While the Japanese Government deliberated, the United States received no word of surrender or submission from the Japanese. So the U.S. proceeded with their nuclear strategy. The next atomic bombing was originally scheduled for August 11, but bad weather conditions moved this date up to August 9 (Feis 128). In the early morning hours of that day, another B-29 called the Bock Scar took off for Japan. But unlike the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, this one was loaded with a plutonium bomb—nicknamed “Fat Man.” Piloted by Major Charles Sweeney, the Bock Scar’s primary target was the arsenal in the city of Kokura, called the “Pittsburg of Japan” (Marx 201) .

However, the weather runs over Kokura did not go smoothly. Obscured by smoke and cloud cover, the plane flew over Kokura three times without getting a clear visual of the city. By then the fuel was running considerably low and enemy fighters were fast approaching. As a result, Major Sweeney flew to the next target on the list: the industrial city of Nagasaki, located eighty miles southwest (The Manhattan Engineer District).

1 | 2

SOURCES:

Feis, Herbert. The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1966.

Marx, Joseph L. Seven Hours to Zero. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967.

The Manhattan Engineer District. "Chapter 7 - The Attacks." The Avalon Project: The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 13 Jul. 2005. The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School. 13 Jul. 2005 <http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mp07.htm#h>.