The Bombing of Nagasaki by "Fat Man": The Other Atomic Bomb

To their extreme misfortune, the Japanese had failed to heed the Allies' warning to unconditionally surrender, forcing the Allies to unleash the single deadliest act of destruction that the world had heretofore witnessed: the atomic bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The second bombing three days later of the city of Nagasaki effectively ended the Second World War, with Japan's official surrender being signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri.

A tentative invasion of the Japanese island of Kyushu had been scheduled for November 1 of that year in the event that "Fat Man," the deadly sequel to the first atomic bomb, "Little Boy," failed to achieve the desired result. The Allies were convinced that the Japanese would fanatically defend their homeland, and that casualties on both sides would be heavy.

On August 9, 1945, three days after the devastation wreaked upon Hiroshima, a second trio of B-29 bombers set out for their objective, the city of Nagasaki, population just under 200,000. The airplane carrying Fat Man was called "Bock's Car," and was piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney. Like the bomb tested on July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico, Fat Man used plutonium 239, and weighed slightly more than Little Boy.

At approximately 11:00 a.m. that morning, Fat Man exploded in a similar fashion to its predecessor, but the resulting blast, despite being slightly more powerful than that of Little Boy, caused about half as many casualties. This was due in part to the hilly terrain, which helped absorb some of the blast, and the fact that the bomb was dropped several miles off target. Originally, the intended target was the city of Kokura, but cloudy skies that hindered visibility saved it, prompting Sweeney and his crew to move on to Nagasaki (Bauer: 658).

As was the case with the Hiroshima bombing, U.S. and Japanese estimates differed on casualties, from between 20,000 and 30,000 killed. That evening, a reluctant and despondent Emperor Hirohito announced to the Japanese people in a radio broadcast that "to continue the war means nothing but the destruction of the whole nation. . .the time has come when we must bear the unbearable (ibid: 660)." VJ (Victory in Japan) Day came on August 14, 1945.

Like the survivors of the earlier Hiroshima blast, residents of Nagasaki suffered terrible burns and skin abrasions. One photograph shows a Japanese woman whose kimono pattern was seared onto her skin (Ward: 419). Other effects tied to the radiation exposure included low white blood cell count, and bone marrow deterioration. Increased cancer diagnoses continued for years afterwards (Bauer: 660).

Bitter debate continues as to the necessity of the second, and even the first, atomic bomb, particularly since Japan had originally proposed a simple cessation of hostilities. U.S. authorities thought that leaving a militaristic government in power would be a grave mistake, however, and many veterans, particularly those who were slated to participate in the invasion of Japan, were convinced that it not only saved their lives, but Japanese lives, as well.

Sources

Bauer, Eddy. The History of World War II. New York: Galahad Books, 1966, 1979. 656-660.

Ward, Geoffrey C. & Ken Burns. The War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. 413-419.