Beahan, caught a brief glimpse of the city's stadium through the clouds and dropped the bomb. The yield of the explosion was later estimated at 21 kilotons, 40 percent greater than that of the Hiroshima bomb.
Nagasaki was an industrial center and major port on the western coast of Kyushu. As had happened at Hiroshima, the "all-clear" from an early morning air raid alert had long been given by the time the B had begun its bombing run.
A small conventional raid on Nagasaki on August 1st had resulted in a partial evacuation of the city, especially of school children. There were still almost , people in the city below the bomb when it exploded. The hurriedly-targeted weapon ended up detonating almost exactly between two of the principal targets in the city, the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works to the south, and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Torpedo Works left to the north.
Had the bomb exploded farther south the residential and commercial heart of the city would have suffered much greater damage. In general, though Fat Man exploded with greater force than Little Boy, the damage at Nagasaki was not as great as it had been at Hiroshima. The hills of Nagasaki, its geographic layout, and the bomb's detonation over an industrial area all helped shield portions of the city from the weapon's blast , heat , and radiation effects.
The explosion affected a total area of approximately 43 square miles. About 8. Many roads and rail lines escaped major damage. In some areas electricity was not knocked out, and fire breaks created over the last several months helped to prevent the spread of fires to the south. Although the destruction at Nagasaki has generally received less worldwide attention than that at Hiroshima, it was extensive nonetheless.
Almost everything up to half a mile from ground zero was completely destroyed, including even the earthquake-hardened concrete structures that had sometimes survived at comparable distances at Hiroshima. According to a Nagasaki Prefectural report "men and animals died almost instantly" within 1 kilometer 0.
Almost all homes within a mile and a half were destroyed, and dry, combustible materials such as paper instantly burst into flames as far away as 10, feet from ground zero. Note the MPs keeping guard. Fat Man is raised on a hydraulic lift. Once alignment is complete, Fat Man is lowered into the pit. Fat Man is lowered into the pit. Browse our collection of oral histories with workers, families, service members, and more about their experiences in the Manhattan Project.
Skip to main content. Little Boy and Fat Man. History Page Type:. Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wednesday, July 23, Little Boy In this gun-type device, the critical mass is achieved when a uranium projectile which is sub-critical is fired through a gun barrel at a uranium target which is also sub-critical. Weight: 9, lbs Length: 10 ft.
Fuel: Highly enriched uranium ; "Oralloy" Uranium Fuel: approx. Fat Man being lowered and checked on transport dolly for airfield trip. Note the signatures on the tail assembly and the "bomb" on the worker's shirt Fat Man is lowered on to a transport dolly for the trip to the airfield. Related Video:. At base camp, Bush, Conant, and Groves shook hands. Rabi reported watching Oppenheimer arrive at base camp after the test:. When they met, Groves said to Oppenheimer, "I am proud of you.
Probably the most mundane response of all was Fermi's: he had calculated ahead of time how far the blast wave might displace small pieces of paper released into it.
About 40 seconds after the explosion, Fermi stood, sprinkled his pre-prepared slips of paper into the atomic wind, and estimated from their deflection that the test had released energy equivalent to 10, tons of TNT.
The actual result as it was finally calculated -- 21, tons 21 kilotons -- was more than twice what Fermi had estimated with this experiment and four times as much as had been predicted by most at Los Alamos. Soon shock and euphoria gave way to more sober reflections. Rabi reported that after the initial euphoria, a chill soon set in on those present.
The test director, Kenneth Bainbridge, called the explosion a "foul and awesome display" and remarked to Oppenheimer, "Now we are all sons of bitches. Oppenheimer wrote that the experience called to his mind the legend of Prometheus, punished by Zeus for giving man fire, and said also that he thought fleetingly of Alfred Nobel's vain hope that dynamite would end wars.
Most famously, Oppenheimer later recalled that the explosion had reminded him of a line from the Hindu holy text, the Bhagavad-Gita : "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. The success of the Trinity test meant that both types of bombs -- the uranium design, untested but thought to be reliable, and the plutonium design, which had just been tested successfully -- were now available for use in the war against Japan. Little Boy, the uranium bomb, was dropped first at Hiroshima on August 6, while the plutonium weapon, Fat Man, followed three days later at Nagasaki on August 9.
Within days, Japan offered to surrender. Previous Next. Sources and notes for this page. The text for this page was adapted from, and portions were taken directly from the Office of History and Heritage Resources publication: F. On the availability of additional plutonium bombs but not uranium , see " The Manhattan Engineer District, Click here for information on the color photograph of Trinity.
Abrams, Inc. The following pictures are also courtesy LANL: the bunker at S,, the plutonium core being unloaded from the car , the gadget being hoisted up the tower, the unidentified man sitting next to the gadget, and the photograph of Kenneth Bainbridge.
The photograph of Fat Man is courtesy the U. Army Corps of Engineers via the National Archives.
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