Part 2 (2/2)

After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 100 miles from Hiros.h.i.+ma, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb.

In the bright afternoon, the remains of Hiros.h.i.+ma were burning.

Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in disbelief. A great scar on the land, still burning, and covered by a heavy cloud of smoke, was all that was left of a great city. They landed south of the city, and the staff officer immediately began to organize relief measures, after reporting to Tokyo.

Tokyo's first knowledge of what had really caused the disaster came from the White House public announcement in Was.h.i.+ngton sixteen hours after Hiros.h.i.+ma had been hit by the atomic bomb.

Nagasaki

Nagasaki had never been subjected to large scale bombing prior to the explosion of the atomic bomb there. On August 1st, 1945, however, a number of high explosive bombs were dropped on the city. A few of these bombs. .h.i.t in the s.h.i.+pyards and dock areas in the southwest portion of the city. Several of the bombs. .h.i.t the Mitsubis.h.i.+ Steel and Arms Works and six bombs landed at the Nagasaki Medical School and Hospital, with three direct hits on buildings there. While the damage from these few bombs were relatively small, it created considerable concern in Nagasaki and a number of people, princ.i.p.ally school children, were evacuated to rural areas for safety, thus reducing the population in the city at the time of the atomic attack.

On the morning of August 9th, 1945, at about 7:50 A.M., j.a.panese time, an air raid alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the ”All clear” signal was given at 8:30. When only two B-29 superfortresses were sighted at 10:53 the j.a.panese apparently a.s.sumed that the planes were only on reconnaissance and no further alarm was given. A few moments later, at 11:00 o'clock, the observation B-29 dropped instruments attached to three parachutes and at 11:02 the other plane released the atomic bomb.

The bomb exploded high over the industrial valley of Nagasaki, almost midway between the Mitsubis.h.i.+ Steel and Arms Works, in the south, and the Mitsubis.h.i.+-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works), in the north, the two princ.i.p.al targets of the city.

Despite its extreme importance, the first bombing mission on Hiros.h.i.+ma had been almost routine. The second mission was not so uneventful.

Again the crew was specially trained and selected; but bad weather introduced some momentous complications. These complications are best described in the brief account of the mission's weaponeer, Comdr., now Capt., F. L. Ashworth, U.S.N., who was in technical command of the bomb and was charged with the responsibility of insuring that the bomb was successfully dropped at the proper time and on the designated target. His narrative runs as follows:

”The night of our take-off was one of tropical rain squalls, and flashes of lightning stabbed into the darkness with disconcerting regularity. The weather forecast told us of storms all the way from the Marianas to the Empire. Our rendezvous was to be off the southeast coast of Kyushu, some 1500 miles away. There we were to join with our two companion observation B-29's that took off a few minutes behind us.

Skillful piloting and expert navigation brought us to the rendezvous without incident.

”About five minutes after our arrival, we were joined by the first of our B-29's. The second, however, failed to arrive, having apparently been thrown off its course by storms during the night. We waited 30 minutes and then proceeded without the second plane toward the target area.

”During the approach to the target the special instruments installed in the plane told us that the bomb was ready to function. We were prepared to drop the second atomic bomb on j.a.pan. But fate was against us, for the target was completely obscured by smoke and haze. Three times we attempted bombing runs, but without success. Then with anti-aircraft fire bursting around us and with a number of enemy fighters coming up after us, we headed for our secondary target, Nagasaki.

”The bomb burst with a blinding flash and a huge column of black smoke swirled up toward us. Out of this column of smoke there boiled a great swirling mushroom of gray smoke, luminous with red, flas.h.i.+ng flame, that reached to 40,000 feet in less than 8 minutes. Below through the clouds we could see the pall of black smoke ringed with fire that covered what had been the industrial area of Nagasaki.

”By this time our fuel supply was dangerously low, so after one quick circle of Nagasaki, we headed direct for Okinawa for an emergency landing and refueling”.

GENERAL COMPARISON OF HIROs.h.i.+MA AND NAGASAKI

It was not at first apparent to even trained observers visiting the two j.a.panese cities which of the two bombs had been the most effective.

In some respects, Hiros.h.i.+ma looked worse than Nagasaki. The fire damage in Hiros.h.i.+ma was much more complete; the center of the city was. .h.i.t and everything but the reinforced concrete buildings had virtually disappeared. A desert of clear-swept, charred remains, with only a few strong building frames left standing was a terrifying sight.

At Nagasaki there were no buildings just underneath the center of explosion. The damage to the Mitsubis.h.i.+ Arms Works and the Torpedo Works was spectacular, but not overwhelming. There was something left to see, and the main contours of some of the buildings were still normal.

An observer could stand in the center of Hiros.h.i.+ma and get a view of the most of the city; the hills prevented a similar overall view in Nagasaki. Hiros.h.i.+ma impressed itself on one's mind as a vast expanse of desolation; but nothing as vivid was left in one's memory of Nagasaki.

When the observers began to note details, however, striking differences appeared. Trees were down in both cities, but the large trees which fell in Hiros.h.i.+ma were uprooted, while those in Nagasaki were actually snapped off. A few reinforced concrete buildings were smashed at the center in Hiros.h.i.+ma, but in Nagasaki equally heavy damage could be found 2,300 feet from X. In the study of objects which gave definite clues to the blast pressure, such as squashed tin cans, dished metal plates, bent or snapped poles and like, it was soon evident that the Nagasaki bomb had been much more effective than the Hiros.h.i.+ma bomb. In the description of damage which follows, it will be noted that the radius for the amount of damage was greater in Nagasaki than Hiros.h.i.+ma.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE ATOMIC EXPLOSIONS

In considering the devastation in the two cities, it should be remembered that the cities' differences in shape and topography resulted in great differences in the damages. Hiros.h.i.+ma was all on low, flat ground, and was roughly circular in shape; Nagasaki was much cut up by hills and mountain spurs, with no regularity to its shape.

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