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Night before bombing
21:00 (Nagasaki time)
Fat Man is loaded on B-29 Bockscar
22:00
Pre-flight briefing for planes. Bockscar, The Great Artiste, and Big Stink
Rendezvous point changed from Iwo Jima to Yakushima due to bad weather
Flight altitude was raised to 17,000feet from 9,000 feet. -
Fat Man dropped
11:02 AM (Nagasaki time)
Fat Man dropped over Nagasaki. Fat Man explodes 1,650 feet over the city Three shock waves are felt by Bockscar and The Great Artiste -
Sparing city of Kokura
09:44(Nagasaki time)
Bockscar arrives at the city of Kokura, the city is covered in haze. The aim point cannot be seen and planes stop searching for the aim point.
10:32
The decision is made to head towards the second target. Nagasaki 95 miles south. -
Arriving to Nagasaki
10:56
Bockscar and The Great Artiste arrive at Nagasaki
10:58
Bockscar has enough fuel for one pass. The city is cloudy but has one gap to allow the drop to occur several miles from the aim point. -
Early Morning Preparations
01:15 (Nagasaki time)
The Bockscar crew performs pre-flight checks.
01:58
Two weather planes Enola Gay & Laggin' Dragon take of selected cities to monitor weather conditions.
02:47
The pilot for Bockscar Major Charles Sweeney takes off from Tinian Island towards target Kokura Arsenal. -
Low on fuel
11:06 (Nagasaki time)
Bockscar and The Great Artiste are low on fuel and head towards Okinawa.
11:30
The Supreme War Council get the news of the Nagasaki bombing
12:00
Bockscar heads into Okinawa. Number 2 engine fails as it enters runway. -
Headed back to Tinian Island
13:20 (Tinian Island time)
Big Stink arrive at Nagasaki to take photos of the bombing.
17:30
Bockscar, The Great Artiste, and Big Stink take off from Okinawa and head back to Tinian Island.
22:30
Planes arrive at the Northern field of Tinian Island. -
Casualties
Estimated 236,000 people were in Nagasaki on the day of the bombing.
Over 9,000 Japanese soldiers and 400 prisoners of war were stationed in Nagasaki
An estimated 40,000-75,000 people died immediately following the explosion. Another 60,000 people suffered severe injuries. -
Aftermath
August 9, 1945
J Robert Oppenheimer cables General Leslie Groves about the schedule for more atomic bombs.
August 10, 1945
Hirohito (emperor of Japan) makes his "sacred decision" to accept the Potsdam declaration of surrender The United States broadcasts information of Japan surrendering. -
Japan Surrenders
August 11, 1945
US Secretary of State James Byrnes rejects Japan's surrender.
August 13, 1945
President Truman order firebombing, and order raids over 1,000 B-29s. Thousands of Japanese are killed
August 14, 1945
The cabinet approves Japan's surrender and accepts the Potsdam declaration.
September 2, 1945
Japanese officials sign a formal surrender on USS Missouri.
