In what year did the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki happen? Preparing for the bombing

Friends, before presenting a photo selection dedicated to the tragic events for Japan in early August 45th, a small digression into history.

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In fact, from a military point of view, there was no need for these bombings. The entry into the war of the USSR, and an agreement on this was reached a few months earlier, would therefore lead to the complete surrender of Japan. The purpose of this inhuman act was to test the atomic bomb in real conditions by the Americans and to demonstrate military power for the USSR.

As early as 1965, historian Gar Alperowitz stated that atomic strikes on Japan had little military significance. The British researcher Ward Wilson, in his recently published book Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons, also concludes that it was not American bombs that influenced the Japanese resolve to fight.

The use of atomic bombs did not really frighten the Japanese. They didn't even fully understand what it was. Yes, it became clear that a powerful weapon was used. But then no one knew about radiation. In addition, the Americans dropped bombs not on the armed forces, but on peaceful cities. Military factories and naval bases were damaged, but mostly civilians died, and the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army did not suffer much.

Most recently, the authoritative American magazine "Foreign Policy" published a piece of Ward Wilson's book "5 Myths about Nuclear Weapons", where he quite boldly for American historiography casts doubt on the well-known American myth that Japan capitulated in 1945 because it 2 nuclear bombs were dropped, which finally broke the confidence of the Japanese government that the war could continue further.

The author essentially refers to the well-known Soviet interpretation of these events and reasonably points out that it was by no means nuclear weapons, but the entry of the USSR into the war, as well as the growing consequences of the defeat of the Kwantung group, that destroyed the hopes of the Japanese to continue the war based on vast territories seized in China and Manchuria .

The title of the publication of an excerpt from Ward Wilson's book in Foreign Policy speaks for itself:

"It was not the bomb that won the victory over Japan, but Stalin"
(original, translation).

1. Japanese woman with her son against the backdrop of the destruction of Hiroshima. December 1945

2. A resident of Hiroshima, I. Terawama, who survived the atomic bombing. June 1945

3. American bomber B-29 "Enola Gay" (Boeing B-29 Superfortness "Enola Gay") lands after returning from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

4. Destroyed as a result of the atomic bombing of the building on the waterfront of Hiroshima. 1945

5. View of the Geibi area in Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. 1945

6. Building in Hiroshima, damaged by the atomic bombing. 1945

7. One of the few surviving buildings in Hiroshima after the atomic explosion on August 6, 1945 is the Exhibition Center of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 1945

8. Allied war correspondent on the street of the destroyed city of Hiroshima near the Exhibition Center of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry about a month after the atomic bombing. September 1945

9. View of the bridge over the Ota River in the ruined city of Hiroshima. 1945

10. View of the ruins of Hiroshima the day after the atomic bombing. 08/07/1945

11. Japanese military doctors are helping victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 08/06/1945

12. View of the cloud of the atomic explosion in Hiroshima from a distance of about 20 km from the naval arsenal in Kure. 08/06/1945

13. B-29 bombers (Boeing B-29 Superfortness) "Enola Gay" (Enola Gay, in the foreground on the right) and "Great Artist» (Great artist) of the 509th mixed air group at the airfield in Tinian (Marian Islands) for several days before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 2-6.08.1945

14. Victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in a hospital in a former bank building. September 1945

15. Japanese, injured in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, lies on the floor in a hospital in a former bank building. September 1945

16. Radiation and thermal burns on the legs of a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 1945

17. Radiation and thermal burns on the hands of a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 1945

18. Radiation and thermal burns on the body of a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 1945

19. American engineer Commander Francis Birch (Albert Francis Birch, 1903-1992) marks the atomic bomb "Kid" (Little Boy) with the inscription "L11". To his right is Norman Ramsey (Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., 1915-2011).

20. Atomic bomb "Kid" (Little Boy) lies on the trailer shortly before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Main characteristics: length - 3 m, diameter - 0.71 m, weight - 4.4 tons. Explosion power - 13-18 kilotons in TNT equivalent. August 1945

21. American bomber B-29 "Enola Gay" (Boeing B-29 Superfortness "Enola Gay") at the airfield in Tinian in the Mariana Islands on the day of return from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 08/06/1945

22. The American B-29 Enola Gay bomber (Boeing B-29 Superfortness "Enola Gay") stands at the airfield in Tinian in the Mariana Islands, from which the plane took off with an atomic bomb to bomb the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 1945

23. Panorama of the destroyed Japanese city of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. The photo shows the destruction of the city of Hiroshima, about 500 meters from the center of the explosion. 1945

24. Panorama of the destruction of the Motomachi district of Hiroshima, destroyed by the explosion of the atomic bomb. Taken from the roof of the Hiroshima Prefectural Commerce Association building, 260 meters (285 yards) from the epicenter of the explosion. To the left of the center of the panorama is the building of the Hiroshima Chamber of Industry, now known as the "Nuclear Dome". The epicenter of the explosion was 160 meters further and slightly to the left of the building, closer to the Motoyasu bridge at an altitude of 600 meters. The Aioi bridge with tram tracks (on the right in the photo) was the aiming point for the scorer of the Enola Gay aircraft, which dropped an atomic bomb on the city. October 1945

25. One of the few surviving buildings in Hiroshima after the atomic explosion on August 6, 1945 is the Exhibition Center of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a result of the atomic bombing, he was badly damaged, but survived, despite the fact that he was only 160 meters from the epicenter. The building partially collapsed from the shock wave and burned out from the fire; all the people who were in the building at the time of the explosion were killed. After the war, the "Genbaku Dome" ("Atomic Explosion Dome", "Atomic Dome") was fortified to prevent further destruction and became the most famous exhibit related to the atomic explosion. August 1945

26. A street in the Japanese city of Hiroshima after the American atomic bombing. August 1945

27. The explosion of the atomic bomb "Baby", dropped by an American bomber on Hiroshima. 08/06/1945

28. Paul Tibbets (1915-2007) waves from the cockpit of a B-29 bomber before flying to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Paul Tibbets named his aircraft Enola Gay on August 5, 1945, after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets. 08/06/1945

29. A Japanese soldier walks through the desert in Hiroshima. September 1945

30. US Air Force data - a map of Hiroshima before the bombing, on which you can see a circle at an interval of 304 m from the epicenter, which instantly disappeared from the face of the earth.

31. Photo taken from one of the two American bombers of the 509th consolidated group, shortly after 8:15, August 5, 1945, shows smoke rising from the explosion over the city of Hiroshima. By the time of filming, there had already been a flash of light and heat from the 370m diameter fireball, and the blast had dissipated quickly, already causing major damage to buildings and people within a 3.2km radius.

32. View of the epicenter of Hiroshima in the fall of 1945 - complete destruction after the first atomic bomb was dropped. The photo shows the hypocenter (the center point of the explosion) - approximately above the Y-junction in the center left.

33. Destroyed Hiroshima in March 1946.

35. Ruined street in Hiroshima. Look at how the sidewalk has been raised and how a drainpipe sticks out of the bridge. Scientists say this was due to the vacuum created by the pressure from the atomic explosion.

36. This patient (photo taken by the Japanese military on October 3, 1945) was about 1,981.20 m from the epicenter when the radiation beams overtook him from the left. The cap protected part of the head from burns.

37. Crooked iron beams - all that remains of the theater building, located about 800 meters from the epicenter.

38. The Hiroshima Fire Department lost its only vehicle when the western station was destroyed by an atomic bomb. The station was located 1,200 meters from the epicenter.

39. The ruins of central Hiroshima in the fall of 1945.

40. "Shadow" of the valve handle on the painted wall of the gas tank after the tragic events in Hiroshima. Radiation heat instantly burned the paint where the radiation rays passed unhindered. 1920 m from the epicenter.

41. Top view of the destroyed industrial area of ​​​​Hiroshima in the fall of 1945.

42. View of Hiroshima and the mountains in the background in the fall of 1945. The picture was taken from the ruins of the Red Cross hospital, less than 1.60 km from the hypocenter.

43. Members of the US Army explore the area around the epicenter in Hiroshima in the fall of 1945.

44. Victims of the atomic bombing. 1945

45. The victim during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki feeds her child. 08/10/1945

46. ​​Bodies of tram passengers in Nagasaki, who died during the atomic bombing. 09/01/1945

47. The ruins of Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. September 1945

48. The ruins of Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. September 1945.

49. Japanese civilians are walking down the street of the destroyed Nagasaki. August 1945

50. Japanese doctor Nagai examines the ruins of Nagasaki. 09/11/1945

51. View of the cloud of the atomic explosion in Nagasaki from a distance of 15 km from Koyaji-Jima. 08/09/1945

52. Japanese woman and her son, survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The photo was taken the day after the bombing, southwest of the center of the explosion at a distance of 1 mile from it. In the hands of a woman and a son holding rice. 08/10/1945

53. Japanese military and civilians are on the street Nagasaki, destroyed by the atomic bombing. August 1945

54. Trailer with an atomic bomb "Fat Man" (Fat man) stands in front of the gates of the warehouse. The main characteristics of the atomic bomb "Fat Man": length - 3.3 m, maximum diameter - 1.5 m, weight - 4.633 tons. Explosion power - 21 kilotons of TNT. Plutonium-239 was used. August 1945

55. Inscriptions on the stabilizer of the atomic bomb "Fat Man" (Fat Man), made by US troops shortly before its use on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. August 1945

56. The Fat Man atomic bomb, dropped from an American B-29 bomber, exploded at an altitude of 300 meters above the Nagasaki Valley. The "atomic mushroom" of the explosion - a column of smoke, hot particles, dust and debris - rose to a height of 20 kilometers. The photograph shows the wing of the aircraft from which the photograph is taken. 08/09/1945

57. Drawing on the nose of the B-29 "Bockscar" bomber (Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar"), applied after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It depicts a "route" from Salt Lake City to Nagasaki. In the state of Utah, whose capital is Salt Lake City, Wendover was the training base for the 509th Mixed Group, which included 393 Squadron, to which the aircraft was transferred before the flight to the Pacific Ocean. The serial number of the machine is 44-27297. 1945

65. The ruins of a Catholic church in the Japanese city of Nagasaki, destroyed by the explosion of an American atomic bomb. Urakami Catholic Cathedral was built in 1925 and until August 9, 1945 was the largest Catholic cathedral in Southeast Asia. August 1945

66. The Fat Man atomic bomb, dropped from an American B-29 bomber, exploded at an altitude of 300 meters above the Nagasaki valley. The "atomic mushroom" of the explosion - a column of smoke, hot particles, dust and debris - rose to a height of 20 kilometers. 08/09/1945

67. Nagasaki a month and a half after the atomic bombing on August 9, 1945. In the foreground is a ruined temple. 09/24/1945

During World War II, on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 am, a US B-29 Enola Gay bomber dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Approximately 140,000 people died in the explosion and died over the following months. Three days later, when the United States dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, about 80,000 people were killed. On August 15, Japan capitulated, thus ending World War II. Until now, this bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains the only case of the use of nuclear weapons in the history of mankind. The US government decided to drop the bombs, believing that this would hasten the end of the war and there would be no need for prolonged bloody fighting on the main island of Japan. Japan was strenuously trying to control the two islands, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, as the Allies closed in.

1. This wrist watch, found among the ruins, stopped at 8.15 am on August 6, 1945 - during the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

2. The flying fortress "Enola Gay" comes in for landing on August 6, 1945 at the base on the island of Tinian after the bombing of Hiroshima.

3. This photo, released in 1960 by the US government, shows the Little Boy atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The size of the bomb is 73 cm in diameter, 3.2 m in length. It weighed 4 tons, and the explosion power reached 20,000 tons of TNT.

4. In this image provided by the US Air Force, the main crew of the B-29 Enola Gay bomber, from which the Baby nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Pilot Colonel Paul W. Tibbets stands center. The photo was taken in the Mariana Islands. This was the first time in the history of mankind that nuclear weapons were used during military operations.

5. Smoke 20,000 feet high rises over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 after an atomic bomb was dropped on it during the hostilities.

6. This photograph, taken August 6, 1945 from the city of Yoshiura, located on the other side of the mountains north of Hiroshima, shows smoke rising from the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The picture was taken by an Australian engineer from Kure, Japan. The spots left on the negative by radiation almost destroyed the picture.

7. Survivors of the atomic bomb explosion, first used during hostilities on August 6, 1945, await medical attention in Hiroshima, Japan. As a result of the explosion, 60,000 people died at the same time, tens of thousands died later due to exposure.

8. August 6, 1945. Pictured: Survivors of Hiroshima are given first aid by military medics shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, used in military operations for the first time in history.

9. After the explosion of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, only ruins remained in Hiroshima. Nuclear weapons were used to hasten the surrender of Japan and end World War II, for which US President Harry Truman ordered the use of nuclear weapons with a capacity of 20,000 tons of TNT. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945.

10. August 7, 1945, the day after the explosion of the atomic bomb, smoke spreads over the ruins of Hiroshima, Japan.

11. President Harry Truman (pictured left) at his desk in the White House next to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson after returning from the Potsdam Conference. They discuss the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

13. The survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki people among the ruins, against the backdrop of a raging fire in the background, August 9, 1945.

14. Crew members of the B-29 "The Great Artiste" bomber, which dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, surrounded Major Charles W. Sweeney in North Quincy, Massachusetts. All crew members participated in the historic bombing. Left to right: Sgt. R. Gallagher, Chicago; Staff Sergeant A. M. Spitzer, Bronx, New York; Captain S. D. Albury, Miami, Florida; Captain J.F. Van Pelt Jr., Oak Hill, WV; Lt. F. J. Olivy, Chicago; staff sergeant E.K. Buckley, Lisbon, Ohio; Sgt. A. T. Degart, Plainview, Texas; and Staff Sgt. J. D. Kucharek, Columbus, Nebraska.

15. This photograph of the atomic bomb that exploded over Nagasaki, Japan during World War II was released by the Atomic Energy Commission and the US Department of Defense in Washington on December 6, 1960. The Fat Man bomb was 3.25 m long and 1.54 m in diameter, and weighed 4.6 tons. The power of the explosion reached about 20 kilotons of TNT.

16. A huge column of smoke rises into the air after the explosion of the second atomic bomb in the port city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. A US Army Air Force B-29 Bockscar bomber killed more than 70,000 people immediately, and tens of thousands more died later as a result of exposure.

17. A huge nuclear mushroom over Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945, after a US bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the city. The nuclear explosion over Nagasaki occurred three days after the US dropped the first ever atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

18. A boy carries his burnt brother on his back on August 10, 1945 in Nagasaki, Japan. Such photos were not made public by the Japanese side, but after the end of the war they were shown to the world media by UN staff.

19. The arrow was installed at the site of the fall of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki on August 10, 1945. Most of the affected area is empty to this day, the trees remained charred and mutilated, and almost no reconstruction was carried out.

20. Japanese workers dismantle the rubble in the affected area in Nagasaki, an industrial city located in the southwest of Kyushu, after an atomic bomb was dropped on it on August 9. A chimney and a lone building can be seen in the background, ruins in the foreground. The picture is taken from the archives of the Japanese news agency Domei.

22. As can be seen in this photo, which was taken on September 5, 1945, several concrete and steel buildings and bridges remained intact after the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.

23. A month after the first atomic bomb exploded on August 6, 1945, a journalist inspects the ruins in Hiroshima, Japan.

24. Victim of the explosion of the first atomic bomb in the department of the first military hospital in Ujina in September 1945. The thermal radiation generated by the explosion burned the pattern from the kimono fabric on the woman's back.

25. Most of the territory of Hiroshima was wiped off the face of the earth by the explosion of the atomic bomb. This is the first aerial photograph after the explosion, taken on September 1, 1945.

26. The area around the Sanyo-Shorai-Kan (Trade Promotion Center) in Hiroshima was left in ruins after the atomic bomb exploded 100 meters away in 1945.

27. A correspondent stands among the ruins in front of the skeleton of the building that was the city theater in Hiroshima on September 8, 1945, a month after the first atomic bomb was dropped by the United States to hasten the surrender of Japan.

28. The ruins and lone frame of the building after the explosion of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The photo was taken on September 8, 1945.

29. Very few buildings remain in the devastated Hiroshima, a Japanese city that was razed to the ground by an atomic bomb, as seen in this photograph taken on September 8, 1945. (AP Photo)

30. September 8, 1945. People walk along a cleared road among the ruins left by the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima on August 6 of the same year.

31. The Japanese found among the ruins of the wreckage of a children's tricycle in Nagasaki, September 17, 1945. The nuclear bomb dropped on the city on August 9 wiped out almost everything within a radius of 6 kilometers from the face of the earth and took the lives of thousands of civilians.

32. This photo, courtesy of the Association of the Photographers of the Atomic (Bomb) Destruction of Hiroshima, is a victim of the atomic explosion. A man is in quarantine on the island of Ninoshima in Hiroshima, Japan, 9 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion, a day after the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city.

33. Tram (top center) and its dead passengers after the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9. The photo was taken on September 1, 1945.

34. People pass a tram lying on the tracks at the Kamiyasho intersection in Hiroshima some time after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city.

35. In this photo provided by the Japan Association of the Photographers of the Atomic (Bomb) Destruction of Hiroshima, victims of the atomic explosion are in the tent care center of the 2nd Military Hospital of Hiroshima, located on the banks of the Ota River, 1150 meters from the epicenter of the explosion, August 7, 1945. The photo was taken the day after the United States dropped the first ever atomic bomb on the city.

36. View of Hachobori Street in Hiroshima shortly after a bomb was dropped on the Japanese city.

37. The Urakami Catholic Cathedral in Nagasaki, photographed on September 13, 1945, was destroyed by an atomic bomb.

38. A Japanese soldier wanders among the ruins in search of recyclable materials in Nagasaki on September 13, 1945, just over a month after the atomic bomb exploded over the city.

39. A man with a loaded bicycle on a road cleared of ruins in Nagasaki on September 13, 1945, a month after the atomic bomb exploded.

40. September 14, 1945, the Japanese are trying to drive through a ruined street on the outskirts of the city of Nagasaki, over which a nuclear bomb exploded.

41. This area of ​​Nagasaki was once built up with industrial buildings and small residential buildings. In the background are the ruins of the Mitsubishi factory and the concrete school building at the foot of the hill.

42. The top image shows the busy city of Nagasaki before the explosion, and the bottom image shows the wasteland after the atomic bomb. The circles measure the distance from the explosion point.

43. A Japanese family eats rice in a hut built from the rubble left on the site where their house once stood in Nagasaki, September 14, 1945.

44. These huts, photographed on September 14, 1945, were built from the wreckage of buildings that were destroyed as a result of the explosion of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

45. In the Ginza district of Nagasaki, which was an analogue of New York's Fifth Avenue, the owners of shops destroyed by a nuclear bomb sell their goods on the sidewalks, September 30, 1945.

46. ​​Sacred Torii gate at the entrance to the completely destroyed Shinto shrine in Nagasaki in October 1945.

47. Service at the Nagarekawa Protestant Church after the atomic bomb destroyed the church in Hiroshima, 1945.

48. A young man injured after the explosion of the second atomic bomb in the city of Nagasaki.

49. Major Thomas Fereby, left, from Moscowville and Captain Kermit Beahan, right, from Houston, talking in a hotel in Washington, February 6, 1946. Ferebi is the man who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, and his interlocutor dropped the bomb on Nagasaki.

52. Ikimi Kikkawa shows his keloid scars left after the treatment of burns received during the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima at the end of World War II. The photo was taken at the Red Cross Hospital on June 5, 1947.

53. Akira Yamaguchi shows his scars left after the treatment of burns received during the explosion of a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima.

54. On the body of Jinpe Terawama, the survivor of the explosion of the first atomic bomb in history, there were numerous burn scars, Hiroshima, June 1947.

55. Pilot Colonel Paul W. Taibbets waves from the cockpit of his bomber at a base located on the island of Tinian, August 6, 1945, before taking off, the purpose of which was to drop the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The day before, Tibbets had named the B-29 flying fortress "Enola Gay" after his mother.

On August 6, 1945, the United States of America used the most powerful weapon of mass destruction to date. It was an atomic bomb equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT. The city of Hiroshima was completely destroyed, tens of thousands of civilians were killed. While Japan was moving away from this devastation, three days later the United States again launched a second nuclear strike on Nagasaki, hiding behind the desire to achieve the surrender of Japan.

Bombing of Hiroshima

On Monday at 2:45 am, the Boeing B-29 Enola Gay took off from Tinian, one of the islands in the North Pacific Ocean, 1500 km from Japan. A team of 12 specialists was on board to make sure the mission went smoothly. The crew was commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets, who named the aircraft Enola Gay. That was the name of his own mother. Right on the eve of takeoff, the name of the aircraft was written on board.

The Enola Gay was a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber (aircraft 44-86292), part of a special air group. In order to carry out the delivery of such a heavy load as a nuclear bomb, Enola Gay was modernized: the latest propellers, engines, and quickly opening bomb bay doors were installed. Such modernization was carried out only on a few B-29s. Despite the modernization of the Boeing, he had to drive the entire runway in order to gain the speed necessary for takeoff.

A couple more bombers were flying alongside the Enola Gay. Three more planes took off earlier to determine the weather conditions over possible targets. Hanging from the ceiling of the aircraft was a nuclear bomb "Kid" ten feet (more than 3 meters) long. In the "Manhattan Project" (to develop US nuclear weapons), Navy Captain William Parsons played an important role in the appearance of the atomic bomb. On the Enola Gay plane, he joined the team as the specialist in charge of the bomb. To avoid a possible explosion of a bomb during takeoff, it was decided to put a live charge on it right in flight. Already in the air, Parsons changed bomb plugs for live charges in 15 minutes. As he later recalled: "At the moment when I put the charge, I knew what the" Kid "will bring to the Japanese, but I did not feel much emotion about it."

The "Kid" bomb was created on the basis of uranium-235. It was the result of $2 billion worth of research, but never tested. Not a single nuclear bomb has yet been dropped from an aircraft. The United States chose 4 Japanese cities for the bombing:

• Hiroshima;
• Kokura;
• Nagasaki;
• Niigata.

At first there was also Kyoto, but later it was crossed off the list. These cities were the centers of the military industry, arsenals, military ports. The first bomb was intended to be dropped to advertise the full power and more impressive importance of the weapon, in order to attract international attention and hasten Japan's surrender.

First bombing target

On August 6, 1945, clouds broke over Hiroshima. At 8:15 am (local time), the hatch of the Enola Gay aircraft flew open and the Kid flew into the city. The fuse was set at a height of 600 meters from the ground, at an altitude of 1900 feet the device detonated. Gunner George Caron described the sight he saw through the rear window: “The cloud was in the form of a mushroom from a bubbling mass of purple-ash smoke, with a fiery core inside. It looked like lava flows covering the entire city."

Experts estimate that the cloud has risen to 40,000 feet. Robert Lewis recalled: "Where we had a clear view of the city a couple of minutes ago, we could already see only smoke and fire creeping up the sides of the mountain." Almost all of Hiroshima was razed to the ground. Even within three miles of the explosion, out of 90,000 buildings, 60,000 were destroyed. Metal and stone simply melted, clay tiles melted. Unlike many previous bombings, the target of this raid was not a single military facility, but an entire city. The atomic bomb, apart from the military, mostly killed civilians. The population of Hiroshima was 350,000, of which 70,000 died instantly directly from the explosion and another 70,000 died from radioactive contamination over the next five years.

A witness, a survivor of the atomic explosion, described: “The skin of the people turned black from burns, they were completely bald, since their hair had been burned, it was not clear whether it was the face or the back of the head. The skin on the hands, on the faces and bodies hung down. If there were one or two such people, it would not be such a strong shock. But wherever I went, I saw just such people around, many died right along the way - I still remember them as walking ghosts.

Atomic bombing of Nagasaki

When the people of Japan were trying to make sense of the destruction of Hiroshima, the United States was planning a second nuclear strike. It was not delayed so that Japan could surrender, but was inflicted immediately three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. On August 9, 1945, another B-29 "Bokskar" ("Bok's car") took off from Tinian at 3:49 in the morning. The city of Kokura was supposed to be the initial target for the second bombardment, but it was covered with dense clouds. The alternate target was Nagasaki. At 11:02 am, a second atomic bomb was detonated 1,650 feet above the city.

Fujii Urata Matsumoto, a miraculous survivor, recounted the horrific scene: “A field of pumpkins was blown clean by an explosion. Nothing remained of the entire mass of the crop. Instead of a pumpkin, a woman's head lay in the garden. I tried to consider her, maybe I knew her. The head was a woman in her forties, I never saw her here, maybe she was brought from another part of the city. A gold tooth gleamed in his mouth, scorched hair hung down, eyeballs burned out and black holes remained.

Work on the creation of a nuclear bomb started in the United States in September 1943, based on research by scientists from different countries, begun as early as 1939.

In parallel with this, a search was made for pilots who were supposed to drop it. Several hundred were selected from thousands of dossiers reviewed. As a result of an extremely tough selection, Air Force Colonel Paul Tibbets, who had served as a test pilot for Bi-29 aircraft since 1943, was appointed commander of the future formation. He was given the task of creating a combat unit of pilots to deliver the bomb to its destination.

Preliminary calculations showed that a bomber that dropped a bomb would have only 43 seconds to leave the danger zone before an explosion occurred. Aircrew training continued daily for many months in the strictest secrecy.

Target selection

On June 21, 1945, a meeting was held by US Secretary of War Stimson to discuss the choice of future targets:

• Hiroshima is a large industrial center with a population of about 400 thousand people;
• Kokura - an important strategic point, steel and chemical plants, population 173 thousand people;
• Nagasaki - the largest shipyards, a population of 300 thousand people.

Kyoto and Niigata were also on the list of potential targets, but serious controversy erupted over them. Niigata was proposed to be excluded due to the fact that the city was located much to the north of the rest and was relatively small, and the destruction of Kyoto, the former sacred city, could embitter the Japanese and lead to increased resistance.

On the other hand, Kyoto, with its large area, was of interest as a target for evaluating the power of the bomb. Supporters of choosing this city as a target, among other things, were interested in the accumulation of statistical data, since until that moment atomic weapons had never been used in combat conditions, but only at test sites. The bombing was required not only to physically destroy the chosen target, but to demonstrate the strength and power of the new weapon, as well as to have the greatest possible psychological effect on the population and government of Japan.

On July 26, the United States, Britain and China adopted the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded unconditional surrender from the Empire. Otherwise, the allies threatened the rapid and complete destruction of the country. However, this document made no mention of the use of weapons of mass destruction. The Japanese government rejected the demands of the declaration, and the Americans continued to prepare for the operation.

For the most effective bombing, suitable weather and good visibility were required. Based on data from the meteorological service, the first week of August, approximately after the 3rd, was recognized as the most suitable for the foreseeable future.

Bombing of Hiroshima

On August 2, 1945, the formation of Colonel Tibbets received a secret order for the first atomic bombing in the history of mankind, the date of which was set for August 6. Hiroshima was chosen as the main target of the attack, Kokura and Nagasaki were chosen as alternate targets (in case of deterioration of visibility conditions). All other American aircraft were forbidden to be within a radius of 80 km of these cities during the bombing.

On August 6, before the start of the operation, the pilots received glasses with dark glasses designed to protect their eyes from light radiation. The planes took off from the island of Tinian, where the base of the American military aviation was located. The island is located 2.5 thousand km from Japan, so it took about 6 hours to fly.

Together with the Bi-29 bomber, called the Enola Gay, on board which was the Little Boy barrel-type atomic bomb, 6 more aircraft took off into the sky: three reconnaissance aircraft, one spare and two carried special measuring equipment.

Visibility over all three cities allowed bombing, so it was decided not to deviate from the original plan. At 8:15 an explosion was heard - the Enola Gay bomber dropped a 5-ton bomb on Hiroshima, after which it made a 60-degree turn and began to move away as fast as possible.

Consequences of the explosion

The bomb exploded 600m from the surface. Most of the city's houses were equipped with charcoal stoves. Many townspeople were preparing breakfast at the time of the attack. Overturned by the blast wave of incredible force, the stoves caused massive fires in those parts of the city that were not destroyed immediately after the explosion.

The heat wave melted the tiles of houses and granite slabs. All wooden telegraph poles were burned within a radius of 4 km. People who were at the epicenter of the explosion instantly evaporated, enveloped in hot plasma, the temperature of which was about 4000 degrees Celsius. Powerful light radiation left only shadows on the walls of houses from human bodies. 9 out of 10 who were in the 800-meter zone from the epicenter of the explosion died instantly. The shock wave swept at a speed of 800 km / h, turning into rubble all buildings within a radius of 4 km, except for a few built taking into account the increased seismic hazard.

The plasma ball evaporated moisture from the atmosphere. A cloud of steam reached the colder layers and, mixed with dust and ash, immediately poured black rain on the ground.

Then the wind hit the city, already blowing towards the epicenter of the explosion. From the heating of the air caused by the flaring fires, the gusts of wind increased so much that they pulled out large trees with roots. Huge waves rose on the river, in which people drowned trying to escape in the water from the fiery tornado that engulfed the city, destroying 11 km2 of the area. According to various estimates, the death toll in Hiroshima was 200-240 thousand people, of which 70-80 thousand died immediately after the explosion.

All communication with the city was cut off. In Tokyo, they noticed that the local Hiroshima radio station disappeared from the air and the telegraph line stopped working. After some time, reports of an explosion of incredible force began to arrive from regional railway stations.

An officer of the General Staff urgently flew to the scene of the tragedy, writing later in his memoirs that he was most struck by the lack of streets - the city was evenly covered with debris, it was not possible to determine where and what was just a few hours ago.

Officials in Tokyo couldn't believe that damage of this magnitude had been caused by just one bomb. Representatives of the Japanese General Staff turned to scientists for clarification on what weapons could cause such destruction. One of the physicists, Dr. I. Nishina, suggested the use of a nuclear bomb, since rumors about American attempts to create it had been circulating among scientists for some time. The physicist finally confirmed his assumptions after a personal visit to the destroyed Hiroshima, accompanied by the military.

On August 8, the US Air Force command was finally able to evaluate the effect of its operation. Aerial photography showed that 60% of the buildings located on the territory with a total area of ​​12 km2 turned into dust, and piles of rubble remained from the rest.

Bombing of Nagasaki

An order was issued to compile leaflets in Japanese with photographs of the destroyed Hiroshima and a full description of the effect of a nuclear explosion, for their subsequent distribution over the territory of Japan. In case of refusal to surrender, the leaflets contained threats to continue the atomic bombing of Japanese cities.

However, the American government was not going to wait for the reaction of the Japanese, since initially they did not plan to get by with just one bomb. The next attack, scheduled for August 12, was postponed to the 9th due to the expected worsening of the weather.

The target is Kokura, with Nagasaki as a fallback. Kokura was very lucky - the cloudiness, together with the smoke screen from the burning steel plant, which had undergone an air raid the day before, made visual bombing impossible. The plane headed towards Nagasaki, and at 11 hours 02 minutes dropped its deadly cargo on the city.

Within a radius of 1.2 km from the epicenter of the explosion, all living things died almost instantly, turning into ashes under the influence of thermal radiation. The shock wave turned residential buildings into rubble and destroyed a steel plant. The thermal radiation was so powerful that the unclothed skin of people located 5 km from the explosion burned and wrinkled. 73 thousand people died instantly, 35 thousand died in terrible suffering a little later.

On the same day, the US President addressed his compatriots on the radio, thanking the higher powers in his speech for the fact that the Americans were the first to receive nuclear weapons. Truman asked God for guidance and guidance on how to most effectively use atomic bombs in the name of higher goals.

At that time, there was no urgent need for the bombing of Nagasaki, but, apparently, research interest played a role, no matter how scary and cynical it may sound. The fact is that the bombs differed in design and active substance. The "Little Boy" that destroyed Hiroshima was a barrel-type bomb filled with uranium, while the "Fat Man" - an explosive type bomb based on plutonium-239 - was destroyed by Nagasaki.

There are archival documents proving the intention of the United States to drop another atomic bomb on Japan. A telegram dated August 10, addressed to the Chief of Staff, General Marshall, reported that, under appropriate meteorological conditions, the next bombardment could be carried out on August 17-18.

Japanese surrender

On August 8, 1945, fulfilling the commitments made in the framework of the Potsdam and Yalta conferences, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, whose government still harbored the hope of reaching agreements that would avoid unconditional surrender. This event, coupled with the overwhelming effect of the use of nuclear weapons by the Americans, forced the least bellicose members of the cabinet to approach the emperor with recommendations to accept any conditions of the US and allies.

Some of the most militant officers tried to arrange a coup to prevent such a development of events, but the conspiracy failed.

On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito publicly announced the surrender of Japan. Nevertheless, clashes between Japanese and Soviet troops in Manchuria continued for several more weeks.

On August 28, the American-British allied forces began the occupation of Japan, and on September 2, an act of surrender was signed aboard the battleship Missouri, ending World War II.

Long-term effects of the atomic bombings

A few weeks after the explosions that claimed hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives, people suddenly began to die en masse, seemingly unaffected at first. At that time, the effects of radiation exposure were little understood. People continued to live in the contaminated territories, not realizing what danger ordinary water began to carry in itself, as well as the ash that covered the destroyed cities with a thin layer.

The fact that some previously unknown disease became the cause of death of people who survived the atomic bombing, Japan learned thanks to the actress Midori Naka. The theater troupe, in which Naka played, arrived in Hiroshima a month before the events, where they rented a house for living, located 650m from the epicenter of the future explosion, after which 13 out of 17 people died on the spot. Midori not only survived, but was practically unharmed, except for small scratches, although all the clothes on her simply burned down. Fleeing from the fire, the actress rushed to the river and jumped into the water, from where the soldiers pulled her out and provided first aid.

Arriving in Tokyo a few days later, Midori went to the hospital, where she was examined by the best Japanese doctors. Despite all efforts, the woman died, but the doctors had the opportunity to observe the development and course of the disease for almost 9 days. Before her death, it was believed that vomiting and bloody diarrhea, which were present in many victims, were symptoms of dysentery. Officially, Midori Naka is considered the first to die from radiation sickness, and it was her death that caused widespread discussion of the consequences of radiation contamination. From the moment of the explosion to the death of the actress, 18 days passed.

However, soon after the start of the occupation of Japanese territory by the allied forces, the newspaper references to the victims of the American bombing gradually began to fade away. During almost 7 years of occupation, American censorship prohibited any publications on this topic.

For victims of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a special term "hibakusha" appeared. Several hundred people found themselves in a situation where talking about their health status has become taboo. Any attempts to remind about the tragedy were suppressed - it was forbidden to make films, write books, poems, songs. It was impossible to express compassion, ask for help, collect donations for the victims.

For example, the hospital set up by a group of wache enthusiasts in Ujin to help the hibakusha was closed at the request of the occupying authorities, and all documentation, including medical records, was confiscated.

In November 1945, at the suggestion of the President of the United States, the ABCC Center was established to study the effects of radiation on survivors of the explosions. The organization's clinic, which opened in Hiroshima, carried out only examinations, without providing medical assistance to the victims. The staff of the center was especially interested in the terminally ill and those who died as a result of radiation sickness. Essentially, the purpose of the ABCC was to collect statistical data.

It was only after the end of the American occupation that the hibakusha problems began to be spoken aloud in Japan. In 1957, each victim was given a document that indicated how far he was from the epicenter at the time of the explosion. The victims of the bombings and their descendants until today receive material and medical assistance from the state. However, within the rigid framework of Japanese society, there was no place for "hibakusha" - several hundred thousand people became a separate caste. The rest of the residents, if possible, avoided communication, and even more so creating a family with the victims, especially after they began to give birth to children with developmental defects en masse. Most of the pregnancies of women living in the cities at the time of the bombing ended in miscarriage, or the death of babies immediately after birth. Only a third of the pregnant women who were in the explosion zone gave birth to children who did not have serious abnormalities.

The expediency of destroying Japanese cities

Japan continued the war even after the surrender of its main ally Germany. In a report presented at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the approximate date for the end of the war with Japan was assumed to be no earlier than 18 months after Germany surrendered. According to the United States and Great Britain, the entry of the USSR into the war against the Japanese could help reduce the duration of hostilities, casualties and material costs. According to the results of the agreements, I. Stalin promised to take the side of the Allies within 3 months after the end of the war with the Germans, which was done on August 8, 1945.

Was it really necessary to use nuclear weapons? The debate about this continues to this day. The destruction of two Japanese cities, striking in its brutality, was such a senseless act at that time that it gave rise to a number of conspiracy theories.

One of them argues that the bombings were not an urgent need, but only a show of force to the Soviet Union. The USA and Great Britain united with the USSR only reluctantly, in the fight against a common enemy. However, as soon as the danger passed, yesterday's allies immediately again became ideological opponents. The Second World War redrawn the map of the world, changing it beyond recognition. The winners established their own order, probing along the way for future rivals with whom they had been sitting in the same trenches only yesterday.

Another theory claims that Hiroshima and Nagasaki became testing grounds. Although the United States tested the first atomic bomb on a deserted island, the true power of the new weapon could only be assessed in real conditions. The still-unfinished war with Japan provided the Americans with an excellent opportunity, while also providing the ironclad excuse that politicians used to hide behind more than once. They "just saved the lives of ordinary American guys."

Most likely, the decision to use nuclear bombs was made as a result of a combination of all these factors.

• After the defeat of Nazi Germany, the situation developed in such a way that the Allies were not able to force Japan to surrender only on their own.
• The entry of the Soviet Union into the war obliged subsequently to listen to the opinion of the Russians.
• The military itself was interested in testing new weapons in real conditions.
• To demonstrate to a potential adversary who is in charge here - why not?

The justification for the United States is only the fact that the consequences of the use of such weapons at the time of their use were not studied. The effect exceeded all expectations and sobered even the most militant.

In March 1950, the Soviet Union announced the creation of its own atomic bomb. Nuclear parity was achieved in the 1970s.

… We have done his work for the devil.

One of the creators of the American atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer

On August 9, 1945, a new era began in the history of mankind. It was on this day that the Little Boy nuclear bomb with a yield of 13 to 20 kilotons was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, American aircraft launched a second atomic strike on Japanese territory - the Fat Man ("Fat Man") bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

As a result of two nuclear bombings, from 150 to 220 thousand people were killed (and these are only those who died immediately after the explosion), Hiroshima and Nagasaki were completely destroyed. The shock from the use of new weapons was so strong that on August 15, the Japanese government announced its unconditional surrender, which was signed on August 2, 1945. This day is considered the official date for the end of World War II.

After that, a new era began, a period of confrontation between the two superpowers - the USA and the USSR, which historians called the Cold War. For more than fifty years, the world has teetered on the brink of a massive thermonuclear conflict that would very likely end our civilization. The atomic explosion in Hiroshima put humanity in the face of new threats that have not lost their sharpness even today.

Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary, was it a military necessity? Historians and politicians argue about this to this day.

Of course, a strike on peaceful cities and a huge number of victims among their inhabitants looks like a crime. However, do not forget that at that time there was the bloodiest war in the history of mankind, one of the initiators of which was Japan.

The scale of the tragedy that occurred in Japanese cities clearly showed the whole world the danger of new weapons. However, this did not prevent its further spread: the club of nuclear states is constantly replenished with new members, which increases the likelihood of a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"Project Manhattan": the history of the creation of the atomic bomb

The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of rapid development of nuclear physics. Every year, significant discoveries were made in this field of knowledge, people learned more and more about how matter works. The work of such brilliant scientists as Curie, Rutherford and Fermi made it possible to discover the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction under the influence of a neutron beam.

In 1934, American physicist Leo Szilard received a patent for the atomic bomb. It should be understood that all these studies took place in the context of the approaching world war and against the backdrop of the Nazis coming to power in Germany.

In August 1939, US President Franklin Roosevelt received a letter signed by a group of renowned physicists. Among the signatories was Albert Einstein. The letter warned the US leadership about the possibility of creating in Germany a fundamentally new weapon of destructive power - a nuclear bomb.

After that, the Bureau of Scientific Research and Development was created, which dealt with issues of atomic weapons, and additional funds were allocated for research in the field of uranium fission.

It must be admitted that American scientists had every reason to be afraid: in Germany they were really actively engaged in research in the field of atomic physics and had some success. In 1938, the German scientists Strassmann and Hahn split the nucleus of uranium for the first time. And next year, German scientists turned to the country's leadership, pointing out the possibility of creating a fundamentally new weapon. In 1939, the first reactor plant was launched in Germany, and the export of uranium outside the country was banned. After the start of the World War, all German research on the "uranium" topic was strictly classified.

In Germany, more than twenty institutes and other research centers were involved in the project to create nuclear weapons. The giants of German industry were involved in the work, they were personally supervised by the Minister of Armaments of Germany Speer. To get enough uranium-235, a reactor was needed, in which either heavy water or graphite could be the moderator of the reaction. The Germans chose water, which created a serious problem for themselves and practically deprived themselves of the prospects for creating nuclear weapons.

In addition, when it became clear that German nuclear weapons were unlikely to appear before the end of the war, Hitler significantly cut funding for the project. True, the Allies had a very vague idea about all this and, in all seriousness, they feared Hitler's atomic bomb.

American work in the field of creating atomic weapons has become much more productive. In 1943, the secret Manhattan Project was launched in the United States, led by physicist Robert Oppenheimer and General Groves. Enormous resources were allocated to the creation of new weapons, dozens of world-famous physicists participated in the project. American scientists were assisted by their colleagues from the UK, Canada and Europe, which ultimately made it possible to solve the problem in a relatively short time.

By mid-1945, the United States already had three nuclear bombs, with uranium ("Kid") and plutonium ("Fat Man") fillings.

On July 16, the world's first nuclear test took place: the Trinity plutonium bomb was detonated at the Alamogordo test site (New Mexico). The tests were considered successful.

Political background of the bombings

On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally. In the Potsdam Declaration, the US, China, and the UK invited Japan to do the same. But the descendants of the samurai refused to capitulate, so the war in the Pacific continued. Earlier, in 1944, there was a meeting between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, at which, among other things, they discussed the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Japanese.

In mid-1945, it was clear to everyone (including the leadership of Japan) that the United States and its allies were winning the war. However, the Japanese were not morally broken, which was demonstrated by the battle for Okinawa, which cost the Allies huge (from their point of view) victims.

The Americans mercilessly bombed the cities of Japan, but this did not reduce the fury of the resistance of the Japanese army. The United States thought about what losses a massive landing on the Japanese islands would cost them. The use of new weapons of destructive force was supposed to undermine the morale of the Japanese, break their will to resist.

After the question of the use of nuclear weapons against Japan was decided positively, a special committee began to select targets for future bombardment. The list consisted of several cities, and in addition to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it also included Kyoto, Yokohama, Kokura and Niigata. The Americans did not want to use a nuclear bomb against exclusively military targets, its use was supposed to have a strong psychological effect on the Japanese and show the whole world a new instrument of US power. Therefore, a number of requirements were put forward for the purpose of the bombing:

• The cities chosen as targets for the atomic bombing must be major economic centers, significant for the military industry, and also be psychologically important for the population of Japan.
• The bombing should cause a significant resonance in the world
• The military was not satisfied with the cities that had already suffered from air raids. They wanted to better appreciate the destructive power of the new weapon.

The cities of Hiroshima and Kokura were initially chosen. Kyoto was crossed off the list by US Secretary of War Henry Stimson because he had honeymooned there as a young man and was in awe of the city's history.

For each city, an additional target was chosen, it was planned to strike at it if the main target was unavailable for any reason. Nagasaki was chosen as insurance for the city of Kokura.

Bombing of Hiroshima

On July 25, US President Truman gave the order to start bombing from August 3 and hit one of the selected targets at the first opportunity, and the second as soon as the next bomb was assembled and delivered.

In early summer, the US Air Force 509th Mixed Group arrived on Tinian Island, the location of which was separate from the rest of the units and carefully guarded.

On July 26, the Indianapolis cruiser delivered the first nuclear bomb, the Kid, to the island, and by August 2, components of the second nuclear charge, the Fat Man, were transported to Tinian by air.

Before the war, Hiroshima had a population of 340 thousand people and was the seventh largest Japanese city. According to other information, 245 thousand people lived in the city before the nuclear bombardment. Hiroshima was located on a plain, just above sea level, on six islands connected by numerous bridges.

The city was an important industrial center and a supply base for the Japanese military. Plants and factories were located on its outskirts, the residential sector mainly consisted of low-rise wooden buildings. Hiroshima was the headquarters of the Fifth Division and the Second Army, which essentially provided protection for the entire southern part of the Japanese islands.

The pilots were able to start the mission only on August 6, before that they were prevented by heavy cloud cover. At 01:45 on August 6, an American B-29 bomber from the 509th Air Regiment, as part of a group of escort aircraft, took off from the airfield of Tinian Island. The bomber was named Enola Gay in honor of the mother of the aircraft commander, Colonel Paul Tibbets.

The pilots were sure that dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima was a good mission, they wanted a speedy end to the war and victory over the enemy. Before departure, they visited the church, the pilots were given ampoules of potassium cyanide in case of danger of being captured.

Reconnaissance planes sent in advance to Kokura and Nagasaki reported that cloud cover over these cities would prevent the bombing. The pilot of the third reconnaissance aircraft reported that the sky over Hiroshima was clear and transmitted a prearranged signal.

Japanese radars detected a group of aircraft, but since their number was small, the air raid alert was canceled. The Japanese decided that they were dealing with reconnaissance aircraft.

At about eight o'clock in the morning, a B-29 bomber, having risen to a height of nine kilometers, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The explosion occurred at an altitude of 400-600 meters, a large number of clocks in the city, which stopped at the time of the explosion, clearly recorded its exact time - 8 hours and 15 minutes.

results

The consequences of an atomic explosion over a densely populated city were truly terrifying. The exact number of victims of the bombing of Hiroshima has not been established, it ranges from 140 to 200 thousand. Of these, 70-80 thousand people who were not far from the epicenter died immediately after the explosion, the rest were much less fortunate. The huge temperature of the explosion (up to 4 thousand degrees) literally evaporated the bodies of people or turned them into coal. Light radiation left imprinted silhouettes of passers-by on the ground and buildings (the "shadow of Hiroshima") and set fire to all combustible materials at a distance of several kilometers.

A flash of unbearably bright light was followed by a suffocating blast wave that swept away everything in its path. The fires in the city merged into one huge fiery tornado, which pumped a strong wind towards the epicenter of the explosion. Those who did not have time to get out from under the rubble were burned in this hellish flame.

Some time later, the survivors of the explosion began to suffer from an unknown disease, which was accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. These were symptoms of radiation sickness, which at that time was unknown to medicine. However, there were other delayed consequences of the bombing in the form of cancer and severe psychological shock, which haunted the survivors for decades after the explosion.

It should be understood that in the middle of the last century people did not sufficiently understand the consequences of the use of atomic weapons. Nuclear medicine was in its infancy, the concept of "radioactive contamination" as such did not exist. Therefore, after the war, the inhabitants of Hiroshima began to rebuild their city and continued to live in their former places. The high cancer mortality and various genetic abnormalities in the children of Hiroshima were not immediately linked to the nuclear bombing.

The Japanese could not understand for a long time what happened to one of their cities. Hiroshima stopped communicating and transmitting signals on the air. The plane sent to the city found it completely destroyed. It was only after the official announcement from the US that the Japanese realized exactly what had happened in Hiroshima.

Bombing of Nagasaki

The city of Nagasaki is located in two valleys separated by a mountain range. During World War II, it was of great military importance as a major port and industrial center, where warships, guns, torpedoes, and military equipment were manufactured. The city has never been subjected to large-scale air bombardments. At the time of the nuclear attack, about 200 thousand people lived in Nagasaki.

On August 9, at 2:47 am, an American B-29 bomber, under the command of pilot Charles Sweeney, with the Fat Man atomic bomb on board, took off from the airfield on the island of Tinian. The primary target of the strike was the Japanese city of Kokura, but heavy cloud cover prevented a bomb from being dropped on it. An additional goal for the crew was the city of Nagasaki.

The bomb was dropped at 11.02 and detonated at an altitude of 500 meters. Unlike the "Kid" dropped on Hiroshima, "Fat Man" was a plutonium bomb with a yield of 21 kT. The epicenter of the explosion was located above the industrial zone of the city.

Despite the greater power of the ammunition, the damage and losses in Nagasaki were less than in Hiroshima. Several factors contributed to this. Firstly, the city was located on the hills, which took part of the force of the nuclear explosion, and secondly, the bomb worked over the industrial zone of Nagasaki. If the explosion had occurred over areas with residential development, there would have been much more victims. Part of the area affected by the explosion generally fell on the water surface.

Between 60 and 80 thousand people became victims of the Nagasaki bomb (who died immediately or before the end of 1945), the number of deaths later from diseases caused by radiation is unknown. Various figures are given, the maximum of them is 140 thousand people.

In the city, 14 thousand buildings were destroyed (out of 54 thousand), more than 5 thousand buildings were significantly damaged. The fire tornado that was observed in Hiroshima was not in Nagasaki.

Initially, the Americans did not plan to stop at two nuclear strikes. The third bomb was being prepared for mid-August, three more were going to be dropped in September. The US government planned to continue the atomic bombing until the beginning of the ground operation. However, on August 10, the Japanese government transmitted offers of surrender to the Allies. The day before, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan, and the country's situation became absolutely hopeless.

Was the bombing necessary?

The debate about whether it was necessary to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has not subsided for many decades. Naturally, today this action looks like a monstrous and inhuman crime of the United States. Domestic patriots and fighters against American imperialism love to raise this topic. Meanwhile, the question is not unambiguous.

It should be understood that at that time there was a world war, characterized by an unprecedented level of cruelty and inhumanity. Japan was one of the initiators of this massacre and waged a brutal war of conquest since 1937. In Russia, it is often believed that nothing serious happened in the Pacific Ocean - but this is an erroneous point of view. The fighting in this region has resulted in the death of 31 million people, most of them civilians. The cruelty with which the Japanese pursued their policy in China surpasses even the atrocities of the Nazis.

The Americans sincerely hated Japan, with which they had been at war since 1941 and really wanted to end the war with the least losses. The atomic bomb was just a new type of weapon, they had only a theoretical idea of ​​​​its power, and they knew even less about the consequences in the form of radiation sickness. I do not think that if the USSR had an atomic bomb, anyone from the Soviet leadership would have doubted whether it was necessary to drop it on Germany. US President Truman believed for the rest of his life that he had done the right thing by ordering the bombing.

August 2018 marked the 73rd anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities. Nagasaki and Hiroshima today are thriving metropolitan areas with little resemblance to the tragedy of 1945. However, if humanity forgets this terrible lesson, it will most likely repeat itself again. The horrors of Hiroshima showed people what Pandora's box they opened by creating nuclear weapons. It was the ashes of Hiroshima that, during the decades of the Cold War, sobered up too hot heads, preventing a new world slaughter from unleashing.

Thanks to the support of the United States and the rejection of the former militaristic policy, Japan has become what it is today - a country with one of the strongest economies in the world, a recognized leader in the automotive industry and in the field of high technology. After the end of the war, the Japanese chose a new path of development, which turned out to be much more successful than the previous one.

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