Simple Sabotage Field ManualUnited States. Office of Strategic Services
History
Simple Sabotage Field Manual
United States. Office of Strategic Services
Sabotage
(6) Fuel lines to gasoline and oil engines frequently pass over the
exhaust pipe. When the machine is at rest, you can stab a small hole in
the fuel line and plug the hole with wax. As the engine runs and the
exhaust tube becomes hot, the wax will be melted; fuel will drip onto
the exhaust and a blaze will start.
(7) If you have access to a room where gasoline is stored, remember
that gas vapor accumulating in a closed room will explode after a time
if you leave a candle burning in the room. A good deal of evaporation,
however, must occur from the gasoline tins into the air of the room. If
removal of the tops of the tins does not expose enough gasoline to the
air to ensure copious evaporation, you can open lightly constructed
tins further with a knife, ice pick or sharpened nail file. Or puncture
a tiny hole in the tank which will permit gasoline to leak out on the
floor. This will greatly increase the rate of evaporation. Before you
light your candle, be sure that windows are closed and the room is as
air-tight as you can make it. If you can see that windows in a
neighboring room are opened wide, you have a chance of setting a large
fire which will not only destroy the gasoline but anything else nearby;
when the gasoline explodes, the doors of the storage room will be blown
open, a draft to the neighboring windows will be created which will
whip up a fine conflagration.
(e) Electric Motors Electric motors (including dynamos) are more
restricted than the targets so far discussed. They cannot be sabotaged
easily or without risk of injury by unskilled persons who may otherwise
have good opportunities for destruction.
(1) Set the rheostat to a high point of resistance in all types of
electric motors. They will overheat and catch fire.
(2) Adjust the overload relay to a very high value beyond the capacity
of the motor. Then overload the motor to a point where it will overheat
and break down.
(3) Remember that dust, dirt, and moisture are enemies of electrical
equipment. Spill dust and dirt onto the points where the wires in
electric motors connect with terminals, and onto insulating parts.
Inefficient transmission of current and, in some cases, short circuits
will result. Wet generator motors to produce short circuits.
(4) “Accidentally” bruise the insulation on wire, loosen nuts on
connections, make faulty splices and faulty connections in wiring, to
waste electric current and reduce the power of electric motors, the
power output or cause short circuiting in direct-current motors: Loosen
or remove commutator holding rings. Sprinkle carbon, graphite, or metal
dust on commutators. Put a little grease or oil at the contact points
of commutators. Where commutator bars are close together bridge the
gaps between them with metal dust, or sawtooth their edges with a
chisel so that the teeth on adjoining bars meet or nearly meet and
current can pass from one to the other.
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