RE: First atomic bomb - 58 years ago today

["Strickert, Rick" <rstrickert@signaturescience.com>]

Regarding Grant Nixon's claim that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were "purely civilian targets and where there were virtually no targets of military significance" -



>From the Minutes of the second meeting of the Target Committee Los Alamos, May 10-11, 1945

Source: U.S. National Archives, Record Group 77, Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Manhattan Engineer District, TS Manhattan Project File '42-'46, folder 5D Selection of Targets, 2 Notes on Target Committee Meetings. [http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/HISTORY/H-07d.htm]



	12 May 1945

	Memorandum For: Major General L. R. Groves

	Subject: Summary of Target Committee Meetings on 10 and 11 May 1945



[Among the items discussed was the following]



	6. Status of Targets



	A. Dr. Stearns described the work he had done on target selection. He has surveyed possible targets possessing the following qualification: (1) they be important targets in a large urban area of more than three miles in diameter, (2) they be capable of being damaged effectively by a blast, and (3) they are unlikely to be attacked by next August. Dr. Stearns had a list of five targets which the Air Force would be willing to reserve for our use unless unforeseen circumstances arise. These targets are:. . . .



	(2) Hiroshima - This is an important army depot and port of embarkation in the middle of an urban industrial area. It is a good radar target and it is such a size that a large part of the city could be extensively damaged. There are adjacent hills which are likely to produce a focussing effect which would considerably increase the blast damage. Due to rivers it is not a good incendiary target. (Classified as an AA Target). . . .



	B. It was the recommendation of those present at the meeting that the first four choices of targets for our weapon should be the following:



               a. Kyoto  [Classified as an AA Target]

               b. Hiroshima  [Classified as an AA target]

               c. Yokohama  [Classified as an A Target]

               d. Kokura Arsenal [Classified as an A Target]

------------------------------------



The following excerpts come from THE ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI 

by The Manhattan Engineer District, June 29, 1946, [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mpmenu.htm]



	[According to a narrative by Comdr. F.L. Ashworth, U.S.N.:]  "During the approach to the target [Kokura was the primary 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 Japan. 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 city of Nagasaki had been one of the largest sea ports in southern Japan and was of great war-time importance because of its many and varied industries, including the production of ordnance, ships, military equipment, and other war materials. 



	The bomb exploded high over the industrial valley of Nagasaki, almost midway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works, in the south, and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works), in the north, the two principal targets of the city. 



	As intended, the bomb was exploded at an almost ideal location over Nagasaki to do the maximum damage to industry, including the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works, the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works), and numerous factories, factory training schools, and other industrial establishments, with a minimum destruction of dwellings and consequently, a minimum amount of casualties. 





Rick Strickert

Austin, TX



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