UNITED STATES DROPS SECOND ATOMIC BOMB ON JAPAN KILLING 40,000
Nagasaki, Japan (JFK+50) At 11:02 a.m. local time on August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Japan. This one was a plutonium implosion bomb dropped from the B-29 "Buckscar" piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney*.
The bomb exploded over Nagasaki**, a major port and industrial center, at an altitude of 1,650 feet. Although for varied reasons the result was not as destructive as the one dropped three days earlier at Hiroshima, this bomb was 40 per cent more powerful than the first.
According to the Manhattan Project*** website, "almost everything up to one half mile from ground zero was completely destroyed." 40,000 persons died in the initial blast with 60,000 more injured.
More than a month later, an American naval officer visiting the ruins of the city said...
"A smell of death...pervades the place."
The day following the atomic bomb drop on Nagasaki, the Japanese Imperial government surrendered. At long last, World War II was over.
*Charles W. Sweeney (1919-2004) was born in Lovell, Massachusetts & served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in WWII. CWS was awarded the Silver Star & Air Medal. He served in the Massachusetts Air National Guard until his retirement in 1979.
**Nagasaki, 'long cape', is located on the northwest coast of the island of Kyushu. Prior to Aug 9 1945, the city had been hit by tons of U.S. high explosive, incendiary & fragmentation bombs from 136 aircraft.
***Manhattan Project (1942-1945) Headquartered at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the project involved research & development of nuclear weapons. It was named for the Manhattan Engineering District & led by General Leslie R. Groves.
SOURCE
"The Bombing of Nagasaki," The Manhattan Project, www.usti.gov/
