Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire rather than the blast effects of large bombs. It came out of the use of strategic bombing to destroy the ability the enemy to wage war. The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, produced in the United States. ... A large bonfire. ... Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war style campaign that attempts to destroy the economic ability of a nation-state to wage war. ...

This technique makes use of small incendiary bombs (possibly delivered by a cluster bomb). If a fire caught then it could spread taking in adjacent buildings which would have been largely unaffected by a high explosive bomb. This was a more effective use of the payload that a bomber could carry. The use of incendiaries alone did not generally start uncontrollable fires where the targets were roofed with nonflammable materials such as tiles or slates. The use of a mixture of bombers carrying high explosive bombs, such as the British blockbuster bombs which blew out windows and roofs exposing the interior of buildings to the incendiary bombs were much more effective. Alternatively a preliminary bombing with conventional bombs followed by subsequent attacks by incendiary carrying bombers. Incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, or white phosphorus. ... Demonstration cluster bomb cutaway, showing bomblets (photo circa 1943) Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground launched shells that eject multiple small submunitions (bomblets). ... The Blockbuster was the name of the largest conventional bomb used in World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF). ... Incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, or white phosphorus. ...

The result may in some cases create a firestorm in the target city. During the strategic bombings of World War II this technique was as effective as the atomic bombs used against Japanese cities (where construction with wood and paper was common) toward the end of World War II. London, Coventry and many other British cities were firebombed during the Blitz. A firestorm in Hamburg (Germany) during WWII A firestorm is the mass movement of air resulting from fire, creating a fire of extreme intensity over a wide area. ... Strategic Bombing during World War II was unlike anything the world had previously witnessed. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Combatants Allies: United Kingdom, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, Canada, China, India, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million... For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ... German bomber over the Surrey Docks, Southwark, London The Blitz was the bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941, during World War II. It was carried out by the Luftwaffe across the UK, but their attack was concentrated on London. ...

Firebombing also refers to the practice of dropping fire-retardent liquids from aircraft on wild fires. (see Waterbomber) An Air National Guard C-130 Hercules drops fire retardant on wildfires in Southern California Aerial firefighting is a method to combat wildfires using aircraft. ...

Examples

Most large German cities were subject to firebombing. In several this induced a firestorm of which the most notable are A firestorm in Hamburg (Germany) during WWII A firestorm is the mass movement of air resulting from fire, creating a fire of extreme intensity over a wide area. ...

• Hamburg as a result of Operation Gomorrah
• the Bombing of Dresden

Less-known (and smaller) targets were The smaller Alster lake at dusk Hamburg (German pronounciation: []; Low German: Hamborg, [haˑmbɔːχ]) is the second largest city in Germany and with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port, Hamburg is also the second largest port city in the European Union. ... Firestorm in Hamburg Operation Gomorrah was the military codename for a series of air raids conducted by the Royal Air Force on the city of Hamburg beginning in the end of July 1943. ... The bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between February 13 and February 15, 1945 remains one of the more controversial events of World War II. Historian Frederick Taylor says: The destruction of Dresden has an epically tragic quality...

• Bombing of Kassel (10,000 dead)
• Bombing of Pforzheim (20,277 dead, almost 31,4 % of the Population)
• Bombing of Würzburg (5,000 dead)
• Bombing of Wuppertal 10 May 1943
• Bombing of Remscheid 31 July 1943
• Bombing of Kaiserslautern 14 July 1944
• Bombing of Braunschweig 15 October 1944
• Bombing of Saarbrücken 05 August 1944
• Bombing of Darmstadt 11 September 1944 (12,300 dead)
• Bombing of Stuttgart 12 September 1944
• Bombing of Heilbronn 06 December 1944 (6,500 dead)
• Bombing of Mainz 27 February 1945
• Bombing of Würzburg 16 March 1945
• Bombing of Hildesheim 23 March 1945

Many large Japanese cities were fire bombed including: The city of Kassel in Germany was severely bombed during World War II. More than 10. ... During the latter stages of World War II Pforzheim, a town in south west Germany was bombed on a number of times. ... During World War II, on March 16, 1945, 89% of the city was laid to ruins by a British Royal Air Force bombing raid. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rheinland-Pfalz at the edge of the Palatine Forest (Pfälzer Wald). ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ... Braunschweig (historic English name Brunswick, Low Saxon Brunswiek) is a city of 245,500 people (as of December 31, 2004), located in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years). ... Saarbrücken [] is the capital of the Saarland Bundesland in Germany. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hessen in Germany. ... September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... Stuttgart [], a city located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 (as of September 2005) in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, near Stuttgart. ... December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... ▶ (help· info) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ...

• Bombing of Tokyo
• Bombing of Kobe

Some Chinese cities were also affected: The U.S. bombing of Tokyo during World War II took place between 1942 and 1945. ... On March 17th, 1945, three hundred and thirty-one American B-29 bombers launched a firebombing attack against the city of Kobe, Japan. ...

• Bombing of Chongqing in World War II

The Bombing of Chongqing (February 18, 1938 - August 23, 1943) was a Japanese strategic bombing campaign against the Chinese provisional capital of Chongqing that lasted 5 1/2 years. ...

In popular culture

• the Japanese animated film Grave of the Fireflies follows events after the firebombing of Kobe.
• Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, is based on his personal experience of the Dresden firestorm.

12 frames per second is the typical rate for an animated cartoon. ... Grave of the Fireflies ) is a 1988 anime (animated) movie written and directed by Isao Takahata for Studio Ghibli. ... Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ... Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Childrens Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death is a 1969 novel by best-selling author Kurt Vonnegut. ...

See also

• Aerial bombing of cities
• Terror bombing