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The B-29 Superfortress The Atomic Bombings of Japan John Paul Jones hoists the Stars and Stripes It was an unfathomable decision to make. The president of the On the morning of 6 August 1945, seven B-29’s took off from 1777 on Ranger, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. United States, Harry S. Truman, was presented with a way to North Field and made their way towards to Hiroshima. An air possibly end the war in the Pacific which would have dire raid siren blasted at 0605 over the city, before an all clear 1863 The Battle of Gettysburg. consequences for thousands or even millions of people. What followed at 0719. At 0815, MAJ Thomas Ferebee released Little U.S. Army establishes the first organized air was worse was that if he chose the lesser of the two evils, it Boy from the Enola Gay’s bomb bay. Forty-four seconds later, 1907 fo r c e . could not guarantee that the war in the Pacific would come to the bomb detonated 1,900 feet above the city of Hiroshima over an end. The problem was how to bring about the unconditional the Shima Surgical Clinic. With the first bomb deployed and all A firestorm erupts in Hamburg, Germany after 1943 Allied airstrikes. surrender of Imperial Japan, and the options were to strike with aircraft safely accounted for, the U.S. ratcheted up it’s rhetoric an atomic weapon or to begin setting the stage for a massive on unconditional Japanese surrender and prepared for a second 1950 First contact of the Korean War occurs. Allied invasion that would dwarf the Overlord landings and atomic bombing run. could cause millions of casualties. USAF Academy opens at Lowry AFB in Finally on the morning of 9 August, a formation of six B-29’s 1955 C o l o r a d o . The culmination of the efforts presented in the Manhattan took off from Tinian bound for Kokura. However, a delay in First American casualties reported in Project had come to fruition with the demonstration in the arrival coupled with smoke from a large firebombing campaign 1958 V ie t n am. Trinity test on the morning of 16 July 1945. Much deliberation the night before nearby left the crew of the Bockscar needing to had been taken as to who would be present for the test. At one opt for the secondary target of Nagasaki. Like in the Hiroshima Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is signed by 1968 62 nations. point, the War Department had even considered including bombing, an air raid siren sounded in Nagasaki at 0750, but was Japanese officials to demonstrate the destructive capabilities followed by an all clear at 0830. The Japanese spotted the Apollo 11's Lunar landing mission puts the 1969 first man on the moon. the U.S. now had in it’s possession. This had been scrapped due instrument carrier and the strike package B-29 at 1053, but to worry about possibly failed tests and the suspicion that ignored them in presumption that they were on a 1970 Siege of Fire Base Ripcord begins in Vietnam. unless it was demonstrated in full carnage, it would not be reconnaissance mission. Minutes later at 1101, enough of a appreciated. break in the clouds allowed CPT Kermit Beahan to drop the Fat Man bomb from Bockscar. The bomb detonated 1,650 feet Target selection had already been completed by May of 1945, above a tennis court between two major military industrial with Kyoto being swapped in favor of Nagasaki at the end of targets. July. Each target had some various form of military significance ranging from headquarter locations to industrial capabilities. In the days that followed, the U.S. military continued numerous Where were the casings for both the Fat Man and Little Boy 1 atomic bombs (1945-1949) produced? Planning and preparations for the attack were complete by 26 incendiary and firebombing campaigns. However, by 11 August July with the U.S.S. Indianapolis’ arrival at Tinian’s North the Japanese had openly approached the U.S. to begin What were the two operational components of the Downfall 2 invasion plan? (The names of the operations.) Airfield in the Marianas. In the following days, the U.S. would negotiations for a peace treaty. By the time the Japanese urge the Japanese to surrender numerous times, including surrendered on 15 August, a third bombing target had been What was the name of the battle of the first military 3 confrontation in the Second Iraq War? (OIF) dropping warning leaflets across Kyushu and Honshu. selected, and planning for Downfall was close to completion (which included the use of tactical atomic bombs—up to eight). ANSWERS FOR JUNE 2020 QUESTIONS While hopeful for a rapid resolution through a show of force, the Which deployed combat brigade has the distinction of being United States was fully aware of the dedication of the Japanese. Death rates from the blast vary between ~130,000 to 1 “the Army’s first Stryker-equipped force?” At the same time the U.S. was planning the atomic strikes— ~230,000, and subsequent deaths from radiation have Operation’s Centerboard and Centerboard II—military planners occasionally been disputed. In comparison, D-Day estimates 2ID, 3d BDE and strategists were also grappling with the massive D-Day from Downfall were anticipated to be between 1.6 and 2.2 What was Rock Island Arsenal’s most publicized contribution to landings associated with November’s Operation Downfall. This million deaths, with as many as 17 million by the end of 1947. 2 the Korean War? operation however, was cancelled. The war had finally come to an end... The M20 Super Bazooka Which predecessor command of ASC adopted the mission of 3 being the “single point of entry” for Army Materiel Command? The B-29 Superfortress Operations Support Command (OSC) The Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Model 345) was one of the aircraft had been produced by the time production ended in most advanced bombers to fly during World War II. Flying 1946. higher, farther, and somewhat faster than it’s predecessor, the first prototype flew in 1942. With the advent of surface-to-air missile systems, the B-29 rapidly found itself outpaced and eventually replaced by jet During World War II, the B-29 was primarily active in the designs, such as the higher flying B-52 Stratorfortress and Pacific Theater, where longer distances were needed to travel the supersonic B-58 Hustler. between bases and targets. Outside of the Doolittle Raiders in 1942, the majority of mainland Japan airstrikes were Today there are only a handful of B-29’s remaining, and of carried out by B-29 Superfotresses. those surviving aircraft only Doc and Fifi are airworthy and able to fly. The B-29’s that were used in the atomic bombings of Japan were unique at the time, but later were only the first four of many “Silverplate” modified frames. The four -B 29’s that were capable of delivering atomic weapons by 1 August were limited to Enola Gay, Bockscar, Top Secret, and Full House. The 509th Composite Group, 313th Bomber Wing, Twelfth Air Force Immediately following the war, the B-29 was the sole was the unit equipped with Silverplate configured -B 29’s on Tinian in preparation for the Atomic Bombings on Hiroshima and Kokura deployment method for atomic weapons ahead of the B-36 (changed to Nagasaki mid-mission). It was unified into a formal Peacemaker in 1946. Bombardment Group in 1946. Today it is known as the 509th Operations Group and exclusively flies the B-2 Spirit Bomber. The B-29 continued to serve in many roles through about For answers to trivia, information on this month’s 1960, including bombing missions in the Korean War and early artifact spotlight, digital copies of old newsletters and reconnaissance efforts in Southeast Asia. Almost 4,000 more, visit the ASC History Office website at: https://aschq.army.mil/About-Us/History We are as trapped within history as is history trapped within all of us. THE ASC HISTORY NEWSLETTER Volume 10, Issue 10 July 2020 Presented to you by your friendly ASC History Office. Feel free to call or stop by our office for any of your history needs. Kevin Braafladt, Historian [email protected] Mark Struve, Assistant Historian [email protected] .
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