot in 1966: "We sure are pleased with those backroom boys at Dow. The original product wasn’t so hot – if the gooks were quick they could scrape it off. So the boys started adding polystyrene – now it sticks like shit to a blanket. But then if the gooks jumped under water it stopped burning, so they started adding Willie Peter (WP – white phosphorus) so’s to make it burn better. It’ll even burn under water now. And just one drop is enough, it’ll keep on burning right down to the bone so they die anyway from phosphorous poisoning."[5] | ” |
"Napalm is the most terrible pain you can imagine," said Kim Phuc, a napalm bombing survivor known from a famous Vietnam War photograph. "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. Napalm generates temperatures of 800 to 1,200 degrees Celsius."[6]
Phuc had third-degree burns to half her body and was not expected to live. But thanks to assistance from South Vietnamese photographer Nick Ut, and after surviving a 14-month hospital stay and 17 operations, she became an outspoken peace activist.
International law does not prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets,[6] but use against civilian populations was banned by the United Nations' inhumane weapons convention (often referred to as the CCW) in 1981 Protocol III of the CCW restricts the use of incendiary weapons (not only napalm), but a number of states have not acceded to all of the protocols of the CCW. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), states are considered a party to the convention, which entered into force as international law in December 1983, if they ratify at least two of the five protocols. The United States, for example, is a party to the CCW but did not sign protocol III.[7]
Reports by the Sydney Morning Herald suggested that napalm has been used in the Iraq War by US forces.[8] The U.S. Department of Defense denied this. In August 2003, the San Diego Union Tribune said that U.S. Marine pilots and their commanders confirmed the use of Mark 77 firebombs on Iraqi Republican Guards during the start of combat. Official denials of the use of 'napalm' were, however, disingenuous, as the Mk 77 bomb that is currently in service at this time, the Mk 77 Mod 5, does not use actual napalm (e.g. napalm-B). The last U.S. bomb to use actual napalm was the Mark 77 Mod 4, the last of which were destroyed in March 2001.[9] The substance used now is a different incendiary mixture. It is sufficiently analogous in its effects that it is still a controversial incendiary, and can still be referred to colloquially as 'napalm.'
"We napalmed both those (bridge) approaches," said Col. Randolph Alles in a recent interview. "Unfortunately, there were people there because you could see them in the (cockpit) video." (...) "They were Iraqi soldiers there. It's no great way to die," he added. (...) The generals love napalm. ... It has a big psychological effect." - San Diego Union-Tribune, August 2003[10]
These bombs did not actually have napalm in them. The napalm-B (super napalm) used in Vietnam was gasoline based. The Mk-77 firebombs used in the Gulf were kerosene based. It is, however, a napalm-like liquid in its effect.[1]
Recipes how to make napalm-like substances can be found on the Internet. Very often, the recipes say that they will make a thick substance using gasoline, with soap or polystyrene as a thickening agent. However, inexperienced people following these instructions often handle the substance improperly and cause accidents. In addition, making incendiary devices is illegal in many countries.
Napalm is usually a mixture of gasoline with suitable thickening agents. The earliest thickeners were soaps, aluminum, and magnesium palmitates and stearates. Depending on how much thickener is added, the resulting viscosity may range between syrupy liquid and thick rubbery gel. The content of long hydrocarbon chains makes the material highly hydrophobic (resistant to wetting with water), making it more difficult to extinguish. Thickened fuel also rebounds better from surfaces, making it more useful for operations in urban terrain.
There are two types of napalm: oil-based with aluminium soap thickener, and oil-based with polymeric thickener ("napalm-B").
The United States military uses three kinds of thickeners: M1, M2, and M4.
A later variant, napalm-B, also called "super napalm", is a mixture of low-octane gasoline with benzene and polystyrene. It was used in the Vietnam War. Unlike conventional napalm, which burns for only 15–30 seconds, napalm B burns for up to 10 minutes with fewer fireballs. It also sticks better to surfaces, and offers improved destruction effects. It is not as easy to ignite. This reduces the number of accidents caused by soldiers smoking. When it burns, it develops a characteristic smell.
Starting in the early 1990s, various websites including The Anarchist Cookbook advertised recipes for homemade napalm. These recipes were predominantly equal parts gasoline and styrofoam. This mixture closely resembles that of napalm-B, but lacks a percentage of benzene.
Napalm reaches burning temperatures of approximately 1,200 °C (2,200 °F). Other additives can be added, eg. powdered aluminium or magnesium, or white phosphorus.
In the early 1950s, Norway developed its own napalm, based on fatty acids in whale oil. The reason for this development was that the American-produced thickening agent performed rather poorly in the cold Norwegian climate. The product was known as Northick II.[11]
Napalm itself became well-known by the American public after its use in the Vietnam war. Since then, it has been mentioned in the media and arts multiple times. This summary is not meant to be all inclusive.
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