Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical, usually gasoline, created in 1942 by a team led by chemist Louis Fieser for the United States Chemical Warfare Service at Harvard University. It was first used in combat in August 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily in napalm-fueled flamethrowers, and incendiary bombs using it followed in 1944, seeing extensive use against Japanese fortifications in the Pacific War.
Facts
Weapon Class Introduced Year Classification
Service Status Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category)Flamethrower / Incendiary Weapon 1 Connections
Sources
1. Napalm, Wikipedia
Lead, sentence 1
Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline or diesel fuel).
Lead, development sentence
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.
service status
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 as a bloomy fireball of pure gasoline) resulted in widespread adoption in infantry and tank-/boat-mounted flamethrowers as well
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
Used In: First Indochina War, Wikipedia article text
The French Air Force regularly used napalm for close air support of ground operations in both the First Indochina War and the Algerian War.
Used In: Korean War, Wikipedia article text
military has used it for close air support roles in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and various others.
Used In: Vietnam War, Wikipedia article text
military has used it for close air support roles in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and various others.
Used In: World War II, Wikipedia article text
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 as a bloomy fireball of pure gasoline) resulted in
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.