Okla-homey
8/9/2007, 06:42 AM
Embrace the unspeakable horror and celebrate Peace thru Superior Firepower!
August 9, 1945: Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/22620/2001856233230372661_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001856233230372661)
Sixty-two years ago on this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan's unconditional surrender.
The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender. The United States had already planned to drop their second atom bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man," on August 11 in the event of such recalcitrance, but bad weather expected for that day pushed the date up to August 9th.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/23698/2006058621443105138_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006058621443105138)
So at 1:56 in the morning, a specially adapted B-29 bomber, called "Bock's Car," after its usual commander, Frederick Bock, took off from Tinian Island in the Northern Marianas under the command of Maj. Charles W. Sweeney. They faced an approximately 9 hour flight to the target city.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/23654/2001892909205134261_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001892909205134261)
The crew. Standing: Capt. Beahan, Capt. Van Pelt, Lt. Albury, Lt. Olivi, Maj. Sweeney. Kneeling: S/Sgt Buckley, M/Sgt Kuharek, Sgt Gallagher, S/Sgt De Hart, Sgt Spitzer
Nagasaki was a shipbuilding center, the very industry intended for destruction, because without ships, the island nation was harmless to the Pacific rim countries. The bomb was dropped at 11:02 a.m., 1,650 feet above the city.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/24144/2006010731445540487_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006010731445540487)
The mushroom cloud topped 60 thousand feet
The 22KT explosion unleashed the equivalent force of 22,000 tons of TNT. The hills that surrounded the city did a better job of containing the destructive force than at Hiroshima, but the number killed is estimated at anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 (exact figures are impossible, the blast having obliterated bodies and disintegrated records).
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/23654/2001867093062140576_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001867093062140576)
Ground zero
General Leslie R. Groves, the man responsible for organizing the Manhattan Project, which solved the problem of producing and delivering the nuclear explosion, estimated that another atom bomb would be ready to use against Japan by August 17 or 18-but it was not necessary.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/24245/2001869901269292054_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001869901269292054)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/22994/2001860157306025338_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001860157306025338)
Nagasaki before and after shots
Even though the Imperial War Council still remained divided ("It is far too early to say that the war is lost," opined the Minister of War), Emperor Hirohito, by request of two War Council members eager to end the war, met with the Council and declared that "continuing the war can only result in the annihilation of the Japanese people...." The Emperor of Japan gave his permission for unconditional surrender and with that, the Japanese people collectively threw in the towel, obviating the need for bloody invasion of the home islands by the Allies.
Over the years, there have been various academics who have posited the use of nukes versus Japan was unnecessary because they were already on the ropes. IMHO, those folks need to do a bit more study, focused on the Okinawa Campaign which finally concluded in June 1945, only about two months prior to the two atomic bombings. In addition to your correspondent, a prominent holder of this view is Victor Davis Hanson, who states it explicitly in his book Ripples of Battle:
...because the Japanese on Okinawa, including native Okinawans, were so fierce in their defense (even when cut off, and without supplies), and because casualties were so appalling, many American strategists looked for an alternative means to subdue mainland Japan, other than a direct invasion. This means presented itself, with the advent of atomic bombs, which worked admirably in convincing the Japanese to sue for peace, without American casualties.
Ironically, the American conventional fire-bombing of major Japanese cities (which had been going on for months before Okinawa) was far more effective at killing civilians than the atomic bombs and, had the Americans simply continued, or expanded this, the Japanese would likely have surrendered anyway. Nevertheless, the bombs were a powerful symbolic display of American power, and the Japanese capitulated, obviating the need for an invasion of the home islands.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/24377/2001844688233943821_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001844688233943821)
US "Shermans" knocked out by Japanese artillery on Okinawa
In 1945, Winston Churchill called the Okinawa battle "among the most intense and famous in military history."
Finally, to put the 22KT Nagasaki bomb in perspective, know that the explosive yield of a nuclear weapon is the amount of energy, called the yield, discharged when a nuclear weapon is detonated, expressed usually in the equivalent mass of trinitrotoluene (TNT), either in kilotons (thousands of tons of TNT) or megatons (millions of tons of TNT). Also note that full blast effects would extend many times beyond the fireball itself.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/22738/2006065622417087350_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006065622417087350)
The gravity weapon with which your correspondent had the most experience during his heady days in the Strategic Air Command was the relatively sleek classic B61 nuclear bomb; Mod 7 (up to 350KT = Nagasaki x18); Mod 10 -- 4 selectible yield options: 0.3KT, 1.5KT, 60KT (= Nagasaki x3), 170KT (= Nagasaki x8); and Mod 11(undisclosed yield). We still have quite a few in storage. This one is undergoing inspection and routine maintenance by SAC bomb wing munitions troops. BTW, the tail cone (with the fins) popped off at a certian point during delivery and a parachute popped out. That parachute retarded the fall and theoretically allowed us to GTF away (at 9 miles per minute) before she blew.
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/24110/2006079174670410235_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006079174670410235)
The biggest gravity nuke we had was the B53 nuclear bomb. At 9MT (that's the destructive equivalent of nine million tons of TNT) it was most powerful US warhead; no longer in active service, but 50 are retained as part of the "Hedge" portion of the Enduring Stockpile; similar to the W-53 warhead that has been used in the Titan II Missile, decommissioned in 1987.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/23374/2001868678383491347_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001868678383491347)
August 9, 1945: Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/22620/2001856233230372661_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001856233230372661)
Sixty-two years ago on this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan's unconditional surrender.
The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender. The United States had already planned to drop their second atom bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man," on August 11 in the event of such recalcitrance, but bad weather expected for that day pushed the date up to August 9th.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/23698/2006058621443105138_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006058621443105138)
So at 1:56 in the morning, a specially adapted B-29 bomber, called "Bock's Car," after its usual commander, Frederick Bock, took off from Tinian Island in the Northern Marianas under the command of Maj. Charles W. Sweeney. They faced an approximately 9 hour flight to the target city.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/23654/2001892909205134261_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001892909205134261)
The crew. Standing: Capt. Beahan, Capt. Van Pelt, Lt. Albury, Lt. Olivi, Maj. Sweeney. Kneeling: S/Sgt Buckley, M/Sgt Kuharek, Sgt Gallagher, S/Sgt De Hart, Sgt Spitzer
Nagasaki was a shipbuilding center, the very industry intended for destruction, because without ships, the island nation was harmless to the Pacific rim countries. The bomb was dropped at 11:02 a.m., 1,650 feet above the city.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/24144/2006010731445540487_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006010731445540487)
The mushroom cloud topped 60 thousand feet
The 22KT explosion unleashed the equivalent force of 22,000 tons of TNT. The hills that surrounded the city did a better job of containing the destructive force than at Hiroshima, but the number killed is estimated at anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 (exact figures are impossible, the blast having obliterated bodies and disintegrated records).
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/23654/2001867093062140576_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001867093062140576)
Ground zero
General Leslie R. Groves, the man responsible for organizing the Manhattan Project, which solved the problem of producing and delivering the nuclear explosion, estimated that another atom bomb would be ready to use against Japan by August 17 or 18-but it was not necessary.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/24245/2001869901269292054_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001869901269292054)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/22994/2001860157306025338_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001860157306025338)
Nagasaki before and after shots
Even though the Imperial War Council still remained divided ("It is far too early to say that the war is lost," opined the Minister of War), Emperor Hirohito, by request of two War Council members eager to end the war, met with the Council and declared that "continuing the war can only result in the annihilation of the Japanese people...." The Emperor of Japan gave his permission for unconditional surrender and with that, the Japanese people collectively threw in the towel, obviating the need for bloody invasion of the home islands by the Allies.
Over the years, there have been various academics who have posited the use of nukes versus Japan was unnecessary because they were already on the ropes. IMHO, those folks need to do a bit more study, focused on the Okinawa Campaign which finally concluded in June 1945, only about two months prior to the two atomic bombings. In addition to your correspondent, a prominent holder of this view is Victor Davis Hanson, who states it explicitly in his book Ripples of Battle:
...because the Japanese on Okinawa, including native Okinawans, were so fierce in their defense (even when cut off, and without supplies), and because casualties were so appalling, many American strategists looked for an alternative means to subdue mainland Japan, other than a direct invasion. This means presented itself, with the advent of atomic bombs, which worked admirably in convincing the Japanese to sue for peace, without American casualties.
Ironically, the American conventional fire-bombing of major Japanese cities (which had been going on for months before Okinawa) was far more effective at killing civilians than the atomic bombs and, had the Americans simply continued, or expanded this, the Japanese would likely have surrendered anyway. Nevertheless, the bombs were a powerful symbolic display of American power, and the Japanese capitulated, obviating the need for an invasion of the home islands.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/24377/2001844688233943821_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001844688233943821)
US "Shermans" knocked out by Japanese artillery on Okinawa
In 1945, Winston Churchill called the Okinawa battle "among the most intense and famous in military history."
Finally, to put the 22KT Nagasaki bomb in perspective, know that the explosive yield of a nuclear weapon is the amount of energy, called the yield, discharged when a nuclear weapon is detonated, expressed usually in the equivalent mass of trinitrotoluene (TNT), either in kilotons (thousands of tons of TNT) or megatons (millions of tons of TNT). Also note that full blast effects would extend many times beyond the fireball itself.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/22738/2006065622417087350_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006065622417087350)
The gravity weapon with which your correspondent had the most experience during his heady days in the Strategic Air Command was the relatively sleek classic B61 nuclear bomb; Mod 7 (up to 350KT = Nagasaki x18); Mod 10 -- 4 selectible yield options: 0.3KT, 1.5KT, 60KT (= Nagasaki x3), 170KT (= Nagasaki x8); and Mod 11(undisclosed yield). We still have quite a few in storage. This one is undergoing inspection and routine maintenance by SAC bomb wing munitions troops. BTW, the tail cone (with the fins) popped off at a certian point during delivery and a parachute popped out. That parachute retarded the fall and theoretically allowed us to GTF away (at 9 miles per minute) before she blew.
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/24110/2006079174670410235_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006079174670410235)
The biggest gravity nuke we had was the B53 nuclear bomb. At 9MT (that's the destructive equivalent of nine million tons of TNT) it was most powerful US warhead; no longer in active service, but 50 are retained as part of the "Hedge" portion of the Enduring Stockpile; similar to the W-53 warhead that has been used in the Titan II Missile, decommissioned in 1987.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/23374/2001868678383491347_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001868678383491347)