Nagasaki Day is annually observed across the globe on 9 August to commemorate the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki by the United States of America (USA) in 1945, during World War II (WWII – 1939-1945).
- 9 August 2024 marks the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Background:
i.On 9 August 1945, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Boeing-29 (B29) airplane named “Bockscar” dropped the 2nd atomic bomb nicknamed “Fat Man” over Nagasaki.
- The bomb was dropped 3 days after the 1st atomic bomb “Little Boy” was deployed over Hiroshima (Japan).
ii.The B29 airplane was piloted by the USAAF Major Charles Sweeney. The co-pilot was Captain Charles Donald Albury.
iii.The USAAF’s initial primary target was Kokura Arsenal, a massive collection of war industries adjacent to the city of Kokura.
iv.Due to visibility issues caused by the clouds and smoke over the primary target, and antiaircraft gunfire at Kokura, the bomber was diverted to its secondary target, Nagasaki, a port city.
Note: Little Boy and Fat Man were the 2 different types of atomic bombs developed by the Manhattan Project, the USA government research project during WWII to build the 1st atomic bomb.
About Fat Man:
i.Fat Man was a Plutonium, implosion-type bomb, that weighed 10,800 pounds (approximately 4,670 kilograms (kg)).
ii.It was about 10 feet and 8 inches in length, and 60 inches in diameter.
iii.The bomb was dropped from 29,000 feet and it exploded 1,650 feet above the slopes of the city with a force of 21,000 tons of Trinitrotoluene (TNT).
Aftermath of Nagasaki Bombing:
i.The bomb destroyed 3 square miles of the city and caused about 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945.
ii.The “hibakusha” are the surviving victims of the atomic bombs which fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2024 Event:
A Peace Memorial Ceremony for the Victims of Nagasaki’s atomic bombing was held on 9 August 2024 at the Matsuyamacho Peace Park, Nagasaki City (Peace Statue Plaza) to mark the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Additional Info:
i.The world’s first nuclear explosion occurred on 16 July 1945 when a plutonium implosion device was tested at a site located 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico.
- It was on the plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, known as the Jornada del Muerto. The code name for the test was “Trinity.”
ii.The Gadget, an implosion-type plutonium bomb was the world’s first-ever atomic device detonation that occurred in the New Mexico desert during the Trinity test.
About Japan:
Prime Minister (PM)- Fumio Kishida
Capital– Tokyo
Currency– Japanese Yen
