Unfortunately, LeMay’s weather prognosticator now predicted bad weather would set in over Japan again by about August 10.ĭr. The original order, approved by Truman, had clearly stated, “Additional bombs will be delivered on the above targets as soon as made ready by the project staff.” Tibbets and the senior officers from Enola Gay flew to Guam for a press conference.Īfter dealing with the press, Tibbets and representatives of the Manhattan Project met with General LeMay to discuss the next mission, if the Japanese did not surrender. With the combat correspondents stationed on Guam screaming for comments, Col. The $2 billion dollar secret that had been so carefully kept was now public knowledge around the world.
Although the 509th strike teams figured that the Japanese would surrender immediately, the Fat Man team immediately began preparing their bomb for another strike, should the Japanese not surrender.īright and early on the morning of August 7, copies of national newspapers arrived on Tinian, Saipan, and Guam, with photos of the now-famous mushroom cloud over Hiroshima on the front page. There was no fighter opposition and no flak.” He immediately directed that the media report that had been prepared by Major General Leslie Groves, commanding officer of the Manhattan Project, be released. The message of the successful drop reached President Truman while he was aboard the cruiser USS Augusta headed back to America from the Yalta conference: “Hiroshima bombed visually with one-tenth cloud cover. Then Ray Gallagher, the radio operator on Enola Gay, snapped out if it and hollered through his intercom, “if we don’t get out of here, were going to get caught in our own bomb blast.”Įnola Gay arrived back on Tinian at 2:58 P.M., where General Spaatz pinned the Distinguished Serve Cross on his chest with cameras rolling and the booze flowing.Ībove: the B-29’s of the 509 th Composite Group (left to right): Big Stink, The Great Artiste & Enola Gay. The Enola Gay crew was mesmerized, then frightened, by the boiling mass of multi-colored fire and smoke that blanketed Hiroshima, then raced up toward them as they cruised at 39,000 feet.
#CREW OF ENOLA GAY AND BOCKSCAR SERIES#
At 09:15:17, Little Boy was dropped, exploding at about 1,950 feet, crushing Hiroshima to the ground, and starting a series of fires. They reached Hiroshima shortly after 0900, Tinian time. Tibbets then informed the crew that the weapon they were carrying was an atomic bomb. They successfully rendezvoused at Iwo Jima shortly after 0600. Eight minutes after they were airborne Parsons loaded the four silk bags of high explosive propellant into Little Boy.Ībove: The B-29 Enola Gay in front of the “Little Boy” Bomb Pit. Thanks to the in-depth advance planning by navy ordnance officer Captain Deak Parsons, the August 6, 1945, atomic strike mission to Hiroshima was essentially a “milk run.” Īlthough overloaded because of the five-ton Little Boy atomic bomb, extra fuel, and the two Manhattan Project weaponeers, Enola Gay lifted off from Runway Able, Tinian, at 0245, with The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil close behind. MHT is lucky to have these excerpts from Don’s latest book as we reflect on the dual bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. The Bockscar plane is preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.Tinian: Atomic Bomb Island by Author & MHT Tour Historian Don Farrell This didn’t leave enough time to move the complex instrumentation equipment from The Great Artiste to Bockscar, so the two crews traded planes with each other for the historic flight. Weather considerations caused the fight to be moved from August 11 to August 9. Normally, Sweeney and his crew piloted an aircraft called The Great Artiste, and this plane provided the instrumentation and observation support for the drop on Hiroshima.įor the second mission to Japan, Sweeny and his crew were chosen to deliver Fat Man while Bock and crew were chosen to provide observation support. Sweeney had used Bockscar for more than 10 training and practice missions (it wasn’t Bock’s airplane after all, just named after him). The answer relates to the purposes of the planes for each occasion. The question relates to why didn’t Captain Frederick Bock fly his own plane (Bockscar) during the second run. Fewer people are aware that Bockscar (sometimes called Bock’s Car) delivered the second nuclear weapon, Fat Man, to Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Most people are aware that the bomber Enola Gay delivered the first atomic weapon to Hiroshima.