The End of WWII: Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945

Background of the Atomic Bomb After the U.S. victory at the Battle of the Midway (1942), the U.S. began island hopping in hopes of defeating Japan Japanese units were fighting to the death with few surrendering Used Kamikaze pilots; destroyed 16 U.S. ships and damaged another 80

Development of the Atomic Bomb 1939: The U.S. starts to develop atomic technology using uranium and plutonium Japan did not know about this A top-secret project called “The Manhattan Project” The atomic bomb took two years to make and cost $2 billion

Development of the Atomic Bomb July 16, 1945: first atomic bomb tested in the New Mexico desert The blast vaporized a 100ft. steel tower on which the bomb had been hung

Development of the Atomic Bomb U.S. President Truman warned Japan to surrender or risk being totally destroyed Japan refused So, Truman decided to stop traditional warfare tactics and drop the atomic bomb His reasons for doing so were:

The Decision to Drop the Bomb It was estimated that up to 1 million American soldiers would be lost if the U.S. invaded Japan Russians were heading toward Japan. The U.S. wanted to liberate and occupy Japan before Russia did (why??) Billions of dollars worth of military equipment would be lost in an invasion

The Decision to Drop the Bomb Millions of Japanese lives would be lost if the war were to continue On July 27th, 1945 the Allies had sent a message to Japan saying, “If you do not surrender, you will be destroyed.” The Japanese did not respond. Truman took this as acceptance of total destruction.

Hiroshima Monday, August 6, 1945: The nuclear bomb "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay Killed an estimated 80,000 people Injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000–140,000 It was a ball of fire 300 000 degrees C Buildings within 1km of the blast were flattened

Hiroshima Within a second, 40% of the city was radioactivated After 15 minutes, rain began to fall for 2 hours  “Black Rain” 66 000 people killed instantly; 100 000 were injured

0812 local time, 6 August 1945: 1. American B-29 bomber 'Enola Gay' approaches Hiroshima at an altitude of about 9,357 metres, and begins its bombing run 2. At 0815 it releases the atomic bomb 'Little Boy' 3. The aircraft then performs a sharp, 155 degree right turn and dives an estimated 518 metres 4. The bomb explodes with a force of 13 kilotons at a height of approximately 576 metres above the city 5. About a minute later the first shock wave, travelling at about 335 metres per second, hits the aircraft

“Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima

The American pilot who dropped the first atomic bomb, Paul Tibbets.

The crew of the Enola Gay, the plane that carried the first atomic bomb to its target.

Mushroom cloud from the atomic explosion over Nagasaki at 11:02 a Mushroom cloud from the atomic explosion over Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m, August 9, 1945

Aftermath of Hiroshima Japan still did not surrender! Truman warned that there would be more bombs to come 3 days later, the U.S. dropped another bomb (plutonium) on…

Nagasaki August 9, 1945 The code name of the bomb was “Fat Man” 80 000 people died Both bombs contained one pound of atomic explosive which equals the release of 20 000 tonnes of TNT

Results of the Atomic Bomb Hair loss Cataracts Ulcers Spleen damage Damage to lymph glands Blisters and burns Bone cancer Leukemia Internal bleeding

WWII Ends On September 2, 1945, Japan officially surrendered! Victory over Europe Day (VE Day)

Hiroshima: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwkyPvlWPM0