Bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, During Enola Gay took off from Tinian and dropped a uranium gun-assembly bomb on Hiroshima. Some 70,000 people were killed instantly, and tens of thousands more would succumb to radiation poisoning within a year. On Aug. 9, 1945, the B-29 Bockscar lingered over its primary target of Kokura for some time, but the bombardier was unable to sight his aimpoint through heavy cloud cover. Bockscar then proceeded to Nagasaki, where it dropped a plutonium implosion bomb, instantly killing an estimated 40,000 people. As in Hiroshima, many thousands more would die later from the effects of radiation. On Aug. 10, 1945, one day after the bombing of Nagasaki, the Japanese government issued a statement agreeing to surrender under the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. Related Article Summaries

On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion immediately killed an estimated 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” The crew of the Boeing B-29 bomber, Enola Gay, which made the flight over Hiroshima to drop the first atomic bomb. Left to right kneeling; Staff Sergeant George R. Caron; Sergeant Joe Stiborik; Staff Sergeant Wyatt E. Duzenbury; Private first class Richard H. Nelson; Sergeant Robert H. Shurard. Left to right standing; Major Thomas W. Ferebee, Group Bombardier; Major Theodore Van Kirk, Navigator; Colonel Paul W. Tibbetts, 509th Group Commander and Pilot; Captain Robert A. Lewis, Airplane Commander. 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man' Are Dropped Hiroshima, a manufacturing center of some 350,000 people located about 500 miles from Tokyo, was selected as the first target. After arriving at the U.S. base on the Pacific island of Tinian, the more than 9,000-pound uranium-235 bomb was loaded aboard a modified B-29 bomber christened Enola Gay (after the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets). The plane dropped the bomb—known as...

Hiroshima: Before and After Aerial view of Hiroshima, Japan On August 6, 1945,at 8:15 a.m., the crew of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the first wartime atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, a bustling regional hub that served as an important militarycommunications center, storage depot and troop gathering area. The bomb, code-named "Little Boy," detonated withan estimated 15,000 tonsof TNT, destroying five square miles of the city and directly killing some 70,000 people. Final casualty numbers remain unknown; by the end of 1945, injuries and radiation sickness had raised the death toll to more than 100,000. In subsequent years, cancer and other long-term radiation effects steadily drove the number higher. Aerial view of Nagasaki, Japan Three days after the destruction of Hiroshima, another American bomber dropped its payload over Nagasaki, some 185 miles southwest of Hiroshima, at 11:02 a.m. Not the original intended blast site, Nagasaki only became the target after the crew found that city, Kokura, obscured by clouds. The Nagasakiexplosive, a plutonium bombcode-named “Fat Man,”weighed nearly 10,000 pounds and was built to produce a 22-kiloton blast. Its destructive force wiped out about 30 percent of the city. Some 60,000 to 80,000 people died in Nagasaki, both from direct exposure and long-term side effects of radiation. The crew of the Enola Gay. Left to right kneeling; Staff Sergeant George R. Caron; Sergeant Joe Stiborik; Staff Sergeant Wyatt E. Duzenbury; Private fi...

When photographer hibakusha—the Japanese word for those affected by the August 1945 attacks. “I sat at the Nagasaki Peace Park for hours trying to differentiate between tourists and locals who were visiting to pray for a loved one—they often wore juzu, or prayer beads,” says Sakaguchi, who immigrated to the U.S. from Japan as an infant in the 1990s. After five hours of people watching, she struck up a conversation with the daughter of a survivor, who agreed to introduce her to eight hibakusha. Survivors’ reluctance to discuss their experiences stems in large part from the The Last Survivors of Hiroshima have become increasingly common—a testament to both survivors’ willingness to defy the long-standing culture of silence and the pressing need to preserve these stories as hibakusha’s numbers dwindle. Aerial views of Hiroshima before (left) and after (right) the bombing When planning for the war in the Pacific's next phase, the U.S. invasion of mainland Japan, the Truman administration Throughout World War II, the Japanese code of bushido, or “way of the warrior,” guided much of Emperor Hirohito’s strategy. With its actions in bushido mindset led Japanese soldiers to view their lives as expendable in service of the emperor and consider suicide more honorable than yielding to the enemy. Later in the war, as American troops advanced on the Japanese mainland, civilians indoctrinated to believe that U.S. soldiers would torture and kill those who surrendered also started engaging...

Contents • 1 Background • 1.1 Pacific War • 1.2 Preparations to invade Japan • 1.3 Air raids on Japan • 1.4 Atomic bomb development • 2 Preparations • 2.1 Organization and training • 2.2 Choice of targets • 2.3 Proposed demonstration • 2.4 Leaflets • 2.5 Consultation with Britain and Canada • 2.6 Potsdam Declaration • 2.7 Bombs • 3 Hiroshima • 3.1 Hiroshima during World War II • 3.2 Bombing of Hiroshima • 3.3 Events on the ground • 3.4 Japanese realization of the bombing • 4 Events of 7–9 August • 5 Nagasaki • 5.1 Nagasaki during World War II • 5.2 Bombing of Nagasaki • 5.3 Events on the ground • 6 Plans for more atomic attacks on Japan • 7 Surrender of Japan and subsequent occupation • 8 Reportage • 9 Post-attack casualties • 9.1 Cancer increases • 9.2 Birth defect investigations • 9.3 Investigations into brain development • 10 Hibakusha • 10.1 Double survivors • 10.2 Korean survivors • 11 Memorials • 11.1 Hiroshima • 11.2 Nagasaki • 12 Debate over bombings • 13 Legal considerations • 14 Legacy • 15 Notes • 16 References • 17 Further reading • 17.1 Historiography • 18 External links • 18.1 Decision • 18.2 Effects • 18.3 Archives • 18.4 Bibliographies • 18.5 Commemoration White and green: Areas still controlled by Japan included Korea, Taiwan, Red: Allied-held areas Grey: Neutral Soviet Union In 1945, the In the Pacific, the Allies As the Allies advanced towards Japan, conditions became steadily worse for the Japanese people. Japan's merchant fleet declined from 5,250,000 ...

After the Interim Committee decided to drop the bomb, the Target Committee determined the locations to be hit, and President Truman issued the Potsdam Proclamation as Japan’s final warning, the world soon learned the meaning of “complete and utter destruction.” The first two atomic bombs ever used were dropped on Japan in early August, 1945. For a detailed timeline of the bombings, please see Hiroshima On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The bomb was known as “Little Boy”, a uranium gun-type bomb that exploded with about thirteen kilotons of force. At the time of the bombing, Hiroshima was home to 280,000-290,000 civilians as well as 43,000 soldiers. Between 90,000 and 166,000 people are believed to have died from the bomb in the four-month period following the explosion. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that after five years there were perhaps 200,000 or more fatalities as a result of the bombing, while the city of Hiroshima has estimated that 237,000 people were killed directly or indirectly by the bomb’s effects, including burns, radiation sickness, and cancer. The bombing of Hiroshima, codenamed Operation Centerboard I, was approved by Curtis LeMay on August 4, 1945. The B-29 plane that carried Little Boy from Tinian Island in the western Pacific to Hiroshima was known as the Enola Gay, after pilot Paul Tibbets’ mother. Along with Tibbets, copilot Robert Lewis, bombardier Tom Ferebee, navigator Theodore Van K...