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The 20th aimed to destroy Japanese industry and kill or drive away its workers by burning the mostly-wood cities to the ground. The failure to achieve results with daylight, high-altitude, precision bombing in the unique operational environment over Japan led to a switch to low-level, nighttime, firebombing raids. The nationwide effort to manufacture the technologically-sophisticated B-29 included factories in Washington, Kansas, Nebraska, and Georgia turning out complete aircraft and thousands of sub-contractors producing smaller components and equipment.Īfter a long and challenging development phase, the B-29s of the 20th Air Force went into combat against Imperial Japan in June 1944 from bases in India and China and in November 1944 from the Mariana Islands. It also had advanced tricycle landing gear and was the first bomber to have an analog computer-controlled defensive armament system and a pressurized and heated fuselage that meant the 11-person crew did not have to wear oxygen masks and heavy, bulky clothing during long missions. Designed to fly farther, faster, and higher than any other bomber, the combination of the B-29’s aerodynamic, structural, and propulsion innovations allowed it to carry 5,000 pounds of bombs to a target 1,500 miles away while cruising at 220 miles per hour at altitudes up to 30,000 feet. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the most advanced propeller-driven airplane in the world in 1945, making it the ultimate definition of a “modern” airplane. As a new and deadly weapon, an atomic bomber, Enola Gay facilitated a turning point in human history as it ushered in the dawn of the Atomic Age and the threat of nuclear war.
The delivery system for these bombs, the Superfortress, represented the latest advances in American aeronautical engineering and bomber design, and its use in the skies over Japan reflected the evolution of strategic bombing doctrine. Another atomic attack on Nagasaki followed three days later. Truman said following the attack, “”Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima…The force from which the sun draws its powers has been loosed against those who brought the war in the Far East.” He later said, “The atom bomb was no “great decision.” It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.” Truman’s presidency is most often defined by his decision to drop the atomic bomb to end World War II that ultimately saved both Allied and Japanese lives.On August 6, 1945, the crew of a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare, called “Little Boy,” on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Today the Enola Gay is a permanent exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum. The initial blast killed 80,000 people and the final death toll has been estimated between 90,000-100,000. On the morning of August 6, Tibbets and his crew of 12 took off from Tinian in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific and headed for Hiroshima. The Enola Gay was one of 15 B-29 designed specifically for the transport atomic bombs. On the morning of August 5, Tibbets formally named the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, after his mother. Paul Tibbets, who by reputation, was considered the best flyer in the Army Air Corps was selected as the commander of the mission. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark.” Truman wrote about the atomic bomb, “We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. The declaration stated that if Japan did not surrender, it would face “prompt and utter destruction.” Japan ignored the ultimatum. On July 26, 1945, the Postdam Declaration was issued by President Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chang Kai-Shek calling for the surrender of Japan as outline by the Potsdam Conference.
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Truman had only assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt in April. This decision drop the bomb was made by President Harry Truman. Robert Oppenheimer and came about due to rising fears that Nazi Germany was developing nuclear weapons. The Manhattan Project was led by the United States along with the Great Britain and Canada under the scientific direction of Dr. Named, Little Boy, the bomb was developed by the Manhattan Project. 65 years ago today the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.