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258 ENDGAME AND AFTERMATH 1944–1955

THE “LITTLE BOY” BOMB

FEBRUARY–AUGUST 6, 1945

Plans for the “Little Boy” uranium bomb to

be dropped on Hiroshima were completed

in February 1945. The device was built in three

separate locations in the US, partly assembled

on Tinian in the Mariana Islands, and then loaded

onto the B-29 Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul

Tibbets. The bomber took off from Tinian in the

early hours of August 6, accompanied by other

aircraft used to assess weather conditions and

measure the blast.

THE BOMB RUN AUGUST 6, 1945

After a six-hour flight, during which the bomb

was armed, the Enola Gay began its bombing run

at 8:09 am local time, releasing the weapon from

31,000 ft (9,450 m) at 8:15 am. The bomb took

44.4 seconds to fall to its detonation height of

about 1,900 ft (580 m) above the city. Enola Gay

traveled a further 11^1 ⁄ 2 miles (18.5 km) before it

felt the shock waves from the blast.

IMPACT AND AFTERMATH

AUGUST 6 ONWARD

“Little Boy” destroyed all buildings within a radius

of around 1 mile (1.6 km), with fires spreading across

a total of 4^1 ⁄ 4 sq miles (11 sq km). Some 80,000

people (about 30 percent of the population) were

killed by the blast and firestorm, including 20,000

soldiers, and 70,000 people were injured. A further

70,000 died by the end of the year, with many

more suffering from long-term cancers.

1

2

3

Aug 6 The

bombing route

of the Enola Gay.

8:15 am Aug 6

The bomb drops; 86

percent of people

within^1 ⁄ 2 mile

(0.8 km) are

killed instantly.

HIROSHIMA EXPLOSION

When the bomb “Little Boy,”

weighing around 9,700 lb (4,400 kg),

exploded over the center of

Hiroshima, people on the ground

saw a brilliant flash of light soon

followed by a loud boom.

Aug 6 Due to

crosswinds, the bomb

misses its planned target

and detonates 800 ft

(240 m) away over the

Shima Surgical Clinic.

Aug 6 The Prefectural

Industrial Promotion

Hall partly survives

the explosion; it later

becomes the Hiroshima

Peace Memorial.

As the war in the west came to an end in May 1945, the Allied forces

began drawing up plans to invade Japan. However, the Japanese had a

large number of troops, along with a vast civilian militia, and US military

planners feared that an invasion could result in a long-running conflict

with extensive casualties on both sides. They considered using chemical

and biological weapons, but, despite some opposition, President Truman

made the decision to use nuclear weapons (see pp.256–257) against Japan.

Three nuclear bombs were built. The first prototype was tested over the New

Mexico desert on July 16, 1945. The other two bombs were to be dropped on

the cities of Hiroshima and Kokura, chosen for their industrial and military

significance; however, poor weather conditions on the day of the attack

resulted in one of the bombers diverting from Kokura to Nagasaki. The two

explosions caused casualties on a vast scale, and their impact started a debate

about the morality of nuclear weapons that still rages today.

Area destroyed

Structures

destroyed

Structures partially

damaged

Army headquarters

13

,^00

0 ft

10

,^00

0 ft

6 ,^5

00

ft

1 ,

50

0 f

t

HIROSHIMA

Army

headquarters

District

headquarters

Fukuye department

store

Red Cross Hospital

City Hall

Prefectural

Industrial

Promotion

Hall

Ground zero

HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

On August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber dropped a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima that killed

around 80,000 people instantly and left 70 percent of the city’s buildings in ruins. A second

bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later, claiming another 40,000 lives. The bombs

helped to bring the Pacific war to an end, but at an appalling cost.

US_258-259_Hiroshima_Nagasaki.indd 258 19/03/19 7:28 PM