Desperate measures had to be taken to bring an end to World War II. The war promised to drag on, which would result in many more American deaths. By dropping the first two atomic bombs in history, America ensured that World War II came to a rapid conclusion. Although these bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki cost many Japanese their lives, doing so was compulsory to ensure an end to World War II. Dropping these atomic bombs was an extremely difficult but necessary decision that America had to make. The Allies met in Potsdam, Germany to discuss the war at hand. The Japanese were still fighting strongly, and seemed unready to give up. The Allies decided to issue an ultimatum to the Japanese that required them to surrender,
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American and British scientists worked together to discover this power before the German scientists. Wanting to gain this knowledge to possibly end the war and keeping the Germans from using it against all other nations was an important goal of the United States. Top secret sites such as Oak Ridge, TN and Richland, Washington were dedicated to the research of atomic power. Once the power of the atomic bomb was discovered, the United States Government began testing its military applications, and planning to use it to end the war with the …show more content…
Taking off from Tinian, a B-29 bomber began flying towards Hiroshima with the atomic bomb. This B-29 bomber was named the Enola Gay, after the pilot Colonel Paul Tibbet’s mother. The atomic bomb also had a name: Little Boy. There were seven different B-29s assigned to this top-secret mission. Three of them were weather planes, two carried scientific equipment and observers of the bomb dropping, one was a stand-by, and lastly there was the Enola Gay with the bomb. Little Boy was dropped at a height of 31,600 feet over the center of Hiroshima. It took 43 seconds to detonate at 1,850 feet over the city. Once the bomb detonated, there was a fireball of white light. This fireball was one hundred times brighter than the sun, and it shared the same temperature as the sun. It was massive; at least 250 feet in diameter. The city was a blaze of fire and it continually burned for three days. The blast and the fire from the atomic bomb utterly destroyed Hiroshima. Sixty percent of the area of the city was completely erased. Eighty percent of all the buildings in Hiroshima were obliterated, while the other twenty percent was very badly damaged. Of nearly three hundred thousand citizens of Hiroshima, more than one fourth died instantly. Later estimates have the death toll between seventy and eighty thousand. Just as many people were also inured either from the initial blast or from radiation. It is
American and British scientists worked together to discover this power before the German scientists. Wanting to gain this knowledge to possibly end the war and keeping the Germans from using it against all other nations was an important goal of the United States. Top secret sites such as Oak Ridge, TN and Richland, Washington were dedicated to the research of atomic power. Once the power of the atomic bomb was discovered, the United States Government began testing its military applications, and planning to use it to end the war with the …show more content…
Taking off from Tinian, a B-29 bomber began flying towards Hiroshima with the atomic bomb. This B-29 bomber was named the Enola Gay, after the pilot Colonel Paul Tibbet’s mother. The atomic bomb also had a name: Little Boy. There were seven different B-29s assigned to this top-secret mission. Three of them were weather planes, two carried scientific equipment and observers of the bomb dropping, one was a stand-by, and lastly there was the Enola Gay with the bomb. Little Boy was dropped at a height of 31,600 feet over the center of Hiroshima. It took 43 seconds to detonate at 1,850 feet over the city. Once the bomb detonated, there was a fireball of white light. This fireball was one hundred times brighter than the sun, and it shared the same temperature as the sun. It was massive; at least 250 feet in diameter. The city was a blaze of fire and it continually burned for three days. The blast and the fire from the atomic bomb utterly destroyed Hiroshima. Sixty percent of the area of the city was completely erased. Eighty percent of all the buildings in Hiroshima were obliterated, while the other twenty percent was very badly damaged. Of nearly three hundred thousand citizens of Hiroshima, more than one fourth died instantly. Later estimates have the death toll between seventy and eighty thousand. Just as many people were also inured either from the initial blast or from radiation. It is