This mission was piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, commanding officer of the th Composite Group, who named the bomber after his mother. The four-engine plane, followed by two observation planes carrying cameras and scientific instruments, was one of seven making the trip to Hiroshima, but only the Enola Gay was carrying a bomb — a bomb that was expected to knock out almost everything within a 3-mile 5-kilometer area.
Measuring over 10 feet 3 meters long and almost 30 inches 75 centimeters across, it weighed close to 5 tons 4. The Enola Gay weaponeer, Navy Capt. Deak Parsons, was concerned about taking off with Little Boy fully assembled and live. Some heavily loaded Bs had crashed on takeoff from Tinian. If that happened to the Enola Gay, the bomb might explode and wipe out half the island.
It was the first time a devastating nuclear device had been unleashed upon a populated target. In an instant, 70, people were obliterated.
Over the next few years, the death toll would reach about , due to burns, radiation poisoning and cancer, according to the U. Department of Energy. Three days later, on Aug. Dropping the atomic bomb was a watershed moment in human history. Not only did it change warfare, but it ushered in the atomic age, one where mankind became capable of obliterating itself.
The bombings have been endlessly debated. Some people argue that they prevented a potentially more devastating invasion of Japan, including countless more deaths, and brought the war to a speedy end. Parts of the plane went on display in for the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Restoration work was completed and the full aircraft was exhibited for the first time in Scores of museum staff and volunteers—some of them former B maintenance crew members—participated in the preservation project , which involved more than , hours of work.
Although missing a few parts, the Enola Gay is now restored so generations of Americans can see the plane that left an indelible mark in the annals of time. The mission to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was at least two years in the making. If it had been ready in time, the Allies might have used the new super weapon on Germany. However, the Manhattan Project , which was led by scientist Robert Oppenheimer, was still in full swing when the Nazis surrendered on May 7, Trinity , the codename for the first test of a nuclear device, occurred on July 16 in the New Mexico desert.
In September , he was given command of the th Composite Group , the unit that would later drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But you have to combine that with the mission of the Enola Gay, which brings in the dimension of the role of technology in war.
Here we have one bomber with one bomb destroying one city. Tibbets was the group and aircraft commander for the flight. As lead pilot, he named the Enola Gay after his mother. With him that day were copilot Capt.
Robert Lewis , bombardier Maj. Thomas Ferebee , navigator Capt. Theodore Van Kirk , weaponeer Capt. William Parsons , assistant weaponeer Lt. Morris Jeppson , electronic countermeasure operator Lt. Jacob Beser , radar operator Sgt. Joseph Stiborik , radio operator Pvt. Richard Nelson , flight engineer Staff Sgt. Wyatt Duzenbury , assistant flight engineer Sgt. Robert H. Shumard and tail gunner Staff Sgt. Robert Caron. Beser would also fly on the mission to Nagasaki on August 9 aboard the Bockscar , the B that delivered Fat Man , the second atomic bomb dropped in war.
As the Enola Gay made its final approach to Hiroshima that day, Tibbets ascended to 31, feet, then turned over controls to Ferebee. He released the bomb at that morning. As the 10,pound Little Boy fell away, the aircraft lurched violently upward. Tibbets began evasive maneuvers and banked hard to return to base. Forty-three seconds later, the bomb detonated at its predetermined height of 1, feet with the force of 15, tons of TNT. A huge mushroom cloud appeared over what had been the heart of Hiroshima.
The Enola Gay was then buffeted violently when struck by two shock waves—one direct and the other reflected from the ground. Caron took photos from the tail of the plane and described what he saw over the intercom for the rest of the crew.
He later recounted the experience in his book Fire of a Thousand Suns :. A few crewmen claimed they heard him say them. The devastation of Hiroshima was apocalyptic. The city was almost completely leveled while a conservative estimate places the death toll at , people.
0コメント