The bomb was about 3 metres long and weighed 4 tons (Detail again taken from the Museum pamphlet). Because the bomb was shorter than the original design it was nicknamed “Little Boy”.
The instantaneous fission of 1 kilogram of Uranium 235 released energy equivalent to 16,000 tons of high-performance explosive; Little Boy carried 50kgs of uranium.
The United States began researching the possibility of an atom bomb at the beginning of WWII. In 1942 it launched the Manhattan project that eventually led to the development of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The first bomb was successfully tested on 16th July 1945 so less then three weeks before ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on Hiroshima.
The US believed that the Atomic Bomb would end the War and more quickly than other strategic options but why was Hiroshima chosen? The Museum pamphlet says, “Hiroshima was thought to have been chosen because it had no Allied Prisoner of War Camp.”
Another reason for choosing Hiroshima may have been the large concentration of military facilities in the city. Hiroshima was a flourishing castle town in the Edo Period – 1603 – 1868 (More about that in my blogs on Tokyo). After the restoration of the Meiji – again more on that later – a Higher School of Education was established in Hiroshima and it went on to develop a dual reputation for education and the military.
No comments:
Post a Comment