AN-M76

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AN-M76


General Information
Designation: AN-M76
Type: Aerial bomb
Country of origin: United States
Manufacturer: Chemical Warfare Service, Ordnance Department, DuPont
Development: Chemical Warfare Service
Commissioning: 1943
Technical specifications
Combat weight: 214.6 kg
Length: 1.15 m
Diameter: 355.6 mm
Detonator: Impact fuse , time fuse
Filling :

81.6 kg of PT-1 napalm

Lists on the subject

The AN-M76 was an American incendiary bomb that was produced and used during World War II .

development

Development of the AN-M76 bomb began in the Edgewood Arsenal in 1943 . Based on an order from the US government, a 500-pound incendiary bomb (227 kg) with a liquid incendiary was to be developed. The bomb was to be used in the fight against industrial plants . The developers at Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) and DuPont used the AN-M64 explosive bomb, which had already been successfully used, for this purpose . They took the bomb cover from this and filled it with the newly developed gel-like fuel ( PT-1 Pyrogel ) from DuPont. The first bombs were ready for delivery after just a few months of development. Compared to the conventional napalm developed at the same time at Harvard University , the PT-1 pyrogel adheres better to surfaces. It also has a much longer burning time and a much higher fire temperature. The developers were able to observe the strongly oxidizing effect of the bomb filling when a storage shed with a couple of barrels of PT-1 pyrogel caught fire. The fire brigade , which had moved in, was unable to fight the fire due to the violent fire and the great heat generated. All they could do was watch the whole shed burn down.

technology

The bomb had a cylindrical, elongated hull shape with a circular cross-section and an ogival tip. The bomb shell was made of steel . At the top of the bomb, the bomb cover had a material thickness of 32 mm. At the rear of the bomb it measured 7.6 mm. Four stabilizing surfaces were attached to the stern. The bomb had a blue-gray basic color. Two purple stripes identified the AN-M76 as an incendiary bomb. The bomb was 1.15 m long, had a diameter of 355.6 mm and weighed 214.6 kg when filled. In the middle of the circular bomb body was a central tube with a diameter of 88.9 mm. The tear-open and ignition charge was housed in this. This consisted of 567 g of Tetrytol explosives and 4.08 kg of white phosphorus . Around the central tube was the bomb filling made of 81.6 kg of gel-like fuel PT-1 Pyrogel. This was a mixture of gasoline , butyl methacrylate, magnesium powder , kerosene and petroleum residues, asphalt , activated carbon and sodium nitrate . The bomb was ignited with a head and tail fuse. The M103 , M135 , M136 , M139 , M140 , M164 and M165 detonators were used as head detonators . The M101 fuse was used at the stern . When it was released, the safety line on the detonator was pulled out and the detonator was sharpened by the wind turbine. On impact, the detonator detonated and ignited the ripping and igniting charge. When they exploded, the gel-like bomb filling was ignited and sprayed within a radius of up to 60 m. The fire mix had a burn time of 18–20 minutes at a fire temperature of up to 1,600 ° C. The sticky , burning gel was practically impossible to extinguish with water. When the AN-M76 was dropped from an altitude of 7,620 m (25,000  feet ), it had a velocity of around 305 m / s on impact. From this drop height, the bomb could penetrate 38 cm of reinforced concrete .

commitment

The primary deployment platforms were the B-17 Flying Fortress (12-16 AN-M76 bombs), B-24 Liberator (10-18 AN-M76 bombs), B-25 Mitchell (6-8 AN-M76 bombs) ), B-26 Marauder (6-8 AN-M76 bombs), A-26 Invader (8 AN-M76 bombs) and the B-29 Superfortress (max. 40, normally 20 AN-M76 bombs). From the beginning of 1944 the AN-M76 incendiary bomb was used on a trial basis in Europe and later in the Asian theaters of war. The first recorded large-scale operation was carried out by the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) via Berlin on March 6, 1944. The first large-scale attack with AN-M76 bombs on the Asian theater of war occurred on October 18, 1944 during a bombing raid on Formosa . After that, the bomb type was used in the air strikes on Japanese cities. During the Second World War, 39,000 AN-M76 were dropped on Germany and 38,000 on Japan. The AN-M76 was jokingly called "Blockburner" or "Goop" by the bomber crews.

The next use of the AN-M76 took place during the Korean War. There, the bomb type was used by the B-29 Superfortress bombers to attack industrial plants and to bomb North Korean cities.

See also

Web links

Commons : American WW2 incendiary bombs  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Uxoinfo, MOTIS, BOMB, INCENDIARY, 500 LB, AN-M76 (data sheet), (online PDF 162 KB) ( Memento from May 9, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b How we fight japan with fire, Popular Science May 1945, pp. 100-109 , accessed January 26, 2015
  3. ^ A b Leo P. Brophy, Wyndham D. Miles, Rexmond C. Cochrane: The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to Field , Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington DC, 1988
  4. ^ A b Kleber, BE and Birdsell, D.: Chemical Warfare Service Chemicals in Combat, Center of Military History, United States Army , accessed January 26, 2015
  5. ^ War Department: Technical Manual TM 9-1904 Ammunition Inspection Guide , March 1944.
  6. ↑ a b AN-M76, IncendiaryBomb, 500lbs , accessed January 26, 2015
  7. ^ National Defense Research Committee (NDRC): Summary Technical Report of Division 11, Volume 3: Fire Warfare, Incendiaries and Flame Throwers , Washington DC 1946.
  8. ^ Department of the Army Technical Manual: Technical Manual TM 3-400 Chemical Bombs & Clusters , Departments of the Army and the Air Force, May 1957.
  9. ^ A b Joint Target Group: Study of Incendiary Bombings for Employment by the United States Army Air Forces , NARA-M1655, Washington DC October 1944.
  10. ↑ a b Firebombing Japan, Flying Magazine Oct. 1945 pages 64,94,98 , accessed January 26, 2015
  11. ^ The Army Air Force in the World War II, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki June 1944 to August 1945 , accessed January 26, 2015
  12. ^ Crane Conrad: American Airpower Strategy in Korea 1950-1953 , University Press of Kansas 2000.
  13. ^ Robert F. Dorr: B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War , Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-84176-654-2 .