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212:. In his letter, Adams stated that the bat was the "lowest form of animal life", and that, until now, "reasons for its creation have remained unexplained". He went on to espouse that bats were created "by God to await this hour to play their part in the scheme of free human existence, and to frustrate any attempt of those who dare desecrate our way of life." Of Adams, Roosevelt remarked, "This man is not a nut. It sounds like a perfectly wild idea but is worth looking into."
204:. Adams was intrigued by the strength of bats and knew that they roosted before dawn. He also knew that most of the buildings in Tokyo were constructed of wood instead of concrete. He believed that if time-release incendiaries could be attached to bats, some kind of container holding them could be dropped over the city after dark and the bats would simply roost and burn Tokyo to the ground. The plan was subsequently approved by
894:
40:
243:, and Ozro Wiswell, a scientist, self-described "bat lovers", noted that it did not occur to them to question the "morality or the ecological consequences of sacrificing a few million bats". For the duration of the project, many members enlisted in the Air Force, where Adams quickly promoted them to "acting"
380:
A reasonable number of destructive fires can be started in spite of the extremely small size of the units. The main advantage of the units would seem to be their placement within the enemy structures without the knowledge of the householder or fire watchers, thus allowing the fire to establish itself
161:
at dawn, the casings would deploy a parachute in mid-flight and open to release the bats, which would then disperse and roost in eaves and attics in a 20–40-mile radius (32–64 km). The incendiaries, which were set on timers, would then ignite and start fires in inaccessible places in the largely
400:
when he heard that it would likely not be combat ready until mid-1945. By that time, it was estimated that $ 2 million (equivalent to $ 33.8 million in 2024) had been spent on the project. It is thought that development of the bat bomb was moving too slowly, and was overtaken in the race for a quick
389:
observer stated: "It was concluded that X-Ray is an effective weapon." The chief chemist's report stated that, on a weight basis, X-Ray was more effective than the standard incendiary bombs in use at the time: "Expressed in another way, the regular bombs would give probably 167 to 400 fires per bomb
282:
The bomb carrier was a sheet metal tube approximately 1.5 m (5 ft) in length. The inside of the tube was fitted with twenty-six circular trays, each of which was 76 cm (30 in) in diameter. In total, each bomb carrier could hold 1,040 bats. It was planned that the carrier would be
250:
The team had to determine several variables to make the project feasible, including what kind of incendiaries could be attached to the bats, as well as the temperatures at which to store and transport them. The bats had to be kept in hibernation while they were shipped. To accomplish this, they were
405:
project. Adams maintained that the bat bombs would have been effective without the devastating effects of the atomic bomb: "Think of thousands of fires breaking out simultaneously over a circle of forty miles in diameter for every bomb dropped. Japan could have been devastated, yet with small loss
221:
274:
Tests were used to determine how much napalm an individual bat could carry, determining that a 14 g (0.5 oz) bat could carry a payload of 15–18 g (0.53–0.63 oz). The napalm was stored in small
283:
deployed from an airplane, descending to an altitude of 1,200 m (4,000 ft) before deploying parachutes. The sides of the bomb carrier would then fall away, allowing the bats to disperse.
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containers dubbed "H-2 units". After trying several attachment methods, they decided to attach the H-2 unit to the bats using an adhesive, gluing them to the front of the bats.
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528:
1080:
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338:, was set on fire on May 15, 1943, when armed bats were accidentally released. The bats roosted under a fuel tank and incinerated the test range.
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691:
564:
979:
259:
to harvest large numbers of
Mexican free-tailed bats from caves on government property. While the original plan was to arm the bats with
251:
stuck in ice cube trays and cooled. They also had to decide what species of bat to use for the bombs. After testing several species, the
386:
146:
weapon developed by the United States. The bomb consisted of a bomb-shaped casing with over a thousand compartments, each containing a
354:
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409:
The infamous "Invasion by Bats" project was afterwards referred to by
Stanley P. Lovell, director of research and development for
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Errant bats from the experimental bat bomb set fire to the
Carlsbad Army Airfield Auxiliary Air Base in New Mexico.
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Observers at this test witnessed optimistic accounts. The chief of incendiary testing at Dugway wrote:
357:. After several experiments and operational adjustments, the definitive test was carried out on the "
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235:. Adams assembled the workers for the project, including the mammalogist Jack von Bloeker, actor
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163:
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wood and paper constructions of the
Japanese cities that were the weapon's intended target. The
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A series of tests to answer various operational questions were conducted. In one incident, the
196:, which is home to many bats. Adams wrote about his idea of incendiary bats in a letter to the
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239:, a former gangster, and a former hotel manager, among others. Von Bloeker, his assistant,
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Lovell had also mentioned bats, during testing, were dropping to the ground like stones.
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231:
After
Roosevelt gave the project his approval, it was relegated to the authority of the
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754:
Wild Bill
Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage
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660:
999:
853:
402:
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184:
The bat bomb was conceived by Lytle S. Adams (1881–1970), a dental surgeon from
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45:
39:
20:
321:
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818:
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276:
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447:(using birds in a similar way to set fire to a besieged castle in Sicily)
236:
717:
Einstein's
Refrigerator: And Other Stories from the Flip Side of History
393:
More tests were scheduled for mid-1944, but the program was canceled by
267:
joined the team and white phosphorus was replaced with his invention,
628:
Texas
Obscurities: Stories of the Peculiar, Exceptional and Nefarious
268:
158:
487:"Lytle S. Adams, DDS (1883-1970): Nonstop Airmail Pick-up inventor"
290:
219:
463:(using "pigeons or sparrows" as offensive weapons in the 900s AD)
370:
777:
192:. The inspiration for Adams' suggestion was a trip he took to
649:, October 1990, Vol. 73, No. 10. Retrieved 1 October 2006.
1020:
Military history of the United States during World War II
341:
Following this setback, the project was relegated to the
200:
in
January 1942—little more than a month after the
353:
that
December. The Marine Corps moved operations to the
647:
Air Force Magazine: Journal of the Airforce Association
417:
ordered to review the idea, as "Die Fledermaus Farce".
255:
was selected. Adams had to ask for permission from the
743:. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963, p. 63.
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390:load where X-Ray would give 3,625 to 4,748 fires."
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30:
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355:Marine Corps Air Station at El Centro, California
166:took control in August 1943, using the code name
692:"Old, Weird Tech: The Bat Bombs of World War II"
565:"Old, Weird Tech: The Bat Bombs of World War II"
659:Drumm, Patrick; Christopher Ovre (April 2011).
378:
789:
8:
602:Bat Bomb: World War II's Other Secret Weapon
361:", a mockup of a Japanese city built by the
630:, Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.
796:
782:
774:
719:. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 122.
27:
1091:World War II weapons of the United States
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591:
589:
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485:Christen, A. G.; Christen, J. A. (2005).
44:Bat bomb canister later used to hold the
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520:
518:
516:
514:
512:
188:, who was an acquaintance of First Lady
16:Experimental WWII U.S. incendiary weapon
477:
1030:New Mexico World War II Army Airfields
756:. New York: Free Press, 2011, p. 104.
638:
636:
563:Madrigal, Alexis C. (14 April 2011).
7:
527:Duffin, Allan T. (24 October 2018).
529:"'Bat Bombs': WWII's Project X-Ray"
491:Journal of the History of Dentistry
387:National Defense Research Committee
19:For the U.S. Navy guided bomb, see
690:Madrigal, Alexis C. (2011-04-14).
14:
1081:Military animals of World War II
892:
287:Setbacks and transfer to US Navy
38:
345:in August 1943, who renamed it
954:Los Alamos National Laboratory
805:New Mexico during World War II
194:Carlsbad Caverns National Park
1:
606:. University of Texas Press.
411:Office of Strategic Services
349:, and then passed it to the
233:United States Army Air Force
990:Arizona during World War II
1107:
1025:Nevada during World War II
964:White Sands Proving Ground
18:
890:
741:Of Spies & Stratagems
715:Silverman, Steve (2001).
430:Animal-borne bomb attacks
245:non-commissioned officers
227:, Mexican free-tailed bat
216:After government approval
157:attached. Dropped from a
125:123 kg (271 lb)
65:Place of origin
37:
1061:Animal cruelty incidents
1005:Escape from Fort Stanton
939:Fort Sumner Army Aifield
909:Alamogordo Army Airfield
765:Snorri Snorluson in the
661:"A batman to the rescue"
381:before being discovered.
363:Chemical Warfare Service
133:123 cm (48 in)
533:Warfare History Network
253:Mexican free-tailed bat
151:Mexican free-tailed bat
924:Carlsbad Army Airfield
902:Military installations
864:Willard Varnell Oliver
598:Couffer, Jack (1992).
451:Japanese Balloon Bombs
406:of (American) lives."
401:end to the war by the
383:
322:32.26083°N 104.22917°W
301:Carlsbad Army Airfield
296:
228:
202:attack on Pearl Harbor
980:200th Coast Artillery
959:Roswell Army Airfield
884:Frank Tsosie Thompson
869:J. Robert Oppenheimer
665:Monitor on Psychology
367:Dugway Proving Ground
294:
257:National Park Service
225:Tadarida brasiliensis
223:
142:were an experimental
929:Deming Army Airfield
919:Clovis Army Airfield
336:Carlsbad, New Mexico
327:32.26083; -104.22917
303:Auxiliary Air Base (
153:with a small, timed
944:Hobbs Army Airfield
752:Waller, Douglas C.
739:Lovell, Stanley P.
318: /
263:, American chemist
206:President Roosevelt
186:Irwin, Pennsylvania
1076:Incendiary weapons
1066:Animal-borne bombs
1010:Lordsburg Killings
415:William J. Donovan
347:Project X-Ray
297:
229:
164:United States Navy
94:Production history
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1047:
1015:Manhattan Project
208:on the advice of
190:Eleanor Roosevelt
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136:
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985:American Theater
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535:. Archived from
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456:Military animals
359:Japanese Village
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332:
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261:white phosphorus
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42:
33:
28:
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1086:Weapon guidance
1071:Bats and humans
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1044:
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879:Emilio G. Segrè
874:Merril Sandoval
829:John J. Dempsey
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643:The Bat Bombers
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539:on 17 June 2019
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445:Harald Hardrada
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413:, whom General
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155:incendiary bomb
78:In service
73:Service history
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949:Kirtland Field
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645:C. V. Glines,
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467:Project Pigeon
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210:Donald Griffin
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117:Specifications
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1035:Santa Fe Riot
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844:Leslie Groves
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395:Fleet Admiral
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369:test site in
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934:Fort Stanton
859:Lloyd Oliver
839:Enrico Fermi
767:Heimskringla
761:
753:
748:
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710:
699:. Retrieved
696:The Atlantic
695:
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673:. Retrieved
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627:
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572:. Retrieved
569:The Atlantic
568:
541:. Retrieved
537:the original
532:
497:(3): 89–93.
494:
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461:Olga of Kiev
419:
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351:Marine Corps
346:
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265:Louis Fieser
249:
241:Jack Couffer
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224:
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173:
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144:World War II
139:
138:
112:January 1942
103:Louis Fieser
89:World War II
25:
1000:Code talker
854:Chester Nez
403:atomic bomb
325: /
313:104°13′45″W
198:White House
148:hibernating
46:hibernating
21:ASM-N-2 Bat
1055:Categories
701:2023-10-17
675:31 October
613:0292707908
574:31 January
473:References
310:32°15′39″N
180:Conception
81:Never used
819:Jack Aeby
365:at their
277:cellulose
140:Bat bombs
32:Bat bomb
995:Bat bomb
973:See also
503:16396208
424:See also
237:Tim Holt
109:Designed
99:Designer
1040:Trinity
671:(4): 24
543:14 June
334:) near
168:Project
812:People
723:
610:
501:
269:napalm
171:
159:bomber
130:Length
174:X-Ray
721:ISBN
677:2013
608:ISBN
576:2014
545:2019
499:PMID
385:The
371:Utah
343:Navy
122:Mass
86:Wars
60:Bomb
57:Type
49:bats
1057::
694:.
669:42
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663:.
635:^
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511:^
495:53
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247:.
176:.
68:US
797:e
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51:.
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
