Editing Napalm

{{Short description|Gelled incendiary mixture}}
{{About|flammable liquids used for flame-type weaponry |other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2022}}
[[File:F100 Napalm.gif|thumb|upright=1.35|[[North American F-100 Super Sabre]] dropping napalm in a training exercise]]

'''Napalm''' is an [[Incendiary device|incendiary]] mixture of a [[Thickening agent|gelling agent]] and a volatile petrochemical (usually [[gasoline]] or [[diesel fuel]]). The name is a [[portmanteau]] of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: [[coprecipitated]] [[aluminium]] [[Salt (chemistry)|salt]]s of [[naphthenic acid|''na''phthenic acid]] and [[palmitic acid|''palm''itic acid]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/napalm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826104320/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/napalm|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 August 2013|title=Oxford Dictionaries – napalm: definition of napalm|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=neer1>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/496029a |title=Books in brief. Napalm: An American Biography Robert M. Neer Harvard University Press 352 pp. |journal=Nature |volume=496 |issue=7443 |page=29 |year=2013 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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 the bloomy fireball of pure [[gasoline]]) resulted in widespread adoption in infantry and tank/boat mounted [[flamethrower]]s as well.

Napalm burns at temperatures ranging from {{convert|800|to|1200|C}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Szczepanski |first=Kallie |date=2017-02-10 |title=Napalm and Agent Orange in the Vietnam War |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/napalm-and-agent-orange-in-vietnam-war-195797 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920030323/https://www.thoughtco.com/napalm-and-agent-orange-in-vietnam-war-195797 |archive-date=2017-09-20 |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=ThoughtCo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dolan |first=Michael J. |date=September 1953 |title=Napalm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aJFAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA5-P9 |journal=Military Review |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=9–18}}</ref> It burns longer than gasoline, is more easily dispersed, and adheres to its targets. These traits make it both effective and controversial. It has been widely used from the air and from the ground, the largest use having been via airdropped bombs in [[World War II]] in the [[Air raids on Japan|incendiary attacks on Japanese cities]] in 1945. It was used also for [[close air support]] roles by the U.S military in the [[Korean War]], the [[Vietnam War]], and various others. Napalm has also fueled most of the [[flamethrowers]] (tank-, ship-, and infantry-based) used since World War II, giving them much greater range.

== Development ==
The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="PATRv6">{{cite book |last1=Fedoroff |first1=Basil T. |url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/mode/2up |title=Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items |last2=Sheffield |first2=Oliver E. |publisher=Picatinny Arsenal |year=1974 |volume=6 |location=Morris County |pages=F56–F58 |chapter=Flame Throwers—Liquids and Gels |lccn=61-61759 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/page/n437 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> [[Latex]], used in these early forms of incendiary devices, became scarce, since [[natural rubber]] was almost impossible to obtain after the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese army]] captured the rubber plantations in [[British Malaya|Malaya]], [[Dutch Indies|Indonesia]], [[French Indochina|Vietnam]], and [[Thailand]].

This shortage of natural rubber prompted [[chemist]]s at US companies such as [[DuPont]] and [[Standard Oil of New Jersey]], and researchers at [[Harvard University]], to develop factory-made alternatives: [[Synthetic rubber|artificial rubber]] for all uses, including vehicle tires, tank tracks, gaskets, hoses, medical supplies and rain clothing. A team of chemists led by [[Louis Fieser]] at Harvard University was the first to develop synthetic napalm during 1942.<ref name="UofBristol">{{cite web |year=2001 |title=Napalm |url=http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917002422/https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |archive-date=2003-09-17 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=chm.bris.ac.uk |publisher=University of Bristol}}</ref> "The production of napalm was first entrusted to Nuodex Products, and by the middle of April 1942 they had developed a brown, dry powder that was not sticky by itself, but when mixed with gasoline turned into an extremely sticky and flammable substance." One of Fieser's colleagues suggested adding [[phosphorus]] to the mix which increased the "ability to penetrate deeply [...] into the [[Muscle|musculature]], where it would continue to burn day after day."<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105">{{cite book |last=Lindqvist |first=Sven |author-link=Sven Lindqvist |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbombing0000lind_e5k9 |title=A History of Bombing |publisher=The New Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56584-625-8 |location=New York |page=105 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

On 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the [[Harvard Business School]].<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105"/> Tests under operational conditions were carried out at [[Jefferson Proving Ground]] on condemned farm buildings and subsequently at [[Dugway Proving Ground]] on buildings designed and constructed to represent those to be found in [[German Village (Dugway Proving Ground)|German]] and [[Japanese Village (Dugway Proving Ground)|Japanese towns]].<ref name="Noyes">{{cite book |title=Science in World War II: Chemistry |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1948 |editor-last=Noyes |editor-first=W.A. Jr. |location=Boston |pages=392–393}}</ref> This new mixture of chemicals was first approved for use on the front lines in 1943.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Guillaume |first=Marine |date=December 2016 |title=Napalm in US Bombing Doctrine and Practice, 1942-1975 |url=https://apjjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/article-1253.pdf |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=14 |issue=23 |pages=1–15}}</ref>

<!-- This paragraph involves production, not development; doesn't belong here but don't know where else to move it too...

From 1965 to 1969, the [[Dow Chemical Company]] manufactured napalm for the American armed forces.<ref name=":0" /> After news reports of napalm's deadly and disfiguring effects were published, Dow Chemical experienced [[boycott]]s of its products, and its recruiters for new chemists, [[chemical engineering|chemical engineer]]s, etc., graduating from college were subject to campus boycotts and protests.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://1967.wisc.edu/ |title=A Turning Point |author=University of Wisconsin-Madison |date=2017 |access-date= 26 October 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Worland |first=Gayle |date=8 October 2017 |title=50 years ago, 'Dow Day' left its mark on Madison |url=https://host.madison.com/wsj/article_47f7dc75-e30a-5a16-8cf1-044eebc66f18.html |access-date=26 October 2017 |magazine=Wisconsin State Journal}}</ref> The management of the company decided that its "first obligation was the government".<ref>[http://www2.vcdh.Virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html "Napalm History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134128/http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html |date=2011-10-06 }}  Virginia Center for Digital History</ref> Meanwhile, napalm became a symbol for the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>[http://www2.vcdh.Virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html Napalm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134128/http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html |date=6 October 2011 }}. vcdh.virginia.edu. Retrieved on 11 February 2010.</ref>-->
== Military use ==
=== World War II ===
[[File:Napalm Bombing of Brunei Bay, Borneo.jpg|thumb|Results of a 9 July 1945 napalm strike by a [[United States Army Air Forces|United States Army Air Force]] on a Japanese outpost off the coast of the island of [[Borneo]]]]
The first use of napalm in combat was in August 1943 during the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]], when American troops, using napalm-fueled [[flamethrower]]s, burned down a wheat field where German forces were believed to be hiding.<ref name=":1" /> Napalm incendiary bombs were first used the following year, although the exact date and battle are disputed.{{Efn|Claimed dates including a 15 February air raid on [[Pohnpei]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> a 6 March air raid on Berlin,<ref name="Berlin" /><ref name="bfbs">{{Cite web |date=2021-08-02 |title=What Is Napalm And Is It Still Used In Warfare? |url=https://www.forcesnews.com/technology/weapons-and-kit/what-napalm-and-it-still-used-warfare |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=BFBS Forces News}}</ref> and a 18 July air raid on [[Tinian]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Henry I. Jr. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofusmarin03usma |title=Central Pacific Drive |last2=Nalty |first2=Bernard C. |last3=Turnbladh |first3=Edwin T. |publisher=US Marine Corps |year=1966 |series=[[History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II]] |volume=3 |location=Washington D.C. |oclc=927428034 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>}}

Two-thirds of napalm bombs produced during WWII were used in the [[Pacific War]]. Napalm was often deployed against Japanese fortifications on [[Saipan]], [[Iwo Jima]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], where deeply dug-in Japanese troops refused to surrender.<ref name="Berlin">{{Cite book |last1=Kebler |first1=Brooks E. |url=https://archive.org/details/chemicalwarfares00kleb |title=The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat |last2=Birdsell |first2=Dale |publisher=United States Army |year=1966 |editor-last=Conn |editor-first=Stetson |location=Washington D.C. |pages=159-163, 630-635 |lccn=66-60001 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Following a shortage of conventional [[thermite]] bombs, General [[Curtis LeMay]], among other high-ranking servicemen, ordered [[air raids on Japan]] to start using napalm instead.<ref>
{{Cite book |last=De Chant |first=John A. |title=Devilbirds: The Story of United States Marine Corps Aviation in World War II |publisher=Harper & Brothers Publishers |year=1947 |location=New York |page=155 |oclc=698844424}}</ref> A 1946 report by the National Defense Research Council claims that 40,000 tons of [[M69 incendiary|M69]]s were dropped on Japan throughout the war,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=E.E. |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0221598.pdf |title=Fire Warfare, Incendiaries and Flame Throwers |last2=Bogrow |first2=Alexander |last3=Engisch |first3=G.W. |last4=Haworth |first4=M.D. |last5=Hulse |first5=S.M. |last6=Keevil |first6=C.S. |last7=Knox |first7=W.T. |last8=McMillen |first8=E.L. |last9=Messing |first9=R.F. |publisher=National Defense Research Council |year=1946 |editor-last=Ewell |editor-first=Raymond H. |location=Washington D.C. |editor-last2=Newhall |editor-first2=Robert M. |last10=Mysels |first10=K.H. |last11=Reed |first11=C.E. |last12=Stanbury |first12=G.R.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Wellerstein |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Wellerstein |date=August 30, 2013 |title=Who Made That Firebomb? |url=http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/30/who-made-that-firebomb |access-date=September 12, 2020 |website=RESTRICTED DATA: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog}}</ref> damaging 64 cities and causing more deaths than the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doan-Nguyen |first=Ryan H. |date=2023-02-16 |title=Napalm, Birthed in Harvard's Basement |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/2/16/napalm-scrut/ |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref>

German fortifications and transportation hubs were targeted with napalm during both [[Operation Overlord]] and the [[Battle of the Bulge]], sometimes in conjunction with artillery.<ref name="Berlin" /> During the [[Allied siege of La Rochelle]], napalm was dropped on the outskirts of the [[Royan pocket]], inadvertently killing French civilians.<ref>{{cite book |author=Zinn |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Zinn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC |title=The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy |publisher=Seven Stories Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-888363-54-8 |location=New York |pages=267–281 |chapter=The Bombing of Royan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGLkwCNI7sIC&pg=PA267 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) used napalm to a limited extent in both the Pacific War and the European Theater.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McCue |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul McCue |title=SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France, 1944 |last2=Baker |first2=Max |publisher=Pen and Sword Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-1-4738-1795-1 |location=Barnsley |pages=104}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McKinstry |first=Leo |author-link=Leo McKinstry |url=https://archive.org/details/hurricanevictoro0000mcki/mode/2up |title=Hurricane: Victor of the Battle of Britain |date=2011 |publisher=John Murray |isbn=978-1-84854-341-6 |location=London |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
=== Korean War ===
Napalm was widely used by the US during the [[Korean War]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Harden |first=Blaine |date=2017-10-02 |title=How One Man Helped Burn Down North Korea |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/02/donald-nichols-book-north-korea-215665/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=POLITICO Magazine}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The ground forces in [[North Korea]] holding defensive positions were often outnumbered by Chinese and North Koreans, but US [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] and [[United States Navy|Navy]] [[naval aviator|aviator]]s had control of the air over nearly all of the [[Korean Peninsula]]. Hence, the American and other UN aviators used napalm for [[close air support]] of the ground troops.<ref name=":2" /> Napalm was used most notably at the beginning of the [[Outpost Harry|Battle of Outpost Harry]].<ref>{{Cite interview |last=Burkhalter |first=Thomas H. |interviewer=Mark Van Ells |title=Transcript of an Oral History Interview with THOMAS H. BURKHALTER |url=https://wisvetsmuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BurkhalterThomas-_OH509.pdf |access-date=2024-11-26 |publisher=[[Wisconsin Veterans Museum]] |date=1996-02-22 |quote=Outpost Harry we got air support, a mixed blessing... God, they’d drop napalm from enormous heights over there.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Elphick |first=James |date=2019-01-28 |title=How the soldiers of Outpost Harry decimated an entire Chinese Division |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/how-the-soldiers-of-outpost-harry-decimated-an-entire-chinese-division/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=We Are The Mighty}}</ref>

Eighth Army chemical officer Donald Bode reported that, on an "average good day", UN pilots used {{Convert|70000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (70,000 US gal; {{Convert|70000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of napalm, with approximately {{Convert|60000|USgal|l|abbr=off|sp=us|disp=output only}} (60,000 US gal; {{Convert|60000|USgal|impgal|disp=output only}}) of this thrown by US forces.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Neer |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/napalmamericanbi0000neer/mode/2up |title=Napalm: An American Biography |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-07301-2 |location=Cambridge |pages= |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' hailed "Napalm, the No. 1 Weapon in Korea".<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Pembroke |first=Michael |title=Korea: Where the American Century Began |publisher=Hardie Grant Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78607-473-7 |location=San Francisco |page=152}}</ref> [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Winston Churchill]] privately criticized the use of napalm in Korea, writing that it was "very cruel", as US/UN forces, he wrote, were "splashing it all over the civilian population", "tortur[ing] great masses of people". He conveyed these sentiments to U.S. [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]] [[Omar Bradley]], who "never published the statement". Publicly, Churchill allowed Bradley "to issue a statement that confirmed U.K. support for U.S. napalm attacks".<ref name=":1" />
=== Vietnam War ===
[[File:US riverboat using napalm in Vietnam.jpg|thumb|A [[Monitor (Vietnam War)#Zippo Monitor|"Zippo"]] riverboat of the US [[Brown-water navy]] firing an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat-mounted [[flamethrower]] in Vietnam]]
{{Expand section|date=November 2024}}
Napalm became an intrinsic element of US military action during the [[Vietnam War]] as forces made increasing use of it for its tactical and psychological effects.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thevietnamwar.info/napalm-vietnam-war/|title=Napalm in Vietnam War|last=Rohn|first=Alan|website=The Vietnam War|date=18 January 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref> Reportedly about {{Convert|388000|ST|t|abbr=off|disp=output only}} (388,000 short tons; {{Convert|388000|ST|LT|disp=output only}}) of US napalm bombs were dropped in the region between 1963 and 1973.<ref name=":1" /> The US Air Force and US Navy used napalm with great effect against all kinds of targets, such as troops, tanks, buildings, jungles, and even [[railroad tunnel]]s. The effect was not always purely physical as its destructive effects and ability to spread uncontrolled had psychological effects on Vietnamese forces and civilians as well.<ref>{{cite web|title=Liquid Fire – How Napalm Was Used in the Vietnam War|url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/vietnam-war/history-napalm-vietnam-war.html/2|website=www.warhistoryonline.com|date=June 2016 |publisher=Nikola Budanovic|access-date=8 November 2017|ref=Napalm became a psychological weapon, as the enemy was terrified of the hell on earth caused by its use.}}</ref> 

=== Others ===
During the [[Greek Civil War]], after the capture of [[Mount Vitsi]] during [[Operation Pyrsos]], the [[Hellenic Air Force]] bombed [[Mount Grammos]]—a stronghold for the opposing [[Democratic Army of Greece]]—with US-supplied napalm.<ref>{{Cite book |last=House |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5lxAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70 |title=A Military History of the Cold War, 1944–1962 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8061-4690-4 |page=70 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Featherstone |first1=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCKBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 |title=The Last Ottomans: The Muslim Minority of Greece, 1940–49 |last2=Papadimitriou |first2=Dimitris |last3=Mamarelis |first3=Argyris |last4=Niarchos |first4=Georgios |date=2011 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-0-230-29465-3 |page=211 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The [[French Air Force]] regularly used napalm for close air support of ground operations in both the [[First Indochina War]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fall |first=Bernard B. |author-link=Bernard B. Fall |url=https://archive.org/details/StreetWithoutJoy |title=Street Without Joy |date=1961 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Harrisburg |pages=34–37, 197 |oclc=1020224769 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Grant |first=Rebecca |date=August 2004 |title=Dien Bien Phu |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/app/uploads/2004/08/0804_August2004.pdf |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=Air Force Magazine |pages=78–86 |volume=87 |issue=8}}</ref> and the [[Algerian War]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Stora |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Stora |date=October 2007 |title=Avoir 20 ans en Kabylie |trans-title=Being 20 years old in Kabylie |url=https://www.lhistoire.fr/avoir-20-ans-en-kabylie |access-date=2024-11-27 |magazine=L'Histoire |pages=28–29 |language=fr |issue=324}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Kellou |first=Dorothee M. |title=A Microhistory of the Forced Resettlement of the Algerian Muslim Population During the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962): Mansourah, Kabylia |date=2012-04-18 |access-date=2024-11-27 |degree=MA |publisher=Georgetown University |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/557506/Kellou_georgetown_0076M_11824.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> At first, the canisters were simply pushed out the cargo doors of transport planes, such as the [[Amiot AAC.1]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forsgren |first=Jan |date=2022-02-07 |title=Cold War History: French Ju 52s |url=https://www.key.aero/article/cold-war-history-french-ju-52s |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Key Aero}}</ref> later mostly [[Douglas A-26 Invader|B-26]] bombers were used.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Peruvian forces employed napalm throughout the 1960s against both communist insurgents and the [[Matsés]] indigenous group; four prominent Matsés villages were bombed during the [[:es:Masacre_a_comunidades_matsés_de_1964_(Perú)|1964 Matsés massacres]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Colby |first1=Gerard |author-link1=Gerard Colby |url=https://archive.org/details/ConquestOfTheAmazon |title=Thy Will Be Done – The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil |last2=Dennett |first2=Charlotte |date=1995 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=978-0-06-016764-6 |location=New York |page=466, 491-493 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

From 1968–1978, [[Rhodesia]] produced a variant of napalm for use in the [[Rhodesian Bush War]],<ref name="Fireforce">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Fireforce Exposed: Rhodesian Security Forces and Their Role in Defending White Supremacy |publisher=The Anti-Apartheid Movement |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-900065-04-0 |location=London |pages=39–40}}</ref> nicknamed ''Frantan'' (short for "frangible tank").<ref>{{cite book |last=Petter-Bowyer |first=P.J.H |title=Winds of Destruction: the Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot |publisher=30° South Publishers |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-9584890-3-4 |edition=2nd |location=Johannesburg}}</ref> Around the same time, its ally [[South Africa]] targeted guerrilla bases in [[Angola]] with napalm during the [[South African Border War]].<ref name="Nortje">{{cite book |last=Nortje |first=Piet |title=32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit |publisher=Zebra Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-86872-914-2 |location=New York |page=158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baines |first=Gary |year=2012 |title=Vietnam Analogies and Metaphors: The Cultural Codification of South Africa's Border War |journal=Safundi |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |pages=73–90 |doi=10.1080/17533171.2011.642591}}</ref>

In 2018, Turkey was accused of using napalm in [[Operation Olive Branch]] against Kurdish nationalist groups.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dettmer |first=Jamie |date=2018-01-28 |title=Kurds Accuse Turks of Dropping Napalm |url=https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925211954/https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/kurds-accuse-turks-dropping-napalm/ |archive-date=25 September 2020 |access-date=8 August 2020 |website=Voice of America}}</ref>

== Antipersonnel effects ==
[[File:The Terror of War.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Phan Thi Kim Phuc]], burned with napalm at the age of 9 during the Vietnam War (1973).]]

When used as a part of an [[incendiary weapon]], napalm causes severe [[burn]]s. During [[combustion]], napalm [[Deoxygenation|deoxygenates]] the available air and generates [[carbon monoxide]] and [[carbon dioxide]], so [[asphyxiation]], [[Unconsciousness|loss of consciousness]], and [[death]] are also possible.<ref name="emed"/> One napalm firebomb released from a low-flying plane can damage an area of {{convert|2500|sqyd|m2|sp=us|order=flip}}.<ref name="emed"/> Napalm is lethal even for dug-in enemy personnel, as it flows into [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]], tunnels, and [[bunker]]s, and drainage and irrigation ditches and other improvised troop shelters. Even people in undamaged shelters can be killed by [[hyperthermia]], [[radiant heat]], [[dehydration]], [[asphyxiation]], [[Carbon monoxide#Health effects|smoke exposure]], or [[carbon monoxide poisoning]].<ref name="emed">{{Cite web |last=Vearrier |first=David |date=2022-03-02 |editor-last=Dembek |editor-first=Zygmunt F. |title=Napalm Exposure |url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833665-overview |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=eMedicine}}</ref> Crews of [[armored fighting vehicles]] are also vulnerable, due to the intense heat conducted through the armor. Even in the case of a near miss, the heat can be enough to disable a vehicle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kayne |first=Seymour M. |chapter=Napalm |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA057762/page/n185 |title=Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items |publisher=[[Picatinny Arsenal]] |year=1974 |volume=8 |location=[[Morris County, New Jersey]] |pages=N2–N3 |lccn=61-61759 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

== International law ==
International law does not specifically prohibit the use of napalm or other incendiaries against military targets, but use against civilian populations was banned under [[Protocol on Incendiary Weapons|Protocol III]] of the United Nations [[Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons]] in 1980, which entered into force as international law in December 1983.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Docherty |first1=Bonnie |last2=Shortell |first2=Erin |last3=Macgale |first3=Jamie |last4=Chugh |first4=Aanchal |last5=Rather |first5=Shaiba |date=2020-11-09 |editor-last=Goose |editor-first=Steve |editor2-last=Wareham |editor2-first=Mary |title=They Burn Through Everything": The Human Cost of Incendiary Weapons and the Limits of International Law |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/11/09/they-burn-through-everything/human-cost-incendiary-weapons-and-limits |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Boddy |first=Alexis |date=2024-10-22 |editor-last=Joseph |editor-first=James |title=The Indiscriminate Danger of White Phosphorus: Exploring Its Use and Legal Status in Modern Warfare |url=https://www.jurist.org/features/2024/10/22/the-indiscriminate-danger-of-white-phosphorus-exploring-its-use-and-legal-status-in-modern-warfare/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Jurist News}}</ref> As of January 2023, 126 countries have ratified Protocol III.<ref name="status">{{cite web |title=Convention On Prohibitions Or Restrictions On The Use Of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious Or To Have Indiscriminate Effects (With Protocols I, II And III) |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20II/Chapter%20XXVI/XXVI-2.en.pdf |accessdate=14 January 2023 |publisher=United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 1342 |page=137}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Flame fougasse}}
* {{annotated link|Greek fire}}
* {{annotated link|M69 incendiary}}
* {{annotated link|Mark 77 bomb}}
* {{annotated link|Molotov cocktail}}
* {{annotated link|Napalm Sticks to Kids|quote=yes}}
* {{annotated link|Triethylaluminium}}
* {{annotated link|White phosphorus munition}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons category|Napalm}}
* {{YouTube|nqEy5NjJOrY|Hawker Tempest WW II testing including Napalm dropping}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Incendiary weapons]]
[[Category:World War II weapons]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:Soaps]]
[[Category:Thickening agents]]