16th-Century Artillery Manual Shows Illustration of 'Rocket Cat'

CTV News ^ | Thursday, March 6, 2014 | Michael Rubinkam

[nickcarraway]

You're a 16th century German prince plotting to crush a peasant rebellion, or perhaps you're leading an army against the Ottoman Empire or looking to settle the score with a rival nobleman. What's a guy looking for a tactical edge to do?

Bring on the rocket cats!

[moose07]

Does It mention Rabbits at all?

[ClearCase_guy]

Rocket J. Cat

[shibumi]

[SIDENET]

Apparently, the world has always had rednecks.

[Joe 6-pack]

In WWII, the OSS had considered releasing bats over Japan with small time delayed incendiary devices strapped to them. The rationale being that most Japanese structures were wooden framed and the bats would roost under the eaves.

IIRC,the idea was scrapped, but I don't recall the exact reasons for doing so...

[Pecos]

In WWII, the Soviets tried to strap explosives to dogs, which they had trained to crawl under tanks. But in the middle of battle, the dogs panicked and hid under Soviet tanks, blowing them up. End of experiment.

[LizardQueen]

Makes me think of the cow scene in the Monty Python Search for the Holy Grail movie.

“Fetchez la vache!”

lol

[Axenolith]

2 million dollars was spent on devising and implimenting bats as incindiary carriers in WWII...

[Joe Boucher]

let’s see,
12 killed by arrows shot by bow.
8 killed by sword
2 by mace and 14 by rocket cat?
how embarassing.

[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[KarlInOhio]

In WWII, the Soviets tried to strap explosives to dogs, which they had trained to crawl under tanks. But in the middle of battle, the dogs panicked and hid under Soviet tanks, blowing them up. End of experiment.

They trained them to associate the underside of the tanks with safety and food. The problem was they got used to the smell and sound of Soviet tanks rather than the German tanks.

[DMZFrank]

Imn WWII, t6he US tested an idea to use bats as incendiary bombs on Japan. Bat bombs were an experimental World War II weapon developed by the United States. The bomb consisted of a bomb-shaped casing with numerous compartments, each containing a Mexican Free-tailed Bat with a small timed incendiary bomb attached. Dropped from a bomber at dawn, the casings would deploy a parachute in mid-flight and open to release the bats which would then roost in eaves and attics. The incendiaries would start fires in inaccessible places in the largely wood and paper construction of the Japanese cities that were the weapon’s intended target.

After several experiments and operational adjustments, the definitive test was carried out on the “Japanese Village” a mockup of a Japanese city built by the Chemical Warfare Service at their Dugway Proving Grounds test site in Utah. A series of tests to answer various operational questions were conducted. In one incident at the Carlsbad Army Airfield Auxiliary Air Base near Carlsbad, New Mexico, some buildings were set on fire on May 15, 1943, when armed bats were accidentally released. The bats incinerated the test range and roosted under a fuel tank.

Despite these setbacks, observers at this test produced optimistic accounts. The chief of incendiary testing at Dugway wrote: “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 before being discovered.” The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) observer stated: “It was concluded that X-Ray Bat Bomb 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 load where X-Ray would give 3,625 to 4,748 fires”.

More tests were scheduled for the summer of 1944 but the program was cancelled by Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King when he heard that it would likely not be combat ready until mid-1945. By that time it was estimated that $2 million 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 end to the war by the atomic bomb project.

Dr. Adams maintained that the bat bombs would have been effective without the devastating effects of the atomic bomb. He is quoted as having said:

“ 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 of life.”

[SIDENET]

Don't know why, but the instant I read the title, the Elton John song "Rocket Man" started playing in my mind, but with the words "Rocket Cat".

LOL.

[bunkerhill7]

The bats ain`t stupoid-

they all knew it was a suicide mission.
I got some bats here in the house-
They done catches them moswquitos.

They also scares away them burglars by dive-bombing them around the house-

naw they would never volunteer for a suicide mission-
They are too smart for that.

They can`t even speak Japanese.

I could try to teach them a few words like mushi misuhi sayonarara or Toyota, but the rest of the words- well they`ll just have to wing it.

[luvbach1]

IIRC,the idea [bat fire bombs] was scrapped, but I don't recall the exact reasons for doing so...

Was PETA around?

[nickcarraway]

Rocket Man + Honky Cat

[Slings and Arrows]

[Snickering Hound]

[SIDENET]

Now I have both of those songs in my head. LOL.

(music) "Get back, rocket cat..."