{{Short description|Weapon developed during World War II}} thumb|Diagram and instructions for creating explosive rats The '''explosive rat''',<ref name="Bull2009"/> also known as a '''rat bomb''',<ref name="milhist"/> was a weapon developed by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in World War II for use against Germany. Rat carcasses were filled with plastic explosives, and were to be distributed near German boiler rooms where it was expected they would be disposed of by burning, with the subsequent explosion having a chance of causing a boiler explosion.
The explosive rats never saw use, as the first shipment was intercepted by the Germans; however, the resulting search for more booby trapped rats consumed enough German resources for the SOE to conclude that the operation was a success.
==Development== During World War II, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) procured about a hundred rodents, ostensibly for medical experiments.<ref name=guard/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Barneschi |first1=Gianluca |title=An Englishman Abroad: SOE agent Dick Mallaby's Italian missions, 1943–45 |date=30 May 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-3547-5 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b290DwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> The rodents were killed and plastic explosives were sewn inside them.<ref name="guard"/>
The idea, developed in 1941,<ref name="History - World Wars: British Special Operations Executive (SOE): Tools and Gadgets Gallery"/> was that when the dead rat was discovered in the boiler room of a locomotive, factory, power station, or similar installation, the stoker tending the boiler would dispose of the unpleasant discovery by shoveling it into the furnace, causing the booby trapped rat to explode.<ref name="Bull2009"/><ref name=guard/><ref name="Carter2002"/> A rat could contain only a small amount of explosive; however, a penetration of a highly pressurized steam boiler could trigger a devastating boiler explosion.<ref name=guard/> A rat bomb could also be set with a delayed fuse.<ref name=milhist/>
==Operational history== The first shipment of carcasses was intercepted by the Germans, and the SOE plan was dropped.<ref name=guard/> The Germans exhibited the rats at top military schools and conducted searches for further exploding rats.<ref name=guard/> The SOE concluded: "The trouble caused to them was a much greater success to us than if the rats had actually been used."<ref name=guard/>
A biography of Station IX officer J. Elder Wills claims that nine boilers were damaged in Belgian factories by the rats but is probably a myth.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foot |first1=M. R. D. |title=S. O. E.: M. R. D. Foot, 1940-1945 - Special Operations Executive |date=2014 |publisher=Bodley Head |isbn=978-1-84792-293-9 |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7eQeAwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * Anti-tank dog * Bat bomb * Coal torpedoes * Military animals
==References== {{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="Bull2009">{{cite book|author=Stephen Bull|title=Special Ops, 1939–1945: A Manual of Covert Warfare and Training|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciJWB94-Vc4C&pg=PA160|accessdate=24 July 2012|date=1 October 2009|publisher=MBI Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-7603-3751-6|page=160}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
<ref name="Carter2002">{{cite book|author=Ian Carter|title=Railways and Culture in Britain: The Epitome of Modernity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8dPXhX288TYC&pg=PA233|accessdate=24 July 2012|date=5 January 2002|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-5966-7|page=233}}</ref>
<ref name="guard">{{cite news|author=Richard Norton-Taylor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/oct/27/richardnortontaylor |title=How exploding rats went down a bomb – and helped British boffins win the second world war | UK news |work=The Guardian |date= 1999-10-26|accessdate=2012-07-24 |location=London}}</ref>
<ref name="History - World Wars: British Special Operations Executive (SOE): Tools and Gadgets Gallery">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/soe_gallery_05.shtml |title=History – World Wars: British Special Operations Executive (SOE): Tools and Gadgets Gallery |publisher=BBC |date=1970-01-01 |accessdate=2012-07-24}}</ref>
<ref name="milhist">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.military-history.org/articles/weapons-technology/back-to-the-drawing-board-exploding-rats.htm |title=Back to the Drawing Board – EXPLODING RATS! |publisher=Military History Monthly |date=2012-02-15 |accessdate=2012-07-24}}</ref> }}
Category:Military animals of World War II Rat Category:Rats Category:World War II sabotage Category:Special Operations Executive