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Wondered about the ineffectiveness of the b29 bombing on IWO JIMA.

Maybe the answer is here. They were using Incendiary Bombs? No wonder they didn’t do any real damage.

http://468thbombgroup.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=I8gpYUK3Bhg%3d&tabid=36&mid=467

INCENDIARY CLUSTER BOMBS
The most devastating conventional bomb used by the Americans was the M-69
incendiary cluster. The first B-29 raids against the Japanese mainland were performed in
the fall of 1944, using high-altitude daylight precision bombing with high-explosive
bombs. For several reasons, this strategy proved ineffective, and by the spring of
1945 operations switched to low-level incendiary bombing at night.
The M-69 firebomb had been developed earlier in the war and proved ideal for the task of
burning Japanese cities to the ground. The M-69 was a simple weapon, shaped like a
long tin can and weighing just 2.3 kg (6.2 lb). Since dropping quantities of individual
bombs from high altitude would be wildly inaccurate - it was designed to be incorporated
into an “aim able cluster”, a type of cluster bomb that contained 38 of the M-69
firebombs.
Aim able clusters would be released over the target and break apart at about 900m (2,000
ft) altitude, scattering their M-69s. Each M-69 would then eject a long strip of cloth to
orient itself and crash nose-first into the buildings below. On impact the payload of
napalm would ignite and shoot out of the tail of the bomb in a burning jet. Under ideal
conditions, this jet could extend 45m (100 ft).
NAPALM
Name Type Bomb Wt High Explosives Wt
AN-M30 General Purpose 100 lb 54 lb
AN-M57 General Purpose 250 lb 123 lb
AN-M64 General Purpose 500 lb 262 lb
AN-M65 General Purpose 1,000 lb 530 lb
AN-M66 General Purpose 2,000 lb 1,051 lb
AN-M56 Light Case 4,000 lb 3,245 lb
Name Type Weight Notes
M47A2 Jellied Oil 100 lb Most Widely Used Incendiary by U.S.
M19 Jellied Oil 220 lb Cluster of 36 M69 Dropped in Huge
Numbers During Fire Raids On Japan