Wierd weapons of WWII

scaeagles · 05-23-2006, 08:44 PM

OK - so I'm watching the fascinating special on the history channel called Wierd Weapons of WWII - and while many were strange, this one took the cake.

It was the bat bomb. Developed for use against the Japanese, proven effective, and it actually went into production, but the project was stopped after the successful atomic bomb tests and never used.

The concept was attaching a small incindiary bomb to millions upon millions of bats and releasing them over cities. Japan used primarily wood in their structures, as opposed to the Germans, who used primarily brick and stone.

Millions upon millions of mexican brown bats were captured and tricked into hibernation. A small 1 oz incindiary bomb was surgically attached to each bat. This is how napalm was invented, as the smallest incindiary weapon at the time weighed 2 lbs.

The bombs were designed to carry about 2000 bats each. At 1000 ft elevation, a chute would open as well as vents and the doors to the cages. The bats would wake up and fly off to find shelter. When they flew off, a small wire was pulled starting a 30 minute time delay fuse. If dropped above a city, the bats would take shelter in buildings, and poof! 30 minutes later the entire city was in flames.

It ws so effective they ended up accidentally burning two tests facilities to the ground.

I just thought this was fascinating. I had never heard of it. Some of the other things on this show are a trip as well.

05-23-2006, 08:44 PM	#1
scaeagles I LIKE! Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7,819	Wierd weapons of WWII OK - so I'm watching the fascinating special on the history channel called Wierd Weapons of WWII - and while many were strange, this one took the cake. It was the bat bomb. Developed for use against the Japanese, proven effective, and it actually went into production, but the project was stopped after the successful atomic bomb tests and never used. The concept was attaching a small incindiary bomb to millions upon millions of bats and releasing them over cities. Japan used primarily wood in their structures, as opposed to the Germans, who used primarily brick and stone. Millions upon millions of mexican brown bats were captured and tricked into hibernation. A small 1 oz incindiary bomb was surgically attached to each bat. This is how napalm was invented, as the smallest incindiary weapon at the time weighed 2 lbs. The bombs were designed to carry about 2000 bats each. At 1000 ft elevation, a chute would open as well as vents and the doors to the cages. The bats would wake up and fly off to find shelter. When they flew off, a small wire was pulled starting a 30 minute time delay fuse. If dropped above a city, the bats would take shelter in buildings, and poof! 30 minutes later the entire city was in flames. It ws so effective they ended up accidentally burning two tests facilities to the ground. I just thought this was fascinating. I had never heard of it. Some of the other things on this show are a trip as well.
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