British Ordnance Collectors Network
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
3in Napalm Rocket (Korean war era)
- Thread starter MINENAZ16
- Start date
There is already a thread on these
http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/97766-3-inch-Geletrol-rocket?highlight=napalm
I paste here the essential points that Kahu12 and myself uploaded in this thread, with some additional photographs (from the Australian War Memorial site)
They were used with high success by the RAAF 77th squadron's Meteors during the Korean war.
The official Australian documentation presents these as the fruit of a field improvisation by an ordnance officer of the RAAF 77th squadron
The warheads were 31" long and 8" wide with the front 7" tapered conically down to 2".Mounted on 3" rocket motors
Locally(Aust) fabricated from sheet metal and fitted with a no.45 MK1 Pistol that fired a no.52 detonator and a no.77 White Phosporus grenade mounted within the nose cone,held 4 gallons of geletrol in the cylindrical section.
The Australian War Museum's Oral History section has the following recorded interview of Wg Cdr John Campbell Smith:
Accession Number S02782
Collection type Sound
Measurement 54 min 49 sec
Object type Oral history
Physical description 1/4 inch sound tape reel; BASF SM 468; 15 ips/38 cm.s; two track mono; 10 inch NAB
Maker Australian War Memorial
Date made 27 June 2002
Abstract: Wg Cdr John Campbell Smith MBE talks about: his training as, and the duties of an armament officer; his joining the RAAF Reserve after the Second World War and being called up for service at RAAF Base Williamtown and then in Japan and Korea; the CO of No. 77 Squadron defining the need for a napalm rocket and Smith’s inventing one whilst at Williamtown; rocket testing in Australia, Japan and Korea; napalm rocket production in Japan; use of napalm rockets and North Korean reactions to them; patenting his invention despite Commonwealth objections; his short service commission not being renewed in 1954 because of his conflict with senior officers over his patent; other armament problems encountered by No. 77 Squadron pilots; his flying occasional missions; Meteors, Mig-15s and Sabres; how napalm rockets saved Seoul; his being deprived of the highest South Korean award as only British awards could be accepted; his presentation of the MBE by the Queen; solving the problem of cannon stoppages; No.77 Squadron efficiency and morale; working from an American base during winter; a comparison of Australian and American contributions to the Korean war: why the Americans could not win the war without nuclear weapons, and his posting from Williamtown to Japan and the effects on his family.
These can also be of interest:
The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) Mon 3 Mar 1952 Page 4
NEW NAPALM ROCKET "MOST POTENT" TOKYO, Sunday.
The Australian Meteor jet fighter squadron in Korea has swung into full-scale action equipped with the new Australian-invented weapon - the controlled napalm bomb. Allied officers in Korea described it as "one of the most potent weapons ever seen."
The new weapon is a rocket filled with jellied petrol (napalm) and fired at supersonic speed. The rocket enables the intensely burning napalm to hit a selected target with full power. The new weapon, which was first used early in February, is tho brainchild of 77 Squadron's armaments officer, Flight Lieut John Smith, of Cardiff Road, New Lambton Heights, Newcastle.
Smith got the idea of the weapon more than a year ago. Pilots of the squadron returning to Australia told him they were vulnerable to Communist
giound fire when sweeping in low to drop their napalm filled belly tanks. Smith began to work on the idea of putting the terrible killing power of napalm into a weapon which could be dropped or fired from heights beyond the easy reach of ground fire. At Williamtown R.AA.F. Station, Smith worked miceasingly until he had perfected a weapon which passed exhaustive tests by Air Force specialists. The weapon underwent operational tests five months ago when Smith had already left for Japan. The squadron ground staff members manufactured a number of the weapons. After their first use against the Communists in Korea, pilots reported that they "seared buildings off at the roots."
Majoi Ruffin W. Gray, commanding officer of the American tactical reconnaissance squadron of the Fifth Air Force in Korea
said after he had seen the weapon used, "The rocket is one of the most potent weapons I have ever seen." Major Gray flew in a Shooting Star the first day the Australians used the rocket on a bigscale. He watched the commanding officer of 77 Squadron, Wing Commander R. T. Susans, of Brighton, Melbourne, attack a target. Major Gay said later: "The Communist troop barracks was completely gutted by fires which
were started instantly by the rocket."
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) Fri 6 Jun 1952 Page 3 Napalm Rockets For R.A.A.F.
Napalm Rockets For R.A.A.F. In Korea
MELBOURNE, June 5.
A new weapon — napalm (jellied petrol) rockets — would increase No. 77 Sauadron's striking lorce in Korea tnis summer, the former squadron commander. Wg-Cmdr. Ron Susans, said in Melbourne today.
Ordinary rockets with napalm heads had been designed and made by the armament officer of the RAAF No. 91 Wing at Iwakuni, Flt-Lt. J. Smith. Napalm rockets could be fired from Meteors with precision and would penetrate buildings before they started to burn. They would be ideal in the dry summer. Wg-Cmdr. Susans said that Australians were flying more missions than- any other UN squadrons because the Meteors' Derwent engines gave excellent performance, and 'the good gang of blokes on the ground Dack us up so well with their maintenance work.' 'They work so hard that we can comfortably keep up our target of 1,000 missions a month,' he said.
Wg-Cmdr Susans, who has returned after six months in Korea, will leave next week to attend the RAF fighter convention in England.
And this is a surviving sample of a Napalm rocket head from the Williamtown base museum
http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/97766-3-inch-Geletrol-rocket?highlight=napalm
I paste here the essential points that Kahu12 and myself uploaded in this thread, with some additional photographs (from the Australian War Memorial site)
They were used with high success by the RAAF 77th squadron's Meteors during the Korean war.
The official Australian documentation presents these as the fruit of a field improvisation by an ordnance officer of the RAAF 77th squadron
The warheads were 31" long and 8" wide with the front 7" tapered conically down to 2".Mounted on 3" rocket motors
Locally(Aust) fabricated from sheet metal and fitted with a no.45 MK1 Pistol that fired a no.52 detonator and a no.77 White Phosporus grenade mounted within the nose cone,held 4 gallons of geletrol in the cylindrical section.
The Australian War Museum's Oral History section has the following recorded interview of Wg Cdr John Campbell Smith:
Accession Number S02782
Collection type Sound
Measurement 54 min 49 sec
Object type Oral history
Physical description 1/4 inch sound tape reel; BASF SM 468; 15 ips/38 cm.s; two track mono; 10 inch NAB
Maker Australian War Memorial
Date made 27 June 2002
Abstract: Wg Cdr John Campbell Smith MBE talks about: his training as, and the duties of an armament officer; his joining the RAAF Reserve after the Second World War and being called up for service at RAAF Base Williamtown and then in Japan and Korea; the CO of No. 77 Squadron defining the need for a napalm rocket and Smith’s inventing one whilst at Williamtown; rocket testing in Australia, Japan and Korea; napalm rocket production in Japan; use of napalm rockets and North Korean reactions to them; patenting his invention despite Commonwealth objections; his short service commission not being renewed in 1954 because of his conflict with senior officers over his patent; other armament problems encountered by No. 77 Squadron pilots; his flying occasional missions; Meteors, Mig-15s and Sabres; how napalm rockets saved Seoul; his being deprived of the highest South Korean award as only British awards could be accepted; his presentation of the MBE by the Queen; solving the problem of cannon stoppages; No.77 Squadron efficiency and morale; working from an American base during winter; a comparison of Australian and American contributions to the Korean war: why the Americans could not win the war without nuclear weapons, and his posting from Williamtown to Japan and the effects on his family.
These can also be of interest:
The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) Mon 3 Mar 1952 Page 4
NEW NAPALM ROCKET "MOST POTENT" TOKYO, Sunday.
The Australian Meteor jet fighter squadron in Korea has swung into full-scale action equipped with the new Australian-invented weapon - the controlled napalm bomb. Allied officers in Korea described it as "one of the most potent weapons ever seen."
The new weapon is a rocket filled with jellied petrol (napalm) and fired at supersonic speed. The rocket enables the intensely burning napalm to hit a selected target with full power. The new weapon, which was first used early in February, is tho brainchild of 77 Squadron's armaments officer, Flight Lieut John Smith, of Cardiff Road, New Lambton Heights, Newcastle.
Smith got the idea of the weapon more than a year ago. Pilots of the squadron returning to Australia told him they were vulnerable to Communist
giound fire when sweeping in low to drop their napalm filled belly tanks. Smith began to work on the idea of putting the terrible killing power of napalm into a weapon which could be dropped or fired from heights beyond the easy reach of ground fire. At Williamtown R.AA.F. Station, Smith worked miceasingly until he had perfected a weapon which passed exhaustive tests by Air Force specialists. The weapon underwent operational tests five months ago when Smith had already left for Japan. The squadron ground staff members manufactured a number of the weapons. After their first use against the Communists in Korea, pilots reported that they "seared buildings off at the roots."
Majoi Ruffin W. Gray, commanding officer of the American tactical reconnaissance squadron of the Fifth Air Force in Korea
said after he had seen the weapon used, "The rocket is one of the most potent weapons I have ever seen." Major Gray flew in a Shooting Star the first day the Australians used the rocket on a bigscale. He watched the commanding officer of 77 Squadron, Wing Commander R. T. Susans, of Brighton, Melbourne, attack a target. Major Gay said later: "The Communist troop barracks was completely gutted by fires which
were started instantly by the rocket."
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) Fri 6 Jun 1952 Page 3 Napalm Rockets For R.A.A.F.
Napalm Rockets For R.A.A.F. In Korea
MELBOURNE, June 5.
A new weapon — napalm (jellied petrol) rockets — would increase No. 77 Sauadron's striking lorce in Korea tnis summer, the former squadron commander. Wg-Cmdr. Ron Susans, said in Melbourne today.
Ordinary rockets with napalm heads had been designed and made by the armament officer of the RAAF No. 91 Wing at Iwakuni, Flt-Lt. J. Smith. Napalm rockets could be fired from Meteors with precision and would penetrate buildings before they started to burn. They would be ideal in the dry summer. Wg-Cmdr. Susans said that Australians were flying more missions than- any other UN squadrons because the Meteors' Derwent engines gave excellent performance, and 'the good gang of blokes on the ground Dack us up so well with their maintenance work.' 'They work so hard that we can comfortably keep up our target of 1,000 missions a month,' he said.
Wg-Cmdr Susans, who has returned after six months in Korea, will leave next week to attend the RAF fighter convention in England.
And this is a surviving sample of a Napalm rocket head from the Williamtown base museum