atomic bomb

Hiroshima mushroom cloud after the first atomic bomb was dropped by a US Air Force B-29

The first atomic bomb was dropped by a United States aircraft on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

Photo from the US Army Signal Corps showing the devastation left after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. No precise date given for the photo which was taken some time not long after the explosion.

US President Harry S Truman, who announced the news from the cruiser USS Augusta in the mid-Atlantic, said the device was more than 2,000 times more powerful than the largest conventional bomb previously used.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima - Aerial view after the bomb

The Hiroshima bomb, known as “Little Boy”, contained the equivalent of between 12 and 15,000 tons of TNT and devastated an area of 13 square kilometres (five square miles).

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay landing on the Marianas Island after the atomic bombing mission on Hiroshima, Japan.

The bomb was dropped at 0815 local time from an American B-29 Superfortress, known as Enola Gay, seen here returning to the Marianas Island.

Firestorms after the explosion of the atom bomb in August 1945, Hiroshima, Japan

The plane’s crew say they saw a column of smoke rising and intense fires springing up.

Devastation at Hiroshima, after the atomic bomb was dropped. The building on the right was preserved as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Atomic Bomb Dome or Genbaku Dome, 1 September 1945.

More than 60% of the buildings in the city were destroyed.

The patient's skin is burned in a pattern corresponding to the dark portions of a kimono worn at the time of the explosion

No-one is sure how many died on that first day. Estimates start at 70,000 but later estimates suggest the final toll was far higher, about 140,000, of Hiroshima’s 350,000 population. This person’s skin was burned in a pattern corresponding to the dark portions of a kimono worn at the time of the explosion.

Hiroshima bombing - The landscape after the bombing

The US President said the atomic bomb heralded the “harnessing of the basic power of the universe”. It also marked a victory over the Germans in the race to be first to develop a weapon using atomic energy.

The Roman Catholic Church of Urakami standing over the burn-razed cityscape of Nagasaki, southern Japan, after the second atomic bomb ever used in warfare was dropped by the US over the Japanese industrial centre.

Another atomic bomb dropped three days later over the Japanese city of Nagasaki killed at least 74,000 people by the end of year.

A Photograph of a Soldier at Hiroshima after the Blast in Japan, August 1945.

The bombings brought about an abrupt end to the war in Asia – but critics said Japan had already been on the brink of surrender. The two atomic bombs, with the Soviet declaration of war against Japan on 8 August 1945, finally left the Japanese no choice. Japan surrendered to the Allies on 14 August 1945.

Source….www.bbc.com

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The U.S. Accidentally Dropped An Atomic Bomb On South Carolina In 1958 !!!

The Cold War is over, but there are still plenty of remnants from its troubles across the American landscape. One major reminder of this era is the crater in Mars Bluffs, South Carolina, where the Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb in 1958. This site was one of the biggest military blunders of the entire Cold War. It’s a miracle that no one was killed.

Walter Gregg and his family were minding their own business on March 11, 1958. Suddenly, a giant explosion out of nowhere rocked the property and nearly destroyed their house. After Gregg accounted for his family members (none of whom were injured), he wondered what exactly happened.

Atlas Obscura

Unbeknownst to Gregg, on that same spring morning, a B-47 Stratojet was flying in the skies over his property. The bomber was on its way to the U.K. to take part in a war game exercise. At that time, all bombers in the air were required to carry an atomic payload. This was because of the off-chance that nuclear war broke out while they were in the air. This particular bomber carried a Mark 6 atomic bomb, like the one pictured below.

Wikipedia

Luckily, this particular Mark 6 bomb did not have its nuclear rod inserted. Otherwise, what happened would have been much, much worse.

Imgur

As the bomber passed over Gregg’s house, a warning light went off. Something was wrong with the bomb’s docking system. Apparently, the locking pin was not engaged properly. That’s when navigator Captain Bruce Kulka went to investigate. However, while he was trying to fix the locking pin, Kulka accidentally pressed the bomb’s emergency release.

Wikipedia

The weight of the 8,500 pound bomb forced the bay doors open. The bomb plummeted towards the woods of Mars Bluff. When the bomb landed, it left a 75-foot-wide, and 30-foot-deep crater in the forest near Gregg’s house. Here is what the impact site looks like today.

Wikipedia

Luckily, no one died in the explosion, but it did level several buildings on Gregg’s property and damage nearby houses. Just imagine how much worse it would have been if the bomb was armed with its nuclear material.

The military paid Gregg and his family $54,000 to rebuild what was destroyed by the bomb and to keep things quiet. It was also around this time when a new rule was put in place requiring planes to make sure that their payloads were locked before take-off.

Kelly Michals

You can still see some pieces of the original bomb dropped on Mars Bluff at a local museum.

Kelly Michals

Via: Atlas Obscura

Talk about a big “oopsie.” I can’t believe the flight crew didn’t think to check if the bomb was secured properly before taking off. This could have kicked off World War III if the bomb was actually armed with its nuclear rod. What a simple mistake. Luckily, we’re all around now to laugh about it.

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In Pictures….Hiroshima on 6 Aug 1945…