The incendiary units are waste balls about 2.5 in. in diameter and
having an average weight of 2.5 ounces, tied securely with strong
twine. These are soaked in a special oil mixture. Carbon disulfide and
crude turpentine, or carbon disulfide, benzene heads and crude kerosene
gave satisfactory results. A later development attempted to replace
the waste balls by solid oil, but the difficulties of manufacture and
questions of transportation argued against its adoption.
These bombs were not used at the front. Nearly all of the American
incendiary bombs proved too light on the nose and lower half, generally
resulting in deformation upon impact and very poor results. New ones
will be made stronger.
INCENDIARY DARTS
The British early recognized the value of a small bomb, and
consequently adopted their B.I.B. (Baby Incendiary Bomb), weighing
about 6.5 ounces. These are capable of being dropped in lots of 100
or more and thus literally shower a given territory with fire. The
intensity of fire at any given point is much less than that obtained
with the larger bombs, but the increased area under bombardment more
than counter balances this disadvantage. While the British aimed at
the perfection of a universal bomb, the American service felt that two
classes should be developed, one to be used against grain fields and
forests, the other against buildings.
The first class was called the Mark I Dart. This consisted of an
elongated 12-gauge shot gun shell, filled with incendiary material
and provided with a firing mechanism to ignite the primer as the dart
strikes the ground. The flash of the primer sets fire to the booster,
which, in turn, ignites the main incendiary charge. The latter burns
several minutes, with a long flame. A retarding stabilizer attached
to the tail of the dart serves the two-fold purpose of insuring the
functioning of the firing mechanism and, by retarding the final
velocity of the dart, preventing the collapse of the dart body when
dropped from very high altitudes.
The incendiary mixture is one which gives a long hot flame, burns for
several minutes and leaves very little ash. In general it consists
of an oxidizing agent (barium or sodium chlorate), a reducing agent
(aluminum, or a mixture of iron, aluminum and magnesium), a filler
(rosin, powdered asphaltum or naphthalene) and in some cases a binder
(asphaltum, varnish or boiled linseed oil).
The Mark II Dart was developed to furnish a small size penetrating
agent. It consists of a two-inch (diameter) zinc case filled with
thermit and solid oil as the incendiary materials and provided with
a cast iron nose for penetration. During the first half minute after
firing, a pool of molten iron is formed by the thermit, which is very
penetrating and affords a good combustible surface for the oil, which
burns for an additional ten minutes.
It has an advantage over the Mark I dart in that it penetrates, and
over the Mark II bomb in that it is smaller and lighter in weight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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