Napalm was first used as fuel for
flamethrowers and went on to be used more prevalently in
firebombs.
[1]
In 1942, researchers at Harvard University found that a jelly gasoline-like substance burnt more slowly and thus was far more effective. They found that mixing an aluminum soap powder of naphthalene 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.[
citation needed] Useful weapons continued to be improved, and napalm was no exception. With many more
chemical compounds available after World War II, the safer (in storage) and just-as-effective napalm B compound was developed.
[2]
On July 17, 1944, napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by 14 American
P-38 Lightning aircraft of the
402d Fighter Squadron /
370th Fighter Group on a fuel depot at
Coutances, near
St. Lô,
France.
[7] Further use of napalm by American forces occurred in the Pacific Theater of Operations, where in 1944 - 45, 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
aviators of the
U.S. Navy, the
United States Army Air Forces, and the
U.S. Marine Corps in support of their ground troops.
[8]