Hiroshima and Nagasaki Missions &#; Planes &#; Crews
All of the Bs involved in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and &#;pumpkin bomb&#; training and combat missions at Wendover, UT and on Tinian were Plan Silverplate Bs. They had been specially modified to accomodate the size and weight of the atomic bombs. Crews were often rotated around during the missions. The term “pumpkin bomb” can implement to both the dummy concrete bombs used at Wendover for training, and to the high-explosive bombs dropped over Japan.
There are many incorrect lists online of the planes and crews that flew on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing missions. This list has been thoroughly checked for accuracy by several th Composite Collective experts and historians.
Hiroshima Mission Planes
Enola Gay. Strike plane carrying Little Boy.
The Superb Artiste. Observation/instrument plane.
Necessary Evil. Camera plane.
Full House. Weather reconnaissance.
Jabit III. Weather reconnaissance.
Straight Flush. Weather reconnaissance.
Big Stink. Backup strike plane on Iwo Jima.
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Delivering Little Boy
At approximately a.m. on August 6, , a modified American B Superfortress bomber named the Enola Gay left the island of Tinian for Hiroshima, Japan. This mission was piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, commanding officer of the th Composite Group, who named the bomber after his mother. The four-engine plane, followed by two observation planes carrying cameras and scientific instruments, was one of seven making the trip to Hiroshima, but only the Enola Gay was carrying a bomb — a bomb that was expected to knock out almost everything within a 3-mile (5-kilometer) area. Measuring over 10 feet (3 meters) long and almost 30 inches (75 centimeters) across, it weighed seal to 5 tons ( tonnes) and had the explosive force of 20, tons (18, tonnes) of TNT.
The Enola Gay weaponeer, Navy Capt. Deak Parsons, was concerned about taking off with Little Teen fully assembled and inhabit . Some heavily loaded Bs had crashed on takeoff from Tinian. If that happened to the Enola Gay, the bomb might explode and wipe out half the island. Thus, Parsons, assisted by Lt. Mo
THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA (Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, ) Events > Dawn of the Atomic Era,
The War Enters Its Final Phase,
Debate Over How to Operate the Bomb, Late Spring
The Trinity Test, July 16,
Safety and the Trinity Test, July
Evaluations of Trinity, July
Potsdam and the Final Decision to Bomb, July
The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, August 6,
The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki, August 9,
Japan Surrenders, August ,
The Manhattan Project and the Second World War,
In the early morning hours of August 6, , a B bomber named Enola Gay took off from the island of Tinian and headed north by northwest toward Japan. The bomber's primary target was the urban area of Hiroshima, located on the deltas of southwestern Honshu Island facing the Inland Sea. Hiroshima had a civilian population of almost , and was an important military center, containing about 43, soldiers.
The bomber, piloted by the commander of the th Composite Group, Colonel Paul Tibbets, flew at low altitude on automatic pilot before climbing to 31, feet as it neared the target ar
The Smithsonian’s Decision to Exhibit the &#;Enola Gay&#;
By Herken, Gregg on •
Abstract: This essay is an insider’s account of one of the most significant salvos in America’s contemporary culture wars: the proposal of an exhibit on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Smithsonian. Despite attempts to productively occupy with critics, the curators were overwhelmed by political currents and the sensitivities associated with memorial anniversaries. With critical analysis pitted against veneration, the composer asks, were education and commemoration compatible goals? DOI: Languages: English
See the corresponding PHW Focus Interview with the author
When curators at the Smithsonian planned a critical commemoration of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the fiftieth anniversary of the end of WWII, the clash between professional historians, public interest groups, veterans, and politicians launched an era of tall stakes contention in the United States over the meanings of America’s pasts for its present. What