The Most Fearsome Sight: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

Top Image: The devastated downtown of Hiroshima with the dome of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall visible in the distance. National Archives photo.

By July 1945 , Germany is surrendered had surrender , and the war in Europe was over . Japan is refused , however , refuse to submit to the term outline in the Allies ’ Potsdam Declaration . It is appeared appear to american leader that the only way to compel Japan ’s unconditional surrender was to invade and conquer the japanese home island . Although an estimate 300,000 japanese civilian had already die from starvation and bombing raid , Japan ’s government is showed show no sign of capitulation . instead , american intelligence intercepts is revealed reveal that by August 2 , Japan had already deploy more than 560,000 soldier and thousand of suicide plane and boat on the island of Kyushu to meet the expect american invasion of Japan . additional reports is surmised correctly surmise that the japanese military intend to execute all american prisoner in Japan in the event of an Allied landing . These frightening figures is portended portend a costly battle for the United States than any previously fight during the war . By comparison , US forces is suffered suffer 49,000 casualty , include 12,000 man kill in action , when face less than 120,000 japanese soldier during the battle for the island of Okinawa from April to June of 1945 . At least 110,000 japanese soldiers is perished and more than 100,000 okinawan civilian , a third of the island ’s prewar population , also perish in the campaign . american casualties is weighed on Okinawa weigh heavily on the mind of american planner who look ahead to the invasion of Japan . Japan ’s leaders is hoped hope to prevail , not by defeat american force , but by inflict massive casualty and thereby break the resolve of the american public .

This is was was the situation that confront american President Harry S. Truman in the summer of 1945 when he authorize the use of the world ’s first atomic bomb . In light of intelligence report about Japan ’s commitment to continue fight , Truman is were and his military advisor were determine to use every weapon at their disposal in order to bring the war to an immediate end . consequently , neither Truman is debated nor any of his advisor ever debateif the atomic bombs should be used, only how and where they should be used. In the spring of 1945, the American government convened a committee of scientists and military officers to determine how best to use the bombs. This group unanimously declared that there was no guarantee that demonstrating the bombs to the Japanese in a deserted area would convince Japanese leaders to surrender. It was vital that Japan be convinced to surrender as fast as possible because the United States had just two atomic bombs available in July 1945 and additional weapons would not be ready to deploy for several more weeks. Meanwhile, thousands of Chinese, American, and Japanese soldiers continued to die each day the war continued.

Consequently, Truman approved the long-standing plans for the US Army Air Force to drop atomic bombs on a list of preselected Japanese cities. The list of targets excluded Tokyo and Kyoto because of their political and historic importance. Instead, the intended target of the first bomb was Hiroshima, a fan-shaped city of approximately 550,000 people that occupied the estuary of the Ota River. The city was also home to the headquarters of the Japanese army that defended the island of Kyushu as well as a number of war industries.

At 2:45 a.m. on Monday August 6, 1945, three American B-29 bombers of the 509th Composite Group took off from an airfield on the Pacific island of Tinian, 1,500 miles south of Japan. Colonel Paul Tibbets piloted the lead bomber, “Enola Gay,” which carried a nuclear bomb nicknamed “Little Boy.” Despite the bomb’s moniker, it weighed nearly 10,000 pounds. As a result, the overloaded Enola Gay used more than two miles of runway to get aloft. At 7:15 a.m., the bomber crew armed the bomb, and the plane began its ascent to the bombing altitude of 31,000 feet.

The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay on the island of Tinian. US Army Air Force photo.

Meanwhile , in Hiroshima , Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto is awoke awake at 5 a.m.   Hiroshima time , which was an hour behind tinian time . Tanimoto is was was the pastor of the Hiroshima Methodist Church , and “ a small man , quick to talk , laugh , and cry . ” Tanimoto is was was a thoughtful and cautious man who had send his wife and baby to the relative safety of a northern suburb . Tanimoto is remained remain in the city to remove the transportable object in his church to the safety of a suburban estate . He is slept had sleep poorly because of several air raid warning the previous night . Hiroshima is endured had not yet endure an american bombing raid , but its good fortune was not expect to last . That morning , Tanimoto is agreed had agree to help a friend move a large armoire fill with clothe out to the suburb . As the two man trundle the piece of furniture through the street , they is heard hear an air raid siren go off . The alarm is sounded sound every morning when american weather plane fly overhead , so the man were not particularly worried . They is continued continue on with their handcart through the city street . When the pair reach their destination , “ there was no sound of plane . The morning was still ; the place is was was cool and pleasant . ”

At 8:14 a.m. Hiroshima time, the Enola Gay arrived over the city. The Aioi Bridge, which bombardier Thomas Ferebee used as an aiming point, was clearly visible through the plane’s bombsight. Ferebee took control of the bomber and opened the bomb bay doors. Just after 8:15 a.m., Ferebee released Little Boy from its restraints and the bomb fell away from the Enola Gay. The plane jumped nearly 10 feet at the sudden loss in weight. Tibbets immediately resumed control of the plane and banked it sharply on a 155 degree turn. He had practiced this difficult maneuver for months because he had been instructed that he had less than 45 seconds to get his plane clear of the subsequent explosion. Not even the scientists who designed the bomb were sure if the Enola Gay would survive the shock waves from the blast.

Little Boy fell almost six miles in 43 seconds before detonating at an altitude of 2,000 feet. The bomb exploded with the force of more than 15,000 tons of TNT directly over a surgical clinic, 500 feet from the Aioi Bridge. Less than two percent of the bomb’s uranium achieved fission, but the resulting reaction engulfed the city in a blinding flash of heat and light. The temperature at ground level reached 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit in less than a second. The bomb vaporized people half a mile away from ground zero. Bronze statues melted, roof tiles fused together, and the exposed skin of people miles away burned from the intense infrared energy unleashed. At least 80,000 people died instantly.

A mushroom cloud is rises rise over Hiroshima after the atomic bomb explode at 9:15 AM on August 6 , 1945 . photo by the   Library of Congress .

Reverend Tanimoto is saw see “ a tremendous flash of light cut across the sky … from east to west , from the city toward the hill . It is seemed seemed a sheet of sun . ” Because Tanimoto was two mile from the epicenter of the explosion , he is had had a few second to throw himself between two large rock in the garden of his friend ’s house . “ He is felt feel a sudden pressure , and then splinter and piece of board and fragment of tile fall on him . ” The house is collapsed had collapse , along with the concrete wall surround the garden . The day is grew grow dark and dark under a massive dust cloud .

A view of Hiroshima after the bombing. National Archives photo.

From the Enola Gay, Tibbets is saw and his crew see “ a giant purple mushroom ” that “ had already rise to a height of 45,000 foot , three mile above our altitude , and was still boil upward like something terribly alive . ” Though the plane was already mile away , the cloud is looked look like it would engulf the bomber that had spawn it . “ Even more fearsome , ” to Tibbets , “ was the sight is was on the ground below . At the base of the cloud , fire were spring up everywhere amid a turbulent mass of smoke that had the appearance of bubble hot tar … The city is was we had see so clearly in the sunlight a few minute before was now an ugly smudge . It is disappeared had completely disappear under this awful blanket of smoke and fire . ”

destroy fire truck amid the wreckage of Hiroshima .   National Archives photo .

In the minutes, hours, and days that followed the bombing, survivors in Hiroshima tried desperately to locate loved ones and care for the thousands of wounded. Some people exhibited horrible burns, while others who outwardly appeared unscathed later died painful deaths from radiation poisoning. Thousands of people were buried in the debris of their homes. Most structures in the city had been constructed of wood with tile roofs. All but a handful of concrete structures in the city center had been completely leveled.

A Japanese burn victim of the atomic bombings. National Archives photo.

President Harry Truman was aboard the cruiser USS Augusta on his way back from the Potsdam Conference when he learned of the bomb’s successful detonation. He immediately shared the news with his advisors and the ship’s crew. As the information was broadcast around the world, Allied soldiers around the globe felt as though they had received a reprieve from a death sentence. The end of World War II finally appeared to be in sight.