WI: Bat bomb ready for Doolittle raid?

sorry. wasn't sure on the number of trays.

anyhoo. i thik this would later become just as controversial.

Animal Rights Activist: "there were other options that could have been used to end the war quickly! why did the government decide upon the one that encroached upon the rights of a living creature such as the bat!?"

and, the Japanese have probably never even seen a bat before. let alone one released from a bomb dropped from a plane of your enemy. they'd probably just laugh at it and think nothing more of it. personally, i think each tray of bats should have the timer set for a different time. 26 different times for 40 bats. this could allow for time for some of the bats to rest up and get away from the fast approaching fire that was started by their comrades. more destruction in my opinion.

Bats are all over the world. Plus its not like Japan was some back water shack it was an industrial nation with a good education center, they would see bats and at first would just be curious.

Also animal rights? ANIMAL RIGHTS? You are saying what is considered a fringe politcal stance today is serious? I mean is releasing a bunch of bats and starting fires which people at least can flee from is is a bad from the all so might hindisght glasses as droping atomic bombs? :confused:
 
in that case:
i think you ment 100 hear.
More likely he meant 10 and simply put in one too many 0s. I'm not sure any bomber held 100 large bombs.




Now, as to how we can get the Bat-bomb online sooner, perhaps have a war-scare prompt an earlier weapon R&D budget boost? If the money for new weapons is there earlier, and our important professor gets ahold of some, even the limited budget produced results.
 
i think i read somewhere that the project was practicaly canceled after the weapon prowed so efficient that most of the base was burned to the ground when the bats started going bezerk one night

so it was decided its too dangerous and unstabile for largescale practical
use

but id say the comparison with the manhatan project is a bit off
its not that it couldnt do as much damage to japan as the atom bomb if it was ewer practically used, its just that it was a kind of experimental low cost prototipe weapon as oposed to the atom bomb wich is a huge industrial effort, wich kind of goes in bat bombs favor, but thats not how big sistem logic works aparently

probably the main reason why it was newer realy used was that existant bombing tactics were alredy so efficient they did more damage than both atom bombs and were already routine, with standardised tactical phases, flying formations, and a whole industry behind them, so america didnt really need another weapon, arguably they didnt ewen need the atom bomb, if it werent for the fear of soviet invasion of japan, and thus a need to end the war as soon as possible
 
i think i read somewhere that the project was practicaly canceled after the weapon prowed so efficient that most of the base was burned to the ground when the bats started going bezerk one night
That event may have raised eyebrows, perhaps, but the project was continued until completion.
so it was decided its too dangerous and unstabile for largescale practical
use
Er, no. The final result was that the US military concluded that the bat-bomb was an effective weapon. It just so happened that the bat bomb was made 'obsolete' by the atomic bomb, due to be rolled out in a matter of monthes/weeks.
but id say the comparison with the manhatan project is a bit off
its not that it couldnt do as much damage to japan as the atom bomb if it was ewer practically used, its just that it was a kind of experimental low cost prototipe weapon as oposed to the atom bomb wich is a huge industrial effort, wich kind of goes in bat bombs favor, but thats not how big sistem logic works aparently
Not really. After all, the Little Boy was more or less a experimental high cost prototype weapon. The Bat bomb was a city-attack weapon, but the nukes made more damage in a single weapon. By the time the Bat Bomb was completed, it was obsolete. Why take the manpower to catch those millions of bats and put incendiaries on them, after all, when the nukes are more or less rolling out at a steady pace?

probably the main reason why it was newer realy used was that existant bombing tactics were alredy so efficient they did more damage than both atom bombs
Not really. Atom bomb in one bomb trumps a fleet of firebombers. And a bat bomb is more efficient than a firebomb.

and were already routine, with standardised tactical phases, flying formations,
Formations aren't that big a deal. Just getting the fuel for a thousand bombers, after all, is much, MUCH harder than getting the fuel for ten. Logistically, once you have the bombs the Bat Bomb is much easier to deliver.
 
Bats are common in Asia, they are believed to be a symbol of luck in fact.

i was referring to japan individually.

Bats are all over the world. Plus its not like Japan was some back water shack it was an industrial nation with a good education center, they would see bats and at first would just be curious.

Also animal rights? ANIMAL RIGHTS? You are saying what is considered a fringe politcal stance today is serious? I mean is releasing a bunch of bats and starting fires which people at least can flee from is is a bad from the all so might hindisght glasses as droping atomic bombs? :confused:

lol. "curiosity killed the cat"

and they may be able to run from the fires. but if they can't get put out, then it'll spread. and if it spreads too much, then they'll have to evacuate the islands.

I can't stop chucklikng about that. Yep, Osaka would be the luckiest city in the world if this scenario occured. :D

lol
 
i was referring to japan individually.



lol. "curiosity killed the cat"

and they may be able to run from the fires. but if they can't get put out, then it'll spread. and if it spreads too much, then they'll have to evacuate the islands.



lol

Evacuate the islands? :confused: The Japanese will leave the home islands over fire? I mean man how powerful do you think Napalm is? A bunch of buildings will burn and people will die, but its that the place will be a big blazing inferno for all of the nation.
 
Evacuate the islands? :confused: The Japanese will leave the home islands over fire? I mean man how powerful do you think Napalm is? A bunch of buildings will burn and people will die, but its that the place will be a big blazing inferno for all of the nation.

here's my reasoning.
  1. delayed fuses for the bats. each tray has a different time setting.
  2. each bat bomb is deployed. multiple bat bombs over the major cities...
  3. Osaka, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Matsuyama, Takamatsu, Nagoya, Obihiro, Sapporo, Sendai, and several other cities. Naha on Okinawa too.
  4. the first timed bats would go off. setting many buildings ablaze.
  5. the other bats, if in the vicinity, would flee from the fires. roosting in areas they would deem safe. (city outskirts, etc.)
  6. eventually, the bats would spread throughout the islands, fleeing the burning areas and roosting throughout the rest of the islands. when the final tray of bats were nestled, and their timers went off, much of the islands could possibly be on fire.
  7. with this, the firefighters would be completely unable to contain the fires, much less put them out. the fire could possibly spread and consume all of the areas hit by the bat bombs.
  8. the final outcome would either be the forced evactuation of the Japanese people, forcing a surrender. or the death of all the japanese people who couldn't escape, also forcing a surrender.
how does that sound?
 
A good bit farfetched, considering the bats in the bombs die when the napalm goes off. The "timers" aren't going to allow the kind of fire-waves you imagine. The fires that the bats start, while nasty, are going to be the same kind that napalm bombing gives. And napalm, nasty as it is, doesn't simply burn everything forever. Even if we got a massive wild fire, it would be just that: a wild fire. Massive damage, but no more all-incompassing than, say, the fires started in Vietnam, Korea, or Japan OTL.
 
A good bit farfetched, considering the bats in the bombs die when the napalm goes off. The "timers" aren't going to allow the kind of fire-waves you imagine. The fires that the bats start, while nasty, are going to be the same kind that napalm bombing gives. And napalm, nasty as it is, doesn't simply burn everything forever. Even if we got a massive wild fire, it would be just that: a wild fire. Massive damage, but no more all-incompassing than, say, the fires started in Vietnam, Korea, or Japan OTL.

well... 40 bats per tray, and each tray has a different time set for their bats. the bottom tray being 30 minutes and the top tray being 5 hours.

one the first half hour is up, then the other bats, if they notice, would probably flee from the fires and find safety. it could start fire-waves. i agree its a bit far-fetched, but i think it would work.
 
More likely he meant 10 and simply put in one too many 0s. I'm not sure any bomber held 100 large bombs.

No I meant 100 bombs as that is the claim on wikipedia. Perhaps there was a typo on that site, or perhaps that is indeed correct but it does seem questionable. Whether it's possible to fit that many on the B-24 depends on the size and weight of the bombs. So far I've not been able to find the exact weight of the Bat Bomb.
 
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