- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Inside story of the Nagasaki mission
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:14 pm
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:14 pm
quote:
Seventy years ago, on August 9, at approximately 3:47 a.m. local time on the island of Tinian, a massive B-29 Superfortress aircraft roared down a tropical airport runway, carrying 13 men and what was then the world’s most destructive weapon—an atomic bomb called Fat Man. It was the second atomic bomb in existence, and far more powerful than the first, called Little Boy, which had been dropped on Hiroshima just three days earlier.
For nearly eight hours, the crew sped toward mainland Japan, each man hunkered in a cramped workspace with no access to external radio communication. Outside, monsoon winds, rain, and lightning lashed at them. Inside, they experienced moments of terror, such as when the bomb began to arm itself—a red light blinking with increasing rapidity—midway to their destination. One of them, bearing the newly minted title “weaponeer,” grabbed the Bomb’s blueprints and raced to figure out what was wrong.
The story of what transpired inside the plane carrying Fat Man to Nagasaki, Japan, has not really been told in detail to this extent, although some excellent overall renditions have been written of the atomic bomb program as a whole. Bits and pieces of the story have appeared in the diaries of the men who flew the mission—although sometimes the diaries appeared years after the event, or were based on hurriedly scribbled, hand-written notes jotted down during the flight. Scrubbed versions have been published in military archives. A couple of accounts differ, suggesting false memories or outright lies, making the whole tale reminiscent of the famous Japanese film Rashomon.
It is a story of astonishing screw-ups that easily could have plunged the plane, the men, and the bomb into the Pacific Ocean. That the mission succeeded is genuinely miraculous. New, in-depth particulars of what went wrong, recounted here in a single narrative for what may be the first time, matter a great deal.
LINK
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:26 pm to Jim Rockford
Very interesting. That is almost a follow-up to this novel which I found fascinating :
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:27 pm to Jim Rockford
That last paragraph makes me sick.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:28 pm to OldTigahFot
IIRC, one of Clive Cussler's novels revolves around recovering a WWII atomic bomb from a mission that never made it to Japan.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:29 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
Fat Man. It was the second atomic bomb in existence, and far more powerful than the first, called Little Boy
Fat Man wasn't even a factor of two more powerful, and that doesn't rate "far more powerful" when talking about nuclear weapons in my book. More impressive was the relative efficiency. IIRC, Fat Man was 20% efficient at fissioning its core, while Little Boy was on the order of 1%. Also, hitting your target counts. Little Boy was more effective despite being less powerful, because the aiming was better.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:30 pm to Spock's Eyebrow
Hiroshima was also flatter. Nagasaki had mountains that shielded part of the city.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:33 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:Gaw.
a modern 8-inch nuclear artillery shell has about the same yield as the first atomic bomb [Little Boy, 10 feet long, 28 inches wide, and weighed 9,000 pounds].
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:34 pm to Spock's Eyebrow
By more effective... You mean it killed more innocent citizens.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:34 pm to Jim Rockford
The second bombing was entirely unnecessary.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:36 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
Hiroshima was also flatter. Nagasaki had mountains that shielded part of the city.
Definitely. The mountains exacerbated the miss, which was greater than for Hiroshima.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:41 pm to East Coast Band
The first one showed we had the power.
The second one showed that we were sadistic and crazy enough to use it repeatedly without descriminating. Women, children, whatever, we would buttfrick and annihilate the innocent population of anyone who fricked with us or didn't bow to our whims.
Now, since we are the only ones who have proven capable and willing to use these psychotic weapons of death, we fight like hell to ensure that no one else is allowed to even build them much less come close to using one.
We know the terror and power these weapons bring and we'll be dammed if anyone else gets a taste.
The second one showed that we were sadistic and crazy enough to use it repeatedly without descriminating. Women, children, whatever, we would buttfrick and annihilate the innocent population of anyone who fricked with us or didn't bow to our whims.
Now, since we are the only ones who have proven capable and willing to use these psychotic weapons of death, we fight like hell to ensure that no one else is allowed to even build them much less come close to using one.
We know the terror and power these weapons bring and we'll be dammed if anyone else gets a taste.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:42 pm to East Coast Band
quote:
The second bombing was entirely unnecessary.
Well, the first bomb didn't cause an immediate surrender. The Japanese government was dithering, and elements in the military wanted to enact a coup to continue the war. I'm not one to say the decision should be unexamined-there were a lot of motives, only one of which was to end the war quickly. . But hindsight is 20/20. I'm not going to second guess Truman and his advisors too much, coming on the heels of bloody assaults of Iwo and Okinawa, and facing the prospect of a much bloodier invasion of the home islands.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:45 pm to Jim Rockford
Bunch of got damned american hating candy asses in this thread
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:45 pm to East Coast Band
quote:Ahh, frick off.
The second bombing was entirely unnecessary.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:46 pm to Pkin
You do realize a full on invasion of the Mainland of Japan would've resulted in far more civilian deaths right? Not to mention tremendous loss in military lives on both sides.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:47 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
Then they took snapshots of themselves holding all the plutonium there was in the world.
Cool. What a good read.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:48 pm to USMCTiger03
quote:
By more effective... You mean it killed more innocent citizens.
quote:
The second bombing was entirely unnecessary.
There are some very ignorant people on this board. Read up on the atrocities the Japs committed and how suicidal they were during that era before you run your weiner washers, please.
This post was edited on 8/5/15 at 10:49 pm
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:49 pm to Pkin
quote:
That last paragraph makes me sick.
fricking pussy.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:55 pm to Rich Kotite
People these days have no idea. It's like they've never studied history.
Posted on 8/5/15 at 10:55 pm to USMCTiger03
I'm a female. You can go fuk yourself at any given time.
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News