When I asked fellow staff members and students
at the Army Command and General Staff College to tell me what
came to mind when they heard the words “World War I,” by
far the two most common answers were “trench warfare” and “attrition.” One
statistic from that war is particularly sobering: Over the
course of the war, both the Allied and Central Powers reconstituted
their infantry ranks three times. No wonder people called it “the
war to end all wars.” Those who studied the lessons learned
from that tragedy quickly realized that the trench warfare
that characterized World War I had become an untenable military
tactic. For nations to wage future wars successfully, they
would have to fight very differently. Militaries would need
to incorporate technological advances more fully into their
doctrine to help minimize losses.
By the start of World War II, scientists, in their study of
polymer materials, had made many discoveries that facilitated
the creation of new or improved products. Those products improved
efficiency, which enabled militaries to better execute new
doctrine that changed the way nations prosecuted war. Although
not all of the inventors intended their products for military
use, people nevertheless found ways to use them militarily,
and some uses proved to be extremely valuable. Specifically,
the Allies’ ability to capitalize on interwar discoveries
in synthetic rubber, polyamide, polyethylene, and polytetraflouroethylene
influenced the outcome of World War II by enabling the Allies
to shoot, move, and communicate with greater ease, reliability,
and lethality than could German and Japanese forces. Polymer
advances since World War II continue to influence the way nations
train for and fight wars.
A chronology of some of those technological advances can be
found in publications such as Packaging Today magazine; various
encyclopedias; and books such as Milestones in Science
and Technology: The Ready Reference Guide to Discoveries, Inventions,
and Facts, by Ellis Mount and Barbara List. These and other
sources provide a fascinating look at the development of many
important products in use today. Some of the facts and figures
below are taken from these sources.
The Search for a Technological Edge
At the end of World War I, industry was still using
natural resources to make products such as hoses, tires, valves,
and
gaskets. Manufacturers used textiles like cotton, wool, and
silk to make clothing. Scientists already had played an important
role in improving many of these resources. For example, Charles
Goodyear’s discovery of the vulcanization process in
1839 (patented in 1844) made it possible to develop flexible,
waterproof, winter-proof rubber tires. Still, in order to succeed
at war, the United States needed to be able to support its
military by expanding its technological edge without depending
solely on natural resources that were vulnerable to control
by enemy forces. Polymer products were the perfect way to do
both.
Germany was devastated after World War I. The economic blockade
of Germany by the Allies, which began in 1916, was not lifted
until June 1919, 7 months after the armistice ended the war.
This blockade is estimated to have caused the death of some
800,000 German civilians. During the interwar period, the German
Army quickly began a comprehensive study of lessons learned,
publishing their findings in a doctrinal manual that was based
on a thorough assessment of World War I. However, while the
Germans were busy learning, most Americans were unmindful of
the connection between American prosperity and safety and the
need for a free world. Politically, the United States sought
isolation, and its military innovation consequently lagged
during the interwar period. Nevertheless, scientists in Germany,
the United Kingdom, and the United States made many spectacular
(and sometimes collaborative) advances in the area of polymers.
In fact, American industry developed some very innovative products
during this period by capitalizing on the discoveries of independent
inventors.
Synthetic Rubber
In the 1920’s, American scientist Wallace H. Carothers
began his studies of the chemistry of giant molecules. His
studies led him to confirm that high-molecular-weight
molecules consist of repeating units of simple molecules (monomers)
that are linked together by chemical bonds
to form long chains (polymers), as first proposed in 1920 by
German chemist Hermann Staudinger. Carothers’ work for
E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company led to the company’s
highly successful commercial production of neoprene, the first
synthetic rubber made in the United States. Neoprene proved
invaluable as a replacement for natural rubber because it was
highly resistant to heat and chemicals, such as oil and gasoline,
and it could be used to make fuel hoses and insulating material
for machinery
and plumbing.
In 1935, German chemists produced the first of a series of
synthetic rubbers known as “buna rubbers.” One
buna rubber, known as “Government
rubber-styrene,” or GR–S, would become the basis
for synthetic rubber production by the United States during
World War II. Both the military and the industrial base needed
rubber for vehicle tires, engine components, and other machine
parts, so this invention would prove critical to the Allied
Forces during World War II. Even though the Japanese controlled
virtually all of the world’s rubber-producing regions
in 1942, 50 U.S. factories were manufacturing synthetic rubber
by 1944, producing a volume twice that of the entire world’s
natural rubber production before the beginning of the war.
|
|
| Wallace
H. Carothers demonstrates the pliability of neoprene
in his laboratory at DuPont. (Photo courtesy of Hagley
Museum and Library.) |
|
Polyamide
Although Carothers helped to invent synthetic rubber, some people know him best
for his work with polyamide. The Harvard-trained scientist headed a secret DuPont
program that culminated with the invention, marketing, and mass
production of “Fiber 66,” commonly known as nylon. DuPont first introduced
nylon at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City as a silk substitute. Its
use for items such as stockings continued in the United States from 1939 until
the outbreak of World War II. At that time, Japan, which provided most of the
world’s raw silk, ceased exports to the United States. Of necessity, U.S.
manufacturers stopped producing nylon stockings so that nylon could be used exclusively
for military purposes, such as rope and parachutes for airborne troops.
|
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| Nylon stockings
returned to stores after the end of the war in 1945.
This customer could not wait to get home before
trying hers on. (Photo courtesy of Hagley Museum
and Library.) |
|
Polyethylene
Another critical polymer developed during the interwar period was polyethylene,
which was discovered in 1933 by British chemist R.O. Gibson. Polyethylene is
waterproof and has good insulation qualities for use in electrical devices.
Because of these characteristics, industry quickly saw polyethylene’s
value to the communications field and started using it to insulate telephone
wiring. The
first commercial radiotelephone communication between continents occurred between
New York and London in January 1927. By the end of 1933, the British were producing
enough polyethylene to insulate submarine telephone cables. In fact, the development
of coaxial cables with polyethylene insulation and other communications improvements,
such as carrier frequency equipment and broadband repeaters, enabled the world
to realize transatlantic telephony before World War II. From then on, both
Government and civilian organizations used coaxial cables to conduct business
over the transatlantic
radiotelephone cable system. However, this was just the beginning of the possibilities
for using polyethylene.
Polyethylene also contributed to the development of radar. In 1935, Scottish
engineer Sir Robert Watson-Watt developed a warning system that could detect
a plane 40 miles away. Later, in 1939, British scientists Harry Boot and John
Randall invented the magnetron tube. This tube, coupled with the ability to
insulate the warning system’s cables with polyethylene, enabled scientists
to develop a radio detection and ranging (RADAR) system that would serve many
purposes during World War II. The British Royal Air Force used it to locate
and defeat incoming German Luftwaffe and rocket attacks. In the Pacific theater,
the U.S. Navy enhanced its power-projection capabilities by using radar to
detect enemy vessels and aircraft and launching attacks even before making
visual contact.
|
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| Before World
War II, parachutes were made of Japanese silk. When
Japan cut off silk supplies during the war, DuPont
persuaded the Army to try nylon as a substitute.
Here, an employee at a parachute factory is shown
just after landing with a nylon parachute. (Photo
courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library.) |
|
Polytetraflouroethylene
Regardless of how wonderful and useful they were, synthetic
rubber, nylon, and polyethylene arguably pale in comparison
to polytetraflouroethylene. This product, which American chemist
Roy J. Plunkett accidentally discovered in 1938, would play
a significant role in ending World War II and in saving countless
lives since.
Plunkett had been attempting to develop a nontoxic refrigerant
from gaseous tetraflouroethylene. Instead, he came up with
polytetraflouroethylene, commonly known as Teflon, which was
first used in the manufacture of gaskets and valves for the
atomic bomb. As a result, military doctrine at the strategic
level could switch from attrition to deterrence through mutual
assured destruction (a military strategy in which a full-scale
use of nuclear weapons by one of two opposing sides would effectively
result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender,
thereby deterring both sides from attacking). Because it contributed
to making doctrinal change possible, Teflon undoubtedly has
helped to save infinitely more lives than were lost at Nagasaki
and Hiroshima.
Polymers Today
Today, the world uses polymers in countless ways. Their medical uses alone are
too many to mention, but a few of the more common medical products made of polymers
include synthetic rubber catheters, airway openers, latex gloves, plastic tubing,
intravenous bags, cardiac stents, and autoclave instrument trays, as well as
the ubiquitous Band-Aid. However, the most advanced products of all are artificial
hips, knees, chins, noses, bones, and even corneas that are made of Teflon.
Advances in other polymers have equally significant applications today. For example,
scientists originally planned to use neoprene for plumbing insulation; however,
improvements in the product allow manufacturers to make clothing such as wetsuits,
dry suits, aircraft pressure suits, and space suit undergarments, which all have
great military significance. Military and commercial businesses use nylon to
make much more than just clothing, rope, and parachutes. Because of its wear
resistance when in bulk form, it is also perfect for making gears, bearings,
bushings, and other mechanical parts. Polyethylene, the product originally used
as a coating for cables, is the basic polymer used to make Kevlar for helmets
and body armor and Nomex for fireproof clothing.
Polymer products developed during the interwar period truly had a huge impact
on the outcome of World War II. Scientific advances during that period continue
to help militaries shoot, move, and communicate with greater ease, reliability,
and lethality while enabling technological advances to occur in virtually every
other field. Indeed, research will continue to enable scientists to develop new
polymers and further improve the ones the world currently uses, thus allowing
researchers to bring to fruition technology that was once unimaginable.
ALOG
Major Paul Wakefield is assigned to the 84th Army Reserve Readiness Training
Center at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, with duty as an instructor for the Department
of Logistics and Resource Operations, Army Command and General Staff College.
He has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Weber State University and a
master’s degree in administration and management from Lindenwood University.
