RE: First atomic bomb - 58 years ago today

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

Grant Nixon wrote:



> Nagasaki was NOT THE INTENDED TARGET and was an

> after-thought, as described. It was NOT given an AA 

> or even an A target classification, unlike Kyoto, 

> despite the highly-touted military targets of

> Nagasaki mentioned in the post.



Nagasaki was not an "after-thought"!  It was the fourth target listed in the general bombing orders issued on July 25, 1945. (http://www.dannen.com/decision/handy.html) 



Nagasaki was also the secondary target in the mission orders for Maj. Chuck Sweeney and the crew of "Bockscar", the B-29 that carried "Fat Man" (http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/CG/CG_09C2.htm) and it was (barely, as it turned out) close enough to Kokura, the primary target; the other potential target cities were further to the north.  An article (http://www.bockscar.com/DecisionatNagasaki.pdf) based on the book, "Decision at Nagasaki", written by the Bockscar co-pilot, Lt. Col. Fred J. Olivi (USAF Ret.), briefly describes the bombing mission. 



> Considering the choice of detonation height and 

> the choice of ground zero, it appears to reflect 

> the goal of killing as many people as possible as

> opposed to destroying "hard" targets. 



According to "The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Chapter 9 - General Description of Damage Caused by the Atomic Explosions", by The Manhattan Engineer District, June 29, 1946 (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mp09.htm):



	"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. Had the bomb been dropped farther south, the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works would not have been so severely damaged, but the main business and residential districts of Nagasaki would have sustained much greater damage casualties." 





Rick Strickert

Austin, TX





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