Okla-homey
8/6/2010, 05:52 AM
August 6, 1945: Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5858/hiroshima1fi4.jpg
Mushroom cloud shot from Enola Gay approximately 6 minutes post-release
65 years ago on this day in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world's first atomic bomb, over the city of Hiroshima.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/531/hiroshimamq1.jpg
Approximately 80,000 people are instantly killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the poisonous effects of the nuclear fallout.
U.S. President Harry S. Truman, discouraged by the Japanese response to the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender, made the decision to use the atom bomb to end the war in order to prevent what he predicted would be a much greater loss of life were the United States to invade the Japanese mainland.
And so on August 5, while a "conventional" bombing of Japan was underway, "Little Boy," (the nickname for one of two atom bombs available for use against Japan), was loaded onto Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets' plane on Tinian Island in the Marianas.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8730/hiroshima20bomb20that20kx8.jpg
Tibbets' B-29, named the Enola Gay after his mother, left the island at 2:45 a.m. on August 6. Five and a half hours later, "Little Boy" was dropped, exploding 1,900 feet over a hospital and unleashing the equivalent of 12,500 tons of TNT. The bomb had several inscriptions scribbled on its shell, one of which read "Greetings to the Emperor from the men of the USS Indianapolis" (the ship that transported the bomb to the Marianas) -- poignant since the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese sub after making its delivery and thousands of her crew perished while awaiting rescue in shark infested Pacific waters.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/2229/hiroshimawideweb430x323rp4.jpg
There were 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped; only 28,000 remained after the bombing. Of the city's 200 doctors before the explosion; only 20 were left alive or capable of working. There were 1,780 nurses before-only 150 remained who were able to tend to the sick and dying.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/803/hiroshima17ig4.jpg
According to John Hersey's classic work Hiroshima, the Hiroshima city government had put hundreds of schoolgirls to work clearing fire lanes in the event of incendiary bomb attacks. They were out in the open when the Enola Gay dropped its load.
There were so many spontaneous fires set as a result of the bomb that a crewman of the Enola Gay stopped trying to count them. Another crewman remarked, "It's pretty terrific. What a relief it worked."
Faced with the reality, scale and implications of this attack, the Japanese government remained stoic. It would take one more nuke dropped on August 9 before they faced reality and accepted a fate the Japanese had never before accepted. Unconditional surrender.
On August 15 the Emperor announced his acceptance of the Potsdam declaration. For the first time, the Japanese people heard his voice when it went out over the radio airwaves throughout what was left of Imperial Japan.
"Despite the best that has been done by everyone . . . the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage . . . . Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives . . . . This is the reason why we have ordered the acceptance of the [Potsdam Declaration] --Radio Broadcast of the Japanese Emperor, August 15, 1945
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 "Superfortress" made its maiden flight from the Boeing plant in Seattle, Washington in 1942. Thus, it was the only US bomber not already designed or built when WWII began. It was the largest bomber used in WWII by any nation.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/2663/b29drwg10qg.jpg
The B-29 was conceived in 1939 by Gen. Hap Arnold, who was afraid a German victory in Europe would mean the United States would be devoid of bases on the European side of the Atlantic from which to counterattack.
A bomber was needed that would fly faster, farther, and higher than any then available, so Boeing set to creating the four-engine heavy bomber. In just a little over two years, a corporate army of engineers and designers, without benefit of calculators (let alone computers,) put the world's most sophisticated and capable bomber on the Seattle tarmac.
Those guys did it with pencils, paper, and sliderules.
Eventually, 1620 B-29's were built by Boeing at their Wichita, Kansas plant. 357 were built under license by Bell at their Atlanta, Georgia plant and similarly, 536 were built by Martin at their Omaha, Nebraska plant.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/1563/b2941ul.jpg
A Superfort photographed with Tokyo below
The plane was extraordinary. The B-29 was designed for long distance, high altitude operation and utilized the favorable flying conditions afforded by sub-stratosphere flight.
Pressurized cabins meant the crew didn't have to wear heavy cold-weather gear or suck oxygen from a hose. In addition to standard oxygen equipment, the use of two turbosuperchargers on each of its four enormous rotary engines enabled "Superforts" to fly at a service ceiling in excess of 40,000 feet.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/6144/eeeeeeeeeusairp8qf1.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The four 18-cylinder Wright Model R-3350-23 engines developed 2200 horsepower each, giving the airplane a total of 8800 horsepower.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5089/b2910rm.jpg
B-29 front office. The "greenhouse" effect made pre-flight checks miserable. It could easily hit 120 degrees inside on a sunny summer day. Fortunately, it cooled off pretty quick once the engines were running and cooling air started to flow through the cockpit vents.
The airplane could carry a 10-ton bomb load and had for defensive armament 10 .50 caliber machine guns and one 20 mm cannon. The machine guns were housed in five power turrets, the cannon protruding from the tail turret. All turrets were actuated electrically and were remotely controlled from sighting stations within the heated and pressurized crew compartment.
Able to carry bombloads almost equal to its own weight at altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. It contained a duplicate set of controls and instrumentation aft of the pilots station at the flight engineer's station which could actually to be used to fly the plane in the event the front cockpit was destroyed by enemy fire. It also sported the first radar bombing system of any U.S. bomber.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3526/b29blimphanger1tx.jpg
One flying B-29 remains. Here's "Fifi" at an airshow in Akron OH. That's a blimp hangar in the background.
The Superfortress made its maiden run over the continental United States on September 21, but would not make its bombing-run debut until June 5, 1944, against Bangkok, in preparation for the Allied liberation of Burma from Japanese occupation.
A little more than a week later, the B-29 made its first run against the Japanese mainland. On June 14, 60 B-29s based in Chengtu, China, bombed an iron and steel works factory on Honshu Island.
Meanwhile, the Marianas Islands in the South Pacific were being recaptured by the United States, primarily to provide air bases for their new B-29s -- a perfect position from which to strike the Japanese mainland on a consistent and constant basis.
Once the bases were ready, the B-29s were employed in a long bombing campaign against Tokyo and other important Japanese cities. Incidentally, our Andersen AFB with its multiple 10,000 runways on Guam is a remnant of this period. As late as 1973, we were bombing North Vietnam from the huge bomber base on Guam. A very cool place that positively drips with memories of great men who flew their missions and put bombs on target no matter what.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3037/bguamfltline26wd.jpg
Approaching Anderson -- looking southwest. Note the cliffs at the approach end of the multiple parallel runways.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/6637/bfinalassault3ks.jpg
These missions against the Japanese homeland were'nt all "milkruns."
Although capable of precision bombing at high altitudes, the decentralized "cottage"-based industries in many Japanese cities, the much higher wind speeds aloft, and the extensive Nipponese use of wooden structures, convinced US air leaders the way to go was dropping incendiary devices from a mere 5,000 feet. This, firebombing in an attempt to destroy the cities and break the will of the Axis power became the policy.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3152/b2978rs.jpg
Formation bombing was the norm
One such firebombing raid in March 1945 killed more than 80,000 people in a single day. But the most famous, or perhaps infamous, use of the B-29 would come in August as it was the only plane capable of delivering a 10,000-pound bomb--the atomic bomb.
The Enola Gay and the Bock's Car took off from Tinian, Guam's sister island in the northern Marianas, on August 6 and 9, respectively, and flew into history.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9599/eeeeeeeeeeeeeee51749729lp9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8629/eeeeeeeb29superfortressartnt3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/9862/bvalorinthepacific9zh.jpg
Another 1945 morning's "aluminum overcast" enroute to pound Japan.
Just 15 years after the B-29 roll-out, the boys in Seattle were at it again designing a turbo-jet powered replacement for the B-29/B-50 that become the B-52 "Stratofortress" (a/k/a "BUFF") which is still in service today.
Right here in Tulsa, the Nordam Group employs about 650 Okies making modernization and maintenance modifications to the BUFF which is a direct descendent of the B-29.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/508/eeeeeeeeeeeb52acp9.png (http://imageshack.us)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7166/insane7zopp6.jpg
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5858/hiroshima1fi4.jpg
Mushroom cloud shot from Enola Gay approximately 6 minutes post-release
65 years ago on this day in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world's first atomic bomb, over the city of Hiroshima.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/531/hiroshimamq1.jpg
Approximately 80,000 people are instantly killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the poisonous effects of the nuclear fallout.
U.S. President Harry S. Truman, discouraged by the Japanese response to the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender, made the decision to use the atom bomb to end the war in order to prevent what he predicted would be a much greater loss of life were the United States to invade the Japanese mainland.
And so on August 5, while a "conventional" bombing of Japan was underway, "Little Boy," (the nickname for one of two atom bombs available for use against Japan), was loaded onto Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets' plane on Tinian Island in the Marianas.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8730/hiroshima20bomb20that20kx8.jpg
Tibbets' B-29, named the Enola Gay after his mother, left the island at 2:45 a.m. on August 6. Five and a half hours later, "Little Boy" was dropped, exploding 1,900 feet over a hospital and unleashing the equivalent of 12,500 tons of TNT. The bomb had several inscriptions scribbled on its shell, one of which read "Greetings to the Emperor from the men of the USS Indianapolis" (the ship that transported the bomb to the Marianas) -- poignant since the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese sub after making its delivery and thousands of her crew perished while awaiting rescue in shark infested Pacific waters.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/2229/hiroshimawideweb430x323rp4.jpg
There were 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped; only 28,000 remained after the bombing. Of the city's 200 doctors before the explosion; only 20 were left alive or capable of working. There were 1,780 nurses before-only 150 remained who were able to tend to the sick and dying.
http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/803/hiroshima17ig4.jpg
According to John Hersey's classic work Hiroshima, the Hiroshima city government had put hundreds of schoolgirls to work clearing fire lanes in the event of incendiary bomb attacks. They were out in the open when the Enola Gay dropped its load.
There were so many spontaneous fires set as a result of the bomb that a crewman of the Enola Gay stopped trying to count them. Another crewman remarked, "It's pretty terrific. What a relief it worked."
Faced with the reality, scale and implications of this attack, the Japanese government remained stoic. It would take one more nuke dropped on August 9 before they faced reality and accepted a fate the Japanese had never before accepted. Unconditional surrender.
On August 15 the Emperor announced his acceptance of the Potsdam declaration. For the first time, the Japanese people heard his voice when it went out over the radio airwaves throughout what was left of Imperial Japan.
"Despite the best that has been done by everyone . . . the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage . . . . Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives . . . . This is the reason why we have ordered the acceptance of the [Potsdam Declaration] --Radio Broadcast of the Japanese Emperor, August 15, 1945
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 "Superfortress" made its maiden flight from the Boeing plant in Seattle, Washington in 1942. Thus, it was the only US bomber not already designed or built when WWII began. It was the largest bomber used in WWII by any nation.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/2663/b29drwg10qg.jpg
The B-29 was conceived in 1939 by Gen. Hap Arnold, who was afraid a German victory in Europe would mean the United States would be devoid of bases on the European side of the Atlantic from which to counterattack.
A bomber was needed that would fly faster, farther, and higher than any then available, so Boeing set to creating the four-engine heavy bomber. In just a little over two years, a corporate army of engineers and designers, without benefit of calculators (let alone computers,) put the world's most sophisticated and capable bomber on the Seattle tarmac.
Those guys did it with pencils, paper, and sliderules.
Eventually, 1620 B-29's were built by Boeing at their Wichita, Kansas plant. 357 were built under license by Bell at their Atlanta, Georgia plant and similarly, 536 were built by Martin at their Omaha, Nebraska plant.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/1563/b2941ul.jpg
A Superfort photographed with Tokyo below
The plane was extraordinary. The B-29 was designed for long distance, high altitude operation and utilized the favorable flying conditions afforded by sub-stratosphere flight.
Pressurized cabins meant the crew didn't have to wear heavy cold-weather gear or suck oxygen from a hose. In addition to standard oxygen equipment, the use of two turbosuperchargers on each of its four enormous rotary engines enabled "Superforts" to fly at a service ceiling in excess of 40,000 feet.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/6144/eeeeeeeeeusairp8qf1.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The four 18-cylinder Wright Model R-3350-23 engines developed 2200 horsepower each, giving the airplane a total of 8800 horsepower.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5089/b2910rm.jpg
B-29 front office. The "greenhouse" effect made pre-flight checks miserable. It could easily hit 120 degrees inside on a sunny summer day. Fortunately, it cooled off pretty quick once the engines were running and cooling air started to flow through the cockpit vents.
The airplane could carry a 10-ton bomb load and had for defensive armament 10 .50 caliber machine guns and one 20 mm cannon. The machine guns were housed in five power turrets, the cannon protruding from the tail turret. All turrets were actuated electrically and were remotely controlled from sighting stations within the heated and pressurized crew compartment.
Able to carry bombloads almost equal to its own weight at altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. It contained a duplicate set of controls and instrumentation aft of the pilots station at the flight engineer's station which could actually to be used to fly the plane in the event the front cockpit was destroyed by enemy fire. It also sported the first radar bombing system of any U.S. bomber.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3526/b29blimphanger1tx.jpg
One flying B-29 remains. Here's "Fifi" at an airshow in Akron OH. That's a blimp hangar in the background.
The Superfortress made its maiden run over the continental United States on September 21, but would not make its bombing-run debut until June 5, 1944, against Bangkok, in preparation for the Allied liberation of Burma from Japanese occupation.
A little more than a week later, the B-29 made its first run against the Japanese mainland. On June 14, 60 B-29s based in Chengtu, China, bombed an iron and steel works factory on Honshu Island.
Meanwhile, the Marianas Islands in the South Pacific were being recaptured by the United States, primarily to provide air bases for their new B-29s -- a perfect position from which to strike the Japanese mainland on a consistent and constant basis.
Once the bases were ready, the B-29s were employed in a long bombing campaign against Tokyo and other important Japanese cities. Incidentally, our Andersen AFB with its multiple 10,000 runways on Guam is a remnant of this period. As late as 1973, we were bombing North Vietnam from the huge bomber base on Guam. A very cool place that positively drips with memories of great men who flew their missions and put bombs on target no matter what.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3037/bguamfltline26wd.jpg
Approaching Anderson -- looking southwest. Note the cliffs at the approach end of the multiple parallel runways.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/6637/bfinalassault3ks.jpg
These missions against the Japanese homeland were'nt all "milkruns."
Although capable of precision bombing at high altitudes, the decentralized "cottage"-based industries in many Japanese cities, the much higher wind speeds aloft, and the extensive Nipponese use of wooden structures, convinced US air leaders the way to go was dropping incendiary devices from a mere 5,000 feet. This, firebombing in an attempt to destroy the cities and break the will of the Axis power became the policy.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3152/b2978rs.jpg
Formation bombing was the norm
One such firebombing raid in March 1945 killed more than 80,000 people in a single day. But the most famous, or perhaps infamous, use of the B-29 would come in August as it was the only plane capable of delivering a 10,000-pound bomb--the atomic bomb.
The Enola Gay and the Bock's Car took off from Tinian, Guam's sister island in the northern Marianas, on August 6 and 9, respectively, and flew into history.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9599/eeeeeeeeeeeeeee51749729lp9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8629/eeeeeeeb29superfortressartnt3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/9862/bvalorinthepacific9zh.jpg
Another 1945 morning's "aluminum overcast" enroute to pound Japan.
Just 15 years after the B-29 roll-out, the boys in Seattle were at it again designing a turbo-jet powered replacement for the B-29/B-50 that become the B-52 "Stratofortress" (a/k/a "BUFF") which is still in service today.
Right here in Tulsa, the Nordam Group employs about 650 Okies making modernization and maintenance modifications to the BUFF which is a direct descendent of the B-29.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/508/eeeeeeeeeeeb52acp9.png (http://imageshack.us)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7166/insane7zopp6.jpg