Читать книгу The Worst World Disasters of All Time - Kevin Baker - Страница 15

Mushroom cloud from the dropping of Little Boy.

Date: 6^th August, 1945.

Location: Hiroshima, Japan.

Disaster Type: Nuclear explosion.

Fatalities: 90,000 – 166,000 deaths as well as radiation poisoning.

Resulting Damage: A 3.5 kilometres in diameter shock wave of fire, blast effects and radiation.

The war had ended in the west, with the European front being an Allied victory and Germany in ruins. Both the Soviets and western allies had completed their offensives against Hitler and had reached Berlin, yet in the Pacific, the war was still going on. The allies had the upper hand, and Japan was having a hard time continuing to fight, but the Japanese Empire had always been patriotic and proud, and the Emperor refused to surrender. The prospect in front of the Americans was a long and arduous battle that would involve sending troops by air and sea onto the Japanese islands, and fighting all the way to the capital.

So instead, the US government was working on a secret project to end the war in one quick decisive blow. Continuing some of the early works that Germany had started with nuclear power, the Manhattan project was headed by a team of scientists in the Nevada desert, where they constructed and tested the first atomic bombs ever conceived. The project cost billions of dollars and involved one of the largest and most secretive crews ever assembled.

Even though Germany had surrendered back in May of 1945, by early August, Japan was still fighting. The first bomb meant for delivery, Little Boy, was a 64 kg device with the power of 16 kt. Hiroshima was selected as the target for its industrial and military significance. Several military camps were situated around the city, and the US government thought that this would be a good demonstration of the bomb's power. So on the morning of August 6th, the Enola Gay lifted off along with 6 other support planes and headed towards Japan, intent on bombing the city.

Thirty minutes before delivery, the bomb was armed in the plane and the safety devices removed. At 8:15 the plane flew over the city and dropped the bomb from a clear sky. It detonated 600 meters above the city and instantly killed almost 80,000 people from the blast itself and the fires that were ignited by the intense heat. Estimates say that over 90,000 – 166,000 people died from this nuclear attack, including disturbing long term health effects from the radiation.

All radio signals were cut from Hiroshima on the day of the bombing, and it took a scout plane to go down there and survey what had happened for the Emperor to learn about the bombing. Yet despite the intense devastation, and President Truman making an announcement along with an ultimatum for Japan to surrender, Japan did not surrender. It would take the Soviet armies declaring war on Japan, and a second atomic bombing, before the war would truly end.