During the final stages of World War II, the United States blew up two nuclear weapons over Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The United States dropped a bomb after obtaining approval from the United Kingdom, as required by the Quebec Treaty. Both bombings killed at least 129,000 people, mostly civilians. They remain the only nuclear weapons used in the history of war.
In the final year of the war, the Allies were preparing to anticipate the bloody invasion of the Japanese mainland. This effort was preceded by conventional campaigns and bombings that destroyed 67 cities in Japan. The war in Europe was over when Germany signed the instrument of surrender on May 8, 1945. When the Allies turned their full attention to war in the Pacific War, Japan faced the same fate. The Allies called for unconditional surrender of the Japanese Imperial armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945 - the alternative was "immediate destruction". The Japanese ignore the ultimatum and the war continues.
In August 1945, the Allied Manhattan Project had produced two types of atomic bombs, and the United States Air Force Composite Air Force (AU) Group 509 was equipped with a special Silverplate version of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that could deliver them. from Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Orders for atomic bombs to be used in four Japanese cities were issued on July 25. On August 6, one of his B-29s dropped the Little Boy's uranium bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, the Bomb Man explosion-type plutonium bomb was dropped by another B-29 in Nagasaki. The bomb immediately destroyed their target. Over the next two to four months, the acute effects of the atomic bomb killed 90,000-146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000-80,000 people in Nagasaki; about half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. A large number of people continue to die from the effects of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, coupled with illness and malnutrition, for months afterwards. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizeable military garrison.
Japan announced its surrender to the Allies on August 15, six days after the Nagasaki bombing and Soviet war declaration. On September 2, the Japanese government signed an instrument of surrender, effectively ending World War II. The ethical and legal justifications for the bombings are still being debated to this day.
Video Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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Pacific War
In 1945, the Pacific War between the Empire of Japan and the Allies entered its fourth year. Most Japanese military units fought fiercely, ensuring that Allied victories would come at enormous expense. The 1.25 million total war casualties issued by the United States in World War II included military personnel killed in action and wounded in action. Nearly one million victims occurred during the final year of the war, from June 1944 to June 1945. In December 1944, American war casualties reached a monthly high of 88,000 as a result of the German Ardennes Attacks. American human reserves are running low. Delays for groups such as agricultural workers are tightened, and there are considerations for designing women. At the same time, the public became tired-war, and demanded that old servicemen serve sent home.
In the Pacific, the Allies returned to the Philippines, recaptured Burma, and invaded Kalimantan. Attacks were made to reduce the remaining Japanese troops in Bougainville, New Guinea and the Philippines. In April 1945, American troops landed in Okinawa, where fierce fighting continued until June. Along the way, the ratio of Japanese casualties to Americans declined from 5: 1 in the Philippines to 2: 1 in Okinawa. Although some Japanese soldiers were held captive, most fought until they were killed or committed suicide. Nearly 99% of 21,000 defenders of Iwo Jima were killed. Of the 117,000 Okinawis and Japanese soldiers defending Okinawa in April-June 1945, 94% were killed; 7,401 Japanese troops surrendered, an unprecedented large number.
When the Allies advanced to Japan, conditions became even worse for the Japanese. The Japanese merchant fleet declined from 5.250 million gross tons in 1941 to 1,560,000 tons in March 1945, and 557,000 tons in August 1945. The lack of raw materials forced the Japanese war economy to decline dramatically after mid-1944. The civil economy, which has gradually deteriorated throughout the war, reaching catastrophic levels in mid-1945. The loss of shipping also affected the fishing fleet, and the catch of 1945 was only 22% of it in 1941. The 1945 rice harvest was the worst since 1909, and hunger and malnutrition became expanding. US industrial production is very superior to Japan. In 1943, the US produced nearly 100,000 aircraft per year, compared with Japan's production of 70,000 for the entire war. By mid-1944, the United States had nearly a hundred aircraft carriers in the Pacific, much larger than twenty-five Japanese for the entire war. In February 1945, Prince Fumimaro Konoe counseled Emperor Hirohito that defeat was inevitable, and urged him to abdicate.
Preparing to invade Japan
Even before the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, plans were underway for the greatest operation of the Pacific War, Operation Downfall, Allied invasion of Japan. This operation has two parts: Operation Olympic and Coronet Operation. To begin in October 1945, Olympic was involved in a series of landings by the US Sixth Army intended to capture a southern third of Japan's southernmost main island, Ky? Sh ?. The Olympic operation will be followed in March 1946 by Operation Coronet, Kant's capture? Lowland, near Tokyo on the main island of Japan Honsh? by the First, Eighteenth and Tenth Army, as well as the Commonwealth Corps comprising the divisions of Australia, England and Canada. The target date is chosen to allow the Olympic to complete its goal, for troops to be deployed from Europe, and Japanese winter to pass.
Japanese geography made this invasion plan clear to Japan; they were able to predict the Allied invasion plan accurately and thus adjust their defense plans, Operation Ketsug? , accordingly. Japan plans an all-out defense Ky? Sh ?, With little left as a backup for the next defense operation. Four veteran divisions were withdrawn from the Kwantung Army in Manchuria in March 1945 to strengthen troops in Japan, and 45 new divisions were activated between February and May 1945. Most were immobile formats for coastal defense, but 16 high-quality cellular divisions. Overall, there are 2.3 million Japanese troops ready to defend the islands of origin, backed by civilian militias of 28 million men and women. The prediction of the victim varies widely, but is very high. Deputy Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Vice Admiral Takijir? ? nishi, predicted up to 20 million Japanese deaths.
A study from June 15, 1945, by the Joint War Plans Committee, which provided planning information to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated that the Olympics would produce between 130,000 and 220,000 victims in the United States, where US death toll would be in the range of 25,000. to 46,000. Spoken on June 15, 1945, after the insights gained from the Battle of Okinawa, the study noted inadequate Japanese defenses due to the highly effective sea blockade and the American bombing campaign. US Army Chief of Staff, Army General George Marshall, and Armed Forces Commander in the Pacific, Army General Douglas MacArthur, signed documents in accordance with the Joint War Plan Committee estimates.
Americans are concerned with Japan's buildup, which is accurately tracked through Ultra intelligence. Minister of War Henry L. Stimson was quite concerned about America's big estimate of the possible casualties to commission its own research by Quincy Wright and William Shockley. Wright and Shockley spoke with Colonel James McCormack and Dean Rusk, and examined the victim's estimates by Michael E. DeBakey and Gilbert Beebe. Wright and Shockley expect the attacking Allied to suffer between 1.7 and 4 million casualties in such a scenario, of which between 400,000 and 800,000 will die, while Japanese casualties will be around 5 to 10 million.
Marshall began contemplating the use of weapons that are "readily available and which can certainly lower costs in American life": toxic gases. Quantities of phosgene, mustard gas, tear gas and cyanogen chloride were transferred to Luzon from piles in Australia and New Guinea in preparation for Olympic Operations, and MacArthur ensured that the Warfare Chemical Service unit was trained in its use. Consideration is also given to use biological weapons against Japan.
Air strikes in Japan
While the United States has developed plans for air campaigns against Japan before the Pacific War, the capture of Allied base in the western Pacific in the first weeks of conflict means that this attack did not begin until mid-1944 when the Boeing B-29 Superfortress range became available for use in combat. Operation Matterhorn involves B-29s based in India that deploy bases around Chengdu in China to create a series of attacks on strategic targets in Japan. This effort failed to achieve the strategic objectives intended by its planners, mainly because of logistical problems, mechanical difficulties of bombers, the vulnerability of the Chinese staging base, and the extreme reach required to reach major Japanese cities.
Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell decided that Guam, Tinian, and Saipan in the Mariana Islands would be better served as B-29 base, but they were in Japanese hands. The strategy was shifted to accommodate the air war, and the islands were captured between June and August 1944. Air bases were developed, and B-29 operations began from Marianas in October 1944. These bases were easily replenished by cargo ships. The bombing commander XXI started a mission against Japan on November 18, 1944. Early attempts to bomb Japan from Marianas proved equally ineffective with the B-29 based in China. Hansell continued the practice of doing so-called high-altitude precision bombings, aimed at key industries and transport networks, even after these tactics did not yield acceptable results. This effort proved unsuccessful due to logistical difficulties with remote locations, technical problems with new and sophisticated aircraft, unfavorable weather conditions, and enemy action.
Hansell's successor, Major General Curtis LeMay, took command in January 1945 and initially continued to use the same precision bombing tactic, with the same result unsatisfactory. The attacks were originally targeted at major industrial facilities but many of Japan's manufacturing processes were conducted in small workshops and private homes. Under pressure from United States Air Force (USAAF) headquarters in Washington, LeMay changed tactics and decided that a low-level massacre attack on Japanese cities was the only way to destroy their production capabilities, shifting from precision bombing to regional bombing with burners. Like most strategic bombings during World War II, the purpose of air strikes against Japan was to destroy the enemy war industry, kill or paralyze civilian employees from these industries, and weaken civilian spirit.
Over the next six months, the XXI bombing Command under LeMay fired bombs into 67 cities in Japan. The Tokyo bombing, codenamed Operation Meetinghouse, on March 9-10 killed about 100,000 people and destroyed 16 square miles (41 km 2 ) from the city and 267,000 buildings in one night. It was the deadliest bomb attack of the war, at a cost of 20 B-29 shot down by flak and fighters. In May, 75% of the bombs dropped were burners designed to burn the "paper cities" of Japan. By mid-June, six of Japan's largest cities have been destroyed. The end of fighting in Okinawa that month gave the airfield closer to mainland Japan, allowing the bombing campaign to be further enhanced. Aircraft flying from Allied aircraft carriers and the Ryukyu Islands also regularly reached targets in Japan during 1945 in preparation for Operation Downfall. Firebombing turned to smaller cities, with populations ranging from 60,000 to 350,000. According to Yuki Tanaka, the US fired bombs into more than one hundred cities and cities in Japan. These raids are devastating.
The Japanese military was unable to stop Allied attacks and the preparation of the state's civil defense proved inadequate. Japanese fighters and antiaircraft guns find it difficult to use bombers flying at high altitudes. From April 1945, Japanese interceptors also had to face American combat fighters based on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. That month, the Japanese Imperial Army Air Service and Imperial Japan Navy Air Services stopped trying to intercept air strikes to preserve the fighters to counter the expected invasion. In mid-1945, Japan only occasionally ruffled aircraft to intercept B-29s who conduct reconnaissance surveillance across the country, to save on fuel supplies. In July 1945, Japan had 1,156,000 US barrels (137,800,000 liters) of avgas reserves for the Japanese invasion. Around 604,000 US barrels (72,000,000 l) were consumed in the home island area in April, May and June 1945. While the Japanese military decided to continue the attack on Allied bombers from late June, there are currently too few operational fighters available. to change this tactic to block Allied air attacks.
Development of atomic bomb
The discovery of nuclear fission by German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in 1938, and his theoretical explanations by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch, made the development of atomic bombs a theoretical possibility. Worries that the German atomic bomb project will develop the first atomic weapons, especially among refugee scientists from Nazi Germany and other fascist countries, are expressed in Einstein-Szilard's letter. This led to a preliminary study in the United States at the end of 1939. Progress was slow until the arrival of the UK MAUD Committee report in late 1941, indicating that only 5 to 10 kilograms of isotopic uranium-235 was required for bombs instead of natural uranium tons and neutron moderators such as heavy water.
The 1943 Quebec Agreement combines nuclear weapons projects from Great Britain and Canada, Tube Alloy and the Montreal Laboratory, with the Manhattan Project, under the direction of Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, Jr., of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Groves appointed J. Robert Oppenheimer to organize and head the Los Alamos Laboratory project in New Mexico, where the bomb-making work was done. Two types of bombs were eventually developed, both named by Robert Serber. Little Boy is a gun type fission weapon that uses uranium-235, a rare uranium isotope separated at Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The other, known as the Fat Man device, is a stronger and more efficient, but more complicated, nuclear-type nuclear weapon that uses plutonium made in a nuclear reactor in Hanford, Washington.
There is a Japanese nuclear weapons program, but lacks the human, mineral and financial resources of the Manhattan Project, and has never made much progress in developing the atomic bomb.
Maps Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Preparation
Organization and training
The 509th Composite Group was formed on December 9, 1944, and was activated on December 17, 1944, at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets. Tibbets are tasked with organizing and ordering combat groups to develop means of atomic weapons delivery against targets in Germany and Japan. Because the flying squadron of the group consists of bomber and transport plane, the group is designated as a "composite" unit and not a "bombing". Working with the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, Tibbets chose Wendover for his training base in Great Bend, Kansas, and Mountain Home, Idaho, for his remoteness. Each bombardment completed at least 50 drops of inert or conventional explosive explosive bomb drills and Tibbets stated the group was ready for combat.
The Composite Group 509 had the official power of 225 officers and 1,542 enlisted men, almost all of whom were stationed to Tinian. In addition to its legitimate power, the 509 has attached to it in Tinian 51 civilian and military personnel from the Alberta Project, known as Technical Detachment 1. The 503th Composite Group's 393d Bombardment Squadron is equipped with 15 Silverplate B-29s. These aircraft are specially adapted for carrying nuclear weapons, and equipped with fuel injection engines, Curtiss Electric reversible vane fields, pneumatic actuators for the opening and closing of bomb gate doors and other improvements.
The ground support echo of the 509 Composite Group was driven by a train on April 26, 1945, to the embarkation harbor in Seattle, Washington. On May 6 the supporting elements sailed on SS Victory for the Marianas, while group equipment was sent to the SS Emile Berliner. The Cape Victory makes a brief port call in Honolulu and Eniwetok but passengers are not allowed to leave the dock area. An advanced echelon party, consisting of 29 officers and 61 enlisted men flown by C-54 to North Field in Tinian, between May 15 and May 22. There are also two representatives from Washington, DC, Brigadier General Thomas Farrell, deputy commander of the Manhattan Project, and Rear Admiral William R. Purnell of the Military Policy Committee, who are ready to decide on higher policy issues in place. Together with Captain William S. Parsons, commander of the Alberta Project, they are known as "Joint Chiefs of Tinian".
Target selection
In April 1945, Marshall asked Groves to nominate a specific target for the bombing for his final approval by himself and Stimson. Groves set up a Target Committee, headed by himself, including Farrell, Major John A. Derry, Colonel William P. Fisher, Joyce C. Stearns, and David M. Dennison of USAAF; and scientists John von Neumann, Robert R. Wilson and William Penney of the Manhattan Project. The Target Committee met in Washington on April 27; at Los Alamos on May 10, where he can talk to the scientists and technicians there; and finally in Washington on May 28, where it was briefed by Tibbets and Commander Frederick Ashworth of the Alberta Project, and the Manhattan Project's scientific advisor, Richard C. Tolman.
The Target Committee nominated five targets: Kokura, home to one of Japan's largest munitions factories; Hiroshima, embarkation port and industrial center which is the location of military headquarters; Yokohama, an urban center for aircraft manufacturing, machine tools, docks, electrical equipment and oil refineries; Niigata, a port with industrial facilities including steel and aluminum plants and oil refineries; and Kyoto, the main industrial center. Target selection is subject to the following criteria:
- The target is larger than 3Ã, mi (4.8 km) in diameter and is an important target in big cities.
- The explosion will create effective damage.
- The target is unlikely to be attacked in August 1945.
These cities were largely untouched during the night bomb attacks and the Air Force Air Force agreed to leave them from the target list so an accurate assessment of the damage caused by the atomic bomb could be made. Hiroshima is described as "an important army depot and embarkation port in the middle of an urban industrial area.This is a good radar target and that is the size that most of the city can be widely damaged." There are adjacent hills, which may produce a focal effect that will greatly increase blast damage, because the river is not a good burner target. "
The objective of the Committee states that "It is agreed that psychological factors in the selection of targets are very important.These two aspects are (1) obtaining the greatest psychological effects on Japan and (2) making early use spectacular enough for the benefit of Weapons which will be recognized internationally when publicity is released. Kyoto has the advantage of more intelligent people and is therefore more able to appreciate the importance of weapons.H Hiroshima has advantages such as size and may focus from nearby mountains so that most cities can be destroyed.The Emperor's Palace in Tokyo has a greater fame than any other target but has the least strategic value. "
Edwin O. Reischauer, a Japanese expert for the US Army Intelligence Service, is said to have prevented the Kyoto bombing. In his autobiography, Reischauer specifically disputes this claim:
... The only person who deserves credit for saving Kyoto from destruction is Henry L. Stimson, the then War Secretary, who has known and admired Kyoto since his honeymoon there several decades before.
On May 30, Stimson asked Groves to remove Kyoto from the target list because of its historical, religious and cultural significance, but Groves pointed to the interests of the military and its industry. Stimson then approached President Harry S. Truman on this issue. Truman agrees with Stimson, and Kyoto is temporarily removed from the target list. Groves attempted to return Kyoto to the target list in July, but Stimson remained adamant. On July 25th, Nagasaki was included in the target list at Kyoto Place. It is a major military port, one of Japan's largest shipbuilding and repair centers, and an important manufacturer of naval arsenal.
The proposed demonstration
In early May 1945, the Interim Committee was formed by Stimson at the insistence of the leaders of the Manhattan Project and with Truman's consent to advise on matters relating to nuclear energy. During the meeting on May 31 and June 1, scientist Ernest Lawrence suggested that Japan provide non-combat demonstrations. Arthur Compton then remembers that:
It is clear that everyone will suspect a trick. If a bomb explodes in Japan with prior notice, Japanese air power is still sufficient to provide serious disruption. An atomic bomb is a complicated tool, still in a developmental stage. The operation will be far from routine. If during the last adjustment of the bomb to be attacked by Japanese defenders, the wrong move could easily result in some sort of failure. The end of the advertised power demonstration will be far worse than if the effort was not done. It is now evident that when the time of the bombs is used, there should be only one bomb available, followed by another in too long intervals. We can not get the chance that one of them might be useless. If the tests were conducted in some neutral territory, it is hard to believe that a determined and fanatical Japanese military man would be impressed. If such open tests are made first and fail to bring surrender, they will likely disappear to provide surprising surprises that prove to be very effective. Instead, it will make the Japanese ready to intervene with atomic attacks if they can. Although the possibility of a demonstration that will not destroy human life is intriguing, no one can suggest a way in which it can be made so convincingly that it will be possible to stop the war.
The possibility of a demonstration was raised again in Franck's Report issued by physicist James Franck on June 11 and the Scientific Advisory Panel rejected his report on June 16, saying that "we can propose that no technical demonstration tends to end the war, we see no acceptable alternative to direct military use. "Franck then took the report to Washington, DC, where the Interim Committee met on June 21 to re-examine the previous conclusions; but reiterated that there is no alternative to the use of bombs on military targets.
Like Compton, many US officials and scientists argue that demonstrations will sacrifice shock value from atomic attacks, and Japan can deny the deadly atomic bomb, making missions less likely to result in self-surrender. Allied war prisoners may be transferred to the demonstration site and killed by bombs. They are also worried that the bomb may be useless because the Trinity test is a stationary device, not a bomb dropped in the air. In addition, although more bombs are produced, only two will be available in early August, and they will cost billions of dollars, so using one for the demonstration will be expensive.
Leaflet
For several months, the US has warned civilians about the possibility of air strikes by dropping more than 63 million leaflets across Japan. Many cities in Japan suffer severe damage from aerial bombing; there are destroyed as much as 97%. LeMay thinks that leaflets will increase the psychological impact of the bombing, and reduce the international stigma of regional bombing cities. Even with warnings, the Japanese opposition to the war remained ineffective. In general, the Japanese regard the leaflet message as the truth, with many Japanese choosing to leave the big cities. The leaflet raised concerns that the government ordered the arrest of anyone caught having a leaflet. The brochure texts were prepared by Japanese prisoners of war recently because they were considered the best option "to appeal to their colleagues".
In preparation for dropping atomic bombs in Hiroshima, the Scientific Panel of the Interim Committee led by Oppenheimer voted against the demonstration bomb and opposed a special leaflet warning. The decisions are implemented because of the successful blasting uncertainty and also because of the desire to maximize surprises in leadership. No warning was given to Hiroshima that a new and much more destructive bomb would be dropped. Various sources provide conflicting information about when the last flyer was dropped on Hiroshima before the atomic bomb. Robert Jay Lifton writes that it is July 27, and Theodore H. McNelly writes that it is July 30th. The history of USAAF notes that eleven cities are targeted with leaflets on July 27, but Hiroshima is not one of them, and there is no sorting brochure on July 30th. Burning confinement was conducted on August 1 and August 4. Hiroshima may have been stripped naked in late July or early August, since survivor accounts talk about sending leaflets a few days before the atomic bomb is dropped. Three versions are printed from leaflets listing 11 or 12 cities targeted for fire bombing; total 33 cities registered. With the text reading of this leaflet in Japanese "... we can not promise that only these cities will be attacked..." Hiroshima is not listed.
Consultation with UK and Canada
Under the Quebec Treaty with Britain, nuclear weapons will not be used against other countries without mutual consent. That's why Stimson should get British permission. The Joint Policy Committee Meeting was held at the Pentagon on July 4, 1945. Marshal Field Sir Henry Maitland Wilson announced that the British government agreed with the use of nuclear weapons against Japan, which would be officially recorded as a decision of the Joint Policy Committee. When the release of information to third parties is also controlled by the Quebec Agreement, the discussion then turns to what scientific details will be revealed in the press announcement of the bombing. The meeting also considers what Truman can tell Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, at the upcoming Potsdam Conference, as it also calls for British approval.
The order for the attack was issued to General Carl Spaatz on July 25 under the signature of General Thomas T. Handy, the Chief of Staff who acted, since Marshall was at the Potsdam Conference with Truman. It reads:
- The 509th Composite Group, the 20th Air Force will provide its first dedicated bomb as soon as the weather will allow a visual bombardment after about 3 August 1945 on one target: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki. To bring military and civilian military personnel from the War Department to observe and record the effects of a bomb blast, additional aircraft will accompany the aircraft carrying the bomb. The aircraft observed will stay several miles away from the point of bomb impact.
- Additional bombs will be sent to the above target as soon as prepared by the project staff. Further instructions will be issued regarding targets other than those listed above.
That day, Truman noted in his diary that:
This weapon will be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I already told Sec. War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military and military and sailor goals are targets and not women and children. Even if Japan is a savage, cruel, merciless and zealot, we as world leaders for common prosperity can not drop that dreadful bomb in the old [Kyoto] or [Tokyo] new capital. He and I agree. The target will be purely military.
Potsdam Declaration
The success of July 16 Trinity Test in the New Mexico desert exceeded expectations. On July 26, Allied leaders issued the Potsdam Declaration, outlining the terms of surrender for Japan. The declaration was presented as an ultimatum and declared that without surrender, the Allies would attack Japan, resulting in "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese army and the same as the total destruction of the Japanese homeland". The atomic bomb is not mentioned in the communiqué.
On July 28, Japanese newspapers reported that the declaration was rejected by the Japanese government. That afternoon, Prime Minister Suzuki Kantar? declared at a press conference that the Potsdam Declaration was nothing more than a repetition of the Cairo Declaration and that the government intended to abandon it ( mokusatsu , "kill by Silence"). The statement was taken by both Japanese and foreign newspapers as a clear rejection of the declaration. Emperor Hirohito, who was awaiting a Soviet response to unscrupulous Japanese peacekeepers, did not seek to change the government's position. Japan's willingness to surrender remained dependent on the preservation of the kokutai (imperial institution and national government), the assumption by the Imperial Headquarters of responsibility for disarmament and demobilization, no occupation of the Japanese Islands, Korea or Formosa, and delegation of punishment war criminals to the Japanese government.
In Potsdam, Truman agreed to a request from Winston Churchill that Britain was represented when an atom bomb was dropped. William Penney and Group Captain Leonard Cheshire were sent to Tinian, but found that LeMay would not let them accompany the mission. All they could do was send a harsh signal to Wilson.
Bomb
The Little Boy bomb, except for uranium payload, was ready in early May 1945. There are two components of uranium-235, hollow cylindrical projectiles and cylindrical inserts. The projectile was completed on June 15, and entered the target on July 24. Projectiles and eight pre-assembled bombs (partially assembled powder-free bombs and fissile components) left Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, California, on July 16 on the USSÃ © cruiser ship, Indianapolis, and arrived at Tinian on July 26. The target insertion followed by air on July 30, accompanied by Commander Francis Birch of the Alberta Project. In response to concerns expressed by Composite Group 509 about the possibility of B-29 crashing take-off, Birch has modified the Little Boy design to include a removable breech plug that will allow bombs to be armed in flight.
The first plutonium core, together with a polonium-beryllium hedgehog initiator, is transported in Alberta Project courier prison, Raemer Schreiber, in a magnesium box designed for the purpose by Philip Morrison. Magnesium is chosen because it does not act as a tamper. The nucleus departs from Kirtland Air Force Airfield on a C-54 transport plane from the 320th Composite Group Composite Generating Squadron Squadron on July 26, and arrives at the 28th North Field. Three Pre-assembled Fat Man heavy bombs, designated F31, F32 and F33, were picked up at Kirtland on July 28 by three B-29s, two from 393d Bombardment Squadron plus one from the 216th Air Force Air Force Base Unit, and transported to North Field, arriving on 2 August.
Hiroshima
Hiroshima during World War II
At the time of the bombing, Hiroshima was an important city for industry and military. A number of military units are located nearby, the most important being the headquarters of Second General Army Marshal Shunroku Hata, who ordered the defense of all of southern Japan, and is located in Hiroshima Castle. Hata's orders comprise about 400,000 people, most of whom reside in Kyushu where the Allied invasion is properly anticipated. Also present at Hiroshima are the 59th Army headquarters, the 5th Division and the 224th Division, a newly established mobile unit. The city is maintained by five 7-cm and 8-cm (2.8 and 3.1 inches) anti-aircraft weapon batteries from the third Anti-Aircraft Division, including units of the 121 and 122 Airline Regiments and the 22nd and 2nd apart- 45. Anti-Aircraft Battalion. In total, an estimated 40,000 Japanese military personnel were stationed in the city.
Hiroshima is the base of supply and logistics for the Japanese military. The city is a communications hub, a major port for shipping, and an assembly area for troops. It is a honeycomb war industry, a manufacturing section for aircraft and boats, for bombs, rifles, and pistols. The city center contains several reinforced concrete buildings and lighter structures. Outside the center, the area is filled with a dense collection of small wooden workshops that are installed between Japanese homes. Several larger industrial plants lie near the suburbs. The houses are built of wood with roof tiles, and many industrial buildings are also built around wooden frames. The city as a whole is very vulnerable to fire damage. It is the second largest city in Japan after Kyoto is still not damaged by air strikes, mainly because it has no aircraft manufacturing industry that became the priority target of the XXI Command Bombers. On July 3, the Joint Chiefs of Staff put him out of bounds for the bombers, along with Kokura, Niigata and Kyoto.
The Hiroshima population had reached a peak of over 381,000 at the start of the war but before the atomic bombardment, the population continued to decline due to the systematic evacuations ordered by the Japanese government. At the time of the attack, the population was about 340,000-350,000. Residents wonder why Hiroshima has been spared from destruction by firebombs. Some speculated that the city would be housed for US occupation headquarters, others thought perhaps their families in Hawaii and California had petitioned the US government to avoid the Hiroshima bombings. The more realistic city officials have ordered the demolished buildings to create a long, straight flame. It continued to be extended and extended until the morning of 6 August 1945.
Hiroshima bombing
Hiroshima is the primary target of the first nuclear bombing mission on August 6, with Kokura and Nagasaki being an alternative target. 393d Bombardment Squadron B-29 Enola Gay , named after Tibbets mother and driven by Tibbets, departs from North Field, Tinian, about six hours flight from Japan. Enola Gay is accompanied by two other B-29s. The Great Artiste was ordered by Major Charles Sweeney, who carried instrumentation, and then an anonymous plane called Necessary Evil , commanded by Captain George Marquardt, who served as a photographer. airplane.
After leaving Tinian, the aircraft separately flew to Iwo Jima to meet Sweeney and Marquardt at 5:55 pm at 9,200 feet (2,800 m), and set the course for Japan. The aircraft arrives above the target in clear visibility at 31,060 feet (9,470 m). Parsons, who holds the mission commands, arms in-flight bombs to minimize risk during takeoff. He had witnessed four B-29 accidents and caught fire on take-off, and was afraid that a nuclear explosion would occur if the B-29 hit an armed little boy on a plane. His assistant, Second Lieutenant Morris R. Jeppson, unleashed the security device 30 minutes before reaching the target area.
During the night of 5-6 August, Japan's early warning radar detected the approach of a number of American aircraft to the southern part of Japan. Radar detected 65 bombers to Saga, 102 to Maebashi, 261 to Nishinomiya, 111 to Ube and 66 to Imabari. Warnings are given and radio broadcasts stop in many cities, among them Hiroshima. Which is clearly heard in Hiroshima at 00:05. About an hour before the bombing, air strikes were voiced again, as Straight Flush flew over the city. It broadcasts a short message taken by Enola Gay . It read: "Cloud cover less than 3/10 at all altitude Advice: main bomb." Which is clearly heard in Hiroshima again at 7:09.
At 8:09, Tibbets started his bombing and handed control of his bomber, Major Thomas Ferebee. The release at 8:15 pm (Hiroshima time) went as planned, and the Little Boy containing about 64 kg (uranium-235) took 44.4 seconds to drop from an aircraft with a height of about 31,000 feet (9,400 m) to High detonation of about 1,900 feet (580 m) above the city. Enola Gay covered 11.5 miles (18.5 km) before feeling the shock waves from the explosion.
Because of the cross, the bomb missed its intended point, the Aioi Bridge, about 800 ft (240 m) and blown directly over the Shima Surgical Clinic. This releases energy equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT (67 TJ), Ã, Â ± 2 kt. The weapon is considered very inefficient, with only 1.7% of its material resulting in fission. The total destruction radius is about 1 mile (1.6 km), with fires occurring at 4.4 square miles (11 km 2 ).
Enola Gay stayed in the target area for two minutes and ten miles away when the bomb was detonated. Only Tibbets, Parsons, and Ferebees know the nature of the weapon; others in the bomber are only told to expect a blinding flash and are given sunglasses. "It's hard to believe what we're seeing," Tibbets told reporters, while Parsons said "everything is amazing and amazing... people on board with me gasping 'My God'". He and Tibbets compare shock waves with "ack-ack blast".
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The people on the field reported pika ( ?? ) - brilliant flashes of light - followed by don ( ?? ) - a loud explosive sound. About 70,000-80,000 people, or about 30% of Hiroshima's population, were killed by explosions and firestorms, and another 70,000 were injured. Perhaps as many as 20,000 Japanese military personnel were killed. The US survey estimated that 4.7 square miles (12 km 2 ) of the city were destroyed. Japanese officials determined that 69% of Hiroshima buildings were destroyed and another 6-7% damaged.
Some reinforced concrete buildings in Hiroshima have been built very strongly due to the danger of earthquakes in Japan, and their skeletons do not collapse even though they are quite close to the center of the blast. Because the bomb was detonated in the air, the explosion was directed downward rather than sideways, which were largely responsible for the survival of the Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall , now known as Genbaku > (A -bombs) domes. The building was designed and built by Czech architect Jan Letzel, and is only 150 m (490 ft) from the ground zero. The destruction was renamed the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 over objections from the United States and China, who objected on the grounds that other Asian countries are the ones who suffer the greatest loss life and property, and the focus on Japan has no historical perspective. The bombardment started a fire that spread quickly through wooden houses and paper. As in other Japanese cities, the fire barrier proved ineffective. The intense fire began to destroy everything within a 2 kilometer (1.2 mi) radius.
Warning air strikes have been cleared at 7:31 am, and many people outside, go about their activities. Eiz? Nomura is the best known victim, residing in the basement of a reinforced concrete building (fixed as Rest House after the war) only 170 meters (560Ã, ft) from the zero point (hypocenter) at the time of the attack. He died in 1982, 84 years old. Akiko Takakura was among the closest people who survived the explosive hypocenter. He was in a solid Hiroshima Bank, only 300 meters (980 ft) from the ground zero at the time of the attack.
More than 90% of doctors and 93% of nurses in Hiroshima were killed or injured - mostly in the downtown area that received the greatest damage. Hospitals destroyed or severely damaged. Only one doctor, Terufumi Sasaki, remained in charge of the Red Cross Hospital. Nevertheless, by late afternoon, police and volunteers had set up evacuation centers in hospitals, schools and tram stations, and the mortuary was set up in Asano's library.
Most of the elements of the General Army's Japanese headquarters are in physical training on the Hiroshima Palace grounds, nearly 900 meters (820 m) away from the hypocenter. The attack killed 3,243 soldiers at the parade grounds. The communications room of Chugoku District Military Headquarters responsible for issuing and raising air strikes is in the basement of the castle. Yoshie Oka, a Hijiyama Girl High School student who has been mobilized to serve as a communications officer just sent a message that an alarm had been issued to Hiroshima and his neighbor Yamaguchi, when the bomb exploded. He used a special phone to inform Fukuya's headquarters (about 100 kilometers away) that "Hiroshima has been attacked by a new type of bomb, the city is in near-total collapse."
Since Mayor Senkichi Awaya was killed during breakfast with his son and granddaughter at the mayor's residence, Field Marshal Hata, who was only slightly injured, took over the city administration, and coordinated the relief effort. Many of his staff have been killed or seriously injured, including a Korean prince from the Joseon Dynasty, Yi Wu, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Japanese Army. Hata's surviving senior staff officer is the injured Colonel Kumao Imoto, who acts as chief of staff. Soldiers from the unhappy Port of Hiroshima Ujina use a suicide boat, intended to repel the American invasion, to gather the wounded and take them to the river to the military hospital in Ujina. Trucks and trains carry relief supplies and evacuate survivors from the city.
Twelve Americans were imprisoned at Chugoku Military Police Headquarters, about 1,300 feet (400 m) from the center of the blast. Most died instantly, although two were reported to have been executed by their captors, and two prisoners who were seriously wounded by the bombing were left next to the Aioi Bridge by Kempei Tai, where they were stoned to death. Eight US war deaders who were killed as part of a medical probation program at Kyushu University were mistakenly reported by the Japanese authorities for being killed in an atomic explosion as part of a cover-up effort.
Japan realization of bombing
The Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation control operator notices that the Hiroshima station has gone from the air. He tried to rebuild his program using another phone line, but it also failed. About 20 minutes later the Tokyo railway telegraph center realized that the main telegraph line had stopped working north of Hiroshima. From several small train stops within 16 km (10 mi) of the city came an unofficial and baffling report from a terrible explosion in Hiroshima. All of these reports were sent to the headquarters of the Imperial Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Military bases repeatedly tried to contact the Army Supervision Station in Hiroshima. The total silence of the city puzzled the General Staff; they knew that no major enemy attacks had occurred and that there was not enough explosive storage in Hiroshima at that time. A young officer was ordered to fly to Hiroshima immediately, to land, conduct a damage survey, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for staff. It was felt that nothing serious happened and that the explosion was just gossip.
The staff went to the airport and left for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 160 km (100 miles) from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a huge cloud of smoke from a bomb. After circling the city to investigate the damage they landed south of the city, where staff staff, after reporting to Tokyo, began to organize relief measures. Tokyo's first indication that the city had been destroyed by a new type of bomb came from President Truman's announcement of the strike sixteen hours later.
Events August 7-9
After the Hiroshima bombing, Truman issued a declaration announcing the use of new weapons. He stated, "We may be grateful to Providence" that the German atomic bomb project has failed, and that the United States and its allies have "spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history - and won". Truman then warned the Japanese: "If they now do not accept our requirements, they may expect rain of destruction from the air, which as never before seen on earth.Behind this air raid will follow the forces of the sea and land in such numbers and strength as they have not yet see and with the fighting skills that they are already aware of. "This is a speech broadcast widely by Japanese news agencies.
The 50,000-watt standard wave station at Saipan, OWI radio station, broadcasts a similar message to Japan every 15 minutes on Hiroshima, stating that more Japanese cities will face the same fate with no direct acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. and emphatically urged civilians to evacuate large cities. Japanese radio, which continues to reap the victory for Japan by never giving up, has told Japan about the destruction of Hiroshima with a single bomb. Prime Minister Suzuki felt compelled to meet the Japanese press, to whom he reaffirmed his government's commitment to ignore Allied demands and continue to fight.
Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov informs Tokyo of the Soviet Union's unilateral cancellation of the Soviet-Japan Neutrality Pact on 5 August. At two minutes past midnight on August 9th, Tokyo time, Soviet infantry, armor, and air forces have launched Strategic Manchuria Operation Attacks. Four hours later, the word reached Tokyo from the official declaration of the Soviet war. The Japanese Army's senior leadership began preparations for enacting emergency laws against the state, with the support of war minister Korechika Anami, to stop anyone trying to make peace.
On August 7, the day after Hiroshima was destroyed, Dr. Yoshio Nishina and other atomic physicists arrived in the city, and carefully examined the damage. They then returned to Tokyo and told the cabinet that Hiroshima was indeed destroyed by an atomic bomb. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, General Chief of Staff of the Navy, estimates that no more than one or two additional bombs can be prepared so they decide to withstand the remaining attacks, admitting "there will be more destruction but the war will continue". The American Magic code breaker intercepted the cabinet message.
Purnell, Parsons, Tibbets, Spaatz, and LeMay met in Guam on the same day to discuss what to do next. Because there was no indication the Japanese surrendered, they decided to continue by dropping another bomb. Parsons said that the Alberta Project would be ready on Aug. 11, but Tibbets pointed to a weather report that showed poor flying conditions that day due to the storm, and asked if the bomb could be set up on August 9. Parsons agrees to try to do so..
Nagasaki
Nagasaki during World War II
Nagasaki City has become one of the largest ports in southern Japan, and is particularly important in wartime due to its vast industrial activity, including weaponry production, ships, military equipment, and other war materials. The four largest companies in the city are the Mitsubishi shipyard, the Electric Shipyard, the Weapon Factory, and the Steel and the Weapon, which employ about 90% of the city's workforce, and account for 90% of the city's industry. Despite an important industrial city, Nagasaki has been spared from firebombs because its geography makes it difficult to find locations at night with AN/APQ-13 radar.
Unlike other target cities, Nagasaki has not been placed out of bounds for bombers by the Joint Chief of Staff directive on July 3, and bombed on a small scale five times. In one of these raids on August 1, a number of conventional explosive bombs were dropped in the city. Some people hit shipyards and dock areas in the southwest part of the city, and some ran into Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works. In early August, the city was maintained by the 134th Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the 4th Anti-Aircraft Division with four 7 cm (2.8 inch) anti-aircraft battery guns and two floodlight batteries.
Unlike Hiroshima, almost all buildings are ancient Japanese constructions, consisting of wood or wood-framed buildings with wooden walls (with or without plaster) and tile roofs. Many small industries and business establishments are also located in wooden buildings or other materials that are not designed to withstand explosions. Nagasaki has been allowed to grow for many years without complying with a definite city zoning plan; the residence was set up adjacent to the factory buildings and each other almost as close as possible across the industrial valley. On the day of the bombing, an estimated 263,000 people were in Nagasaki, including 240,000 Japanese, 10,000 Koreans, 2,500 Korean workers, 9,000 Japanese soldiers, 600 Chinese workers, and 400 Allied warlords in a camp in the north. from Nagasaki.
Nagasaki bombing
Responsibility for the second bombing time was delegated to Tibbets. Scheduled for August 11 against Kokura, the attack was moved earlier by two days to avoid a five-day forecast period of bad weather that will begin on August 10. Three pre-assembled bombs have been transported to Tinian, labeled F-31s, F-32s, and F-33s on the exterior. On August 8, rehearsal was performed from Tinian by Sweeney using Bockscar as a drop plane. The F-33 Assembly was issued to test components and the F-31 was set for the August 9 mission.
At 03:49 on the morning of August 9, 1945, Bockscar was flown by Sweeney's crew, carrying Fat Man, with Kokura as the main target and Nagasaki as a secondary target. The mission plan for the second attack was almost identical to the Hiroshima mission, with two B-29s flying an hour ahead as a weather scout and two additional B-29s on Sweeney's flight for photography instrumentation and support from the mission. Sweeney took off with his gun already armed but with an electric safety plug still involved.
During the Bockscar flight inspection, flight engineers told Sweeney that a malfunctioning fuel transfer pump made it impossible to use the 640 gallon US (2,400 liters, 530 metric gallons) of fuel carried in the reservoir. This fuel still has to be brought to Japan and back, consuming more fuel. Replacing the pump will take hours; moving Fat Man to another plane may take a long time and also dangerous, because the bomb is alive. Tibbets and Sweeney chose to have Bockscar continue the mission.
This time Penney and Cheshire were allowed to accompany the mission, flying as observers on the third aircraft, Big Stink, flown by the group's operations officer, Maj. James I. Hopkins, Jr. Observers on the weather planes reported both targets clearly. When Sweeney's plane arrived at the assembly point for its flight off the coast of Japan, Big Stink failed to make a meeting. According to Cheshire, Hopkins is at different altitudes including 9,000 feet (2,700 m) higher than it should be, and is not in the narrow circle above Yakushima as previously agreed with Sweeney and Captain Frederick C. Bock, who drove B-29 support The Great Artiste . Instead, Hopkins flies a 40 mile (40 km) dogleg pattern. Despite being ordered not to spin for more than fifteen minutes, Sweeney continued to wait for the Big Stink for forty minutes. Before leaving the meeting point, Sweeney consults with Ashworth, who is responsible for the bomb. As the plane commander, Sweeney made the decision to proceed to the primary, Kokura city.
After exceeding the nearly half-hour departure time limit, Bockscar , accompanied by The Great Artiste , went to Kokura, thirty minutes. The postponement at the meeting site has resulted in clouds and smoke floating above Kokura from a fire started by a massive bomb attack by 224 B-29 near Yahata the previous day. In addition, Yawata Steel Works deliberately burns coal tar, to produce black smoke. Clouds and smoke account for 70% of the area above Kokura closed, obscuring the point of aiming. Three bombings took place over the next 50 minutes, burning fuel and exposing the aircraft repeatedly to heavy defenses around Kokura, but the bomber could not be dropped visually. At the time of the third bombing, Japanese anti-terror shoots were getting closer, and Lieutenant Two Jacob Beser, who monitored Japanese communications, reported activity on Japanese combat-oriented radio bands.
After three runs over the city, and with spent fuel due to failed fuel pumps, Bockscar A few minutes later at eleven o'clock, The Great Artiste dropped the instrument attached to three parachutes. The instrument also contains an unsigned letter to Professor Ryokichi Sagane, a physicist at the University of Tokyo who studied with three scientists responsible for the atomic bomb at the University of California, Berkeley, urging him to inform the public about the dangers involved with these weapons of mass destruction. The messages were recovered by the military authorities but not handed over to Sagane until one month later. In 1949, one of the letter's authors, Luis Alvarez, met with Sagane and signed the letter. At 11:01, a last-minute break in the clouds in Nagasaki enabled Boccar banner spear , Captain Kermit Beahan, to visually target the target as instructed. The Fat Man weapon, containing a core of about 5 kg (11 pounds) of plutonium, was dropped over the industrial city valley. It exploded 47 seconds later at 1,650 Ã, Â ± 33Ã, ft (503 Ã, Â ± 10 m), on a tennis court, halfway between Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works to the south and Nagasaki Arsenal in the north. This is almost 3 km (1.9 mi) northwest of the planned hypocenter; The blast was confined to the Urakami Valley and most of the city was protected by hills that were blocking it. The resulting explosion releases the equivalent energy of 21 Ã, Â ± 2Ã, kt (87.9 Ã, Â ± 8.4Ã, TJ). Big Stink saw the explosion from a distance of hundreds of miles, and flew to observe. Bockscar flies to Okinawa, arriving with just enough fuel for one approach. Sweeney tried repeatedly to contact the control tower for permission to land, but did not receive an answer. He can see the heavy air traffic and take-off from Yontan Airfield. Firing any beacons on the board to alert the field to its emergency landing, Bockscar comes quickly, landing at 140 miles per hour (230 km/h) instead of the normal 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). Machine number two died of starvation of fuel as he embarked on the final approach. Touching in the middle of the landing lane, Bockscar bounced into the air again for about 25 feet (7.6 m) before slamming back hard. The heavy B-29 plane slid to the left and headed for a row of parked B-24 bombers before the pilot managed to regain control. The reversible propellers are not sufficient to slow the aircraft adequately, and with both pilots standing on the brakes, Bockscar makes a 90-degree angle at the end of the runway to avoid running from there. The second machine dies because it runs out of fuel before the plane stops. The flight engineer then measures the fuel in the tank and concludes that less than five minutes total remains. Following the mission, there is confusion over the identification of the aircraft. The first eyewitness accounts by war correspondent William L. Laurence of The New York Times, who accompanied the mission on the plane piloted by Bock, reported that Sweeney led the mission at The Great Artiste >. He also recorded his "Victor" number of 77, which belongs to Bockscar . Laurence had interviewed Sweeney and her crew, and realized they were calling their plane as The Great Artiste. Except for Enola Gay , none of the 393d B-29s does not have a name depicted in the nose, a fact that Laurence herself noted in her account. Unaware of the transition on the plane, Laurence thinks Victor 77 is The Great Artiste , in fact, Victor 89. Acara di lapangan
Although the bomb was stronger than the bomb used in Hiroshima, its effect was limited by the hillside to the narrow Urakami Valley. Of the 7,500 Japanese employees employed in the Mitsubishi Munitions plant, including "mobilized" and regular workers, 6,200 were killed. Around 17,000-22,000 others who worked at other factories and mills in the city also died. Estimated casualties for immediate deaths vary widely, ranging from 22,000 to 75,000. At least 35,000-40,000 people were killed and another 60,000 injured. In the days and months after the explosion, more people died because of their injuries. Due to the presence of undocumented foreign workers, and a number of military personnel on the way, there was a big difference in the estimated total deaths at the end of 1945; ranges from 39,000 to 80,000 can be found in various studies.
Unlike Hiroshima's military casualties, only 150 Japanese soldiers were killed instantly, including thirty-six from the 134th AAA Regiment from the 4th AAA Division. At least eight known POWs were killed in the bombing and as many as 13 people may be killed, including a British prisoner of war, the Royal Corporal of Ronald Shaw, and seven Dutch POWs. One American POW, Joe Kieyoomia, was in Nagasaki at the time of the bombing but survived, is reported to have been shielded from the effects of a bomb by a concrete wall in his cell. There are 24 Australian POWs in Nagasaki, all of whom survived.
A total destruction radius of about 1 mi (1.6 km), followed by fire in the northern part of the city up to 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the bomb. About 58% of Mitsubishi's Weapons Factory is damaged, and about 78% of Mitsubishi Steel Factory. Mitsubishi Electric Works suffered only 10% structural damage due to being on the border of the main destruction zone. Arsenal Nagasaki destroyed in le
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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