Facts About the Hiroshima Bombing

, , Leave a comment

A secret program called the Manhattan Project was initiated in 1942 to create the atomic bomb which was ultimately responsible for annihilating the targeted cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, unfurling a new dimension in the destruction of societies.

Fact 1. On March 9-10, 1945,  fleets of 334 B-29s bombed the city of Tokyo for almost 3 hours. The city center was embroiled in fires within half an hour of the first attack with temperatures hovering around 1,000 degrees centigrade.  The destruction killed over 10,000 people with millions injured.

Fact 2.  Before the bombings, the mass destruction and annihilation of cities was not an acceptable, conventional act. But with the start of the bombings, all conventions were put aside as nations engaged in the mass destruction of cities and people.

Fact 3.   The Japanese Army of 2 million personnel was one of the strongest armies in the world and formed a formidable foe for the Americans. The ultimate decision to force the Japanese Army to surrender was the bombing of Hiroshima.

Fact 4.  From the American perspective, President Truman’s most difficult decision in his life was executed by the bombing of Hiroshima due to Japan’s refusal to surrender unconditionally.

Fact 5.  The decision was made to bomb Hiroshima, and on August 6, 1945, the plane Enola Gay dropped the bomb.

Fact 6. The Hiroshima bomb exploded at a height of 580 meters for a maximum destruction effect. The energy released was aimed at ground zero, and before dissipating it spread to the surrounding hills and rebounded back into the city.

Fact 7.  The target of the bomb, Hiroshima City Center, had countless buildings including wooden residences. Hiroshima’s population at the time of the bombing was an  estimated 340,000’“350,000. All of the buildings within 2 km of ground zero, including reinforced concrete buildings, were completely destroyed by the explosion and the aftermath of the fires. 

Fact 8.  The Hiroshima bomb at its bursting point released energy equivalent to 12.5 kilotons of  TNT with a temperature of several million degrees Centigrade. This constituted 35 percent of the bomb’s total energy release.

Fact 9. An estimated 70,000 Japanese were instantly vaporized with another 100,000 perishing from burns and radiation.

Fact 10. The United States has the distinction of being the sole nation to have utilized an atomic weapon on another country.

Tea Time Quiz

[forminator_poll id="23176"]
 

Leave a Reply