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Dakota Bacon
Mrs.Gillespie & Mr. Edmiston
English 9- 3rd Hour & World History- 6th Hour
9 May 2013
Nagasaki: What Really Happened?
Nagasaki was a turning point in World War II because it introduced the world to deadly,
destructive nuclear materials. It also gave the world a chance to modernize their weapons; which
is not a good thing considering at this current moment North Korea is threatening us with nuclear
missiles. Finally, the atomic bombing of Nagasaki ended the very devastating World War II.
On August 9th, 1945, at 11:02 a.m. the 2nd nuclear attack on Japan in 3 days occurred
when The Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Its little brother Little Boy was just
dropped on Hiroshima, Japan 3 days earlier on August 6th, 1945. The Fat Man detonates
approximately 1,000 feet above the town. The resulting explosion caused the deaths of over
70,000+ civilians in all, with another 70,000-100,000 injured. In all, approximately 33% or 1/3
of Nagasaki was destroyed. The town was in deep mercy. There was no more hope. They had
lost. (BBC)
The atomic bomb was a remarkable success with The Little Boy and The Fat Man
atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs officially caused the
surrender of Japan. The war officially ended on September 2nd, 1945, following the signing of the
instrument of surrender by Japan. Although, the war was a success for the citizens of the United
States of America, there is actually more to the story than you actually know. What led up to the
events at Nagasaki? (Trueman, Chris)

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World War II had a huge impact on the world when Hitler and his Nazi army began
killing off the Jews in Germany. The United States did not get involved in the war until
December 7th, 1941, when the Japanese did surprise air raid and bombing run attacks on U.S.
bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack lasted for around 2 hours and killed a minimum of
1,000 U.S. soldiers. The question that we all asked is why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?
We did nothing to them, so of course you know that the U.S. became very outraged with Japan.
This ultimately led to the United States admission slip right into the brewing, escalating, hot,
roaring, deadly, and destructive WWII. The most brutal war to have ever of occurred. (Pearl
Harbor)
After the Pearl Harbor attack, the war between the U.S. and Japan became very heated,
very quickly. This ultimately led to the use of what the United States had been working on for a
while. This project would lead to the bombing of Nagasaki and the end of the war. This project
was one of the best kept military secrets in world history. This newfound deadly and powerful
innovation later became known as The Manhattan Project. (The Manhattan Project- Think
Quest)
The formation of the Manhattan Project began in June 1942, although research began on
the atomic bomb before the war even began. This project was started for the original purpose of
gaining knowledge, and later designing, development, and testing of the Atomic Bomb. Over the
course of time they were building the first bomb, it was nicknamed The Gadget. It was so
called as it was not a deployable weapon, and never used the word bomb at all due to the fear of
the project falling subject to espionage. They later began develop the casing for it, which was
called Jumbo. They test Jumbo and it was successfully solid, but the tower it fell from was

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destroyed. The next test is probably the most important test in World History, and the beginning
of the Atomic Age. This test is called the Trinity Test. (The Manhattan Project- Think Quest)
On May 7th, 1945, the U.S. military ran a simulated test with 100 tons of TNT on a 20
foot wooden structure for the test. The test exploded and left a small crater with trace amounts of
radiation. The Trinity Bomb was assembled in the McDonald ranch house. At exactly on minute
past midnight on July 13th, 1945, the bomb was fully assembled. It was then taken to the Trinity
Site and winched up the 100 foot tall steel tower. The original time for the detonation was set for
around 4:00 a.m., but due to bad weather it was postponed due to the fear of accidental
detonation. The weather eventually cleared and the bomb was approved for detonation about an
hour later. Around 5:00 a.m. all the detonators were set in position and it was ready to be
detonated. At 5:10 a.m. the 20-minute countdown began. At around 5:29:31 on July 14th, 1945,
shortly before the full 20 minute countdown, the bomb was detonated. The bomb exploded with
the force of an equivalent of over 20 kilotons of TNT compared to the 100 ton TNT test blast
earlier on. The flash of the blast was several thousand times brighter than that of the sun. The
mushroom cloud could be seen about 60 miles away, the resulting crater was full of melted sand
(which mostly contained silica) which became mildly radioactive glass called Trinitite. The
Trinity Test was a huge success. After the war began, while the U.S. was fighting the Japanese,
the U.S. original intention was to drop the bomb on the Nazis, but since the war with the Nazis
was over before the U.S. had finished making the bomb, the U.S. decided to use it against Japan.
This now leads to the next phase that leads to the final moments of WWII. (The Manhattan
Project-U.S. History)
It is now time to reveal the truth about what really happened. The United States had to
hurry. A while back before the Trinity Test, the United States asked the Soviets for assistance in

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the war with Japan. There were consequences though, and now President Harry Truman did not
trust the Soviets. They were to join the war on August 15th, 1945. Japan also then asked for
Soviet Assistance, the Soviets decided to help the Japan instead, but the day they join in on the
war is still the same. President Harry Truman then got the report back from the Trinity Test
saying that the test was a success. He knew of the upcoming situations with the U.S. and he
knew he had to end the war quickly to prevent a bloody homeland invasion on Japan. He knew
he had to make a decision and quick because the fate of the war is on his hands. He decided to
use the bombs on Japan, but he never considered the devastation or deaths it may cause. (U.S.Soviet Alliance) (Nagasaki: The Forgotten Bomb)
In the final days, on August 6th, 1945, The Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima,
Japan. This left Japan in a very merciful state, but they still continued to refuse surrender.
Although, surrender was now being considered due to the impending Soviet Invasion on Aug.
15th, which would lead to the death of Japans Emperor System. It is now time to reveal exactly
what happened on the day Nagasaki was destroyed with the Fat Man atomic bomb, and how also
that they were NOT the original target to destroyed by the atomic bomb.
For the past 8 months, the U.S. has been leveling Japans major cities to the ground in
Saturation Bombing Runs. These bombing runs started the use of Air Raid Warnings, so that
way on the remaining Japanese cities, if they saw a U.S. plane or any other unidentified plane
they will sound the alarm to tell people to take shelter, but this becomes a problem as you will
soon read why. The bomb had a lot of issues though, it has never ever been flown in a plane
before, and people didnt know if the plane could even carry it already built, so they eventually
decided that the final assembly of the bomb would take place aboard the plane, so that way if
something did happen, the crew would diffidently be lost forever, but at the very least, people

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and military bases back on the ground would be safe. At 2:49 a.m. on August 9th, 1945, the three
planes that are going to be involved in the bomb drop begin their departure for Japan. These
planes are the Big Stink (responsible for recording and filming the explosion), the Great Artiste
(responsible for measuring the blast), and Bockscar (responsible for the bomb drop). They will
travel to the island Yakoshima, then from there they will regroup and head to their original target:
Kokura!
7:50 a.m.: A weather plane is spotted over Kokura, but it is mistaken for a bomber plane.
The air raid alarm goes off and the cities of Japan take shelter. Eventually, the air raid warning is
lifted. Some people stay in the shelter, while others leave the shelter thinking that the day will be
normal. At 8:10 a.m. the planes regroup, but the Big Stink is nowhere to be seen. They also only
get bomb drop approval if they get a visual on the city. The Great Artiste and Bockscar waste
precious fuel while waiting for the Big Stink. They then receive the reports that the weather over
Kokura is clear. Knowing that the Big Stink isnt important just because it is filming the
explosion, the two planes decide to go without the missing plane. They spent so much time
waiting for the Big Stink that when they arrive at Kokura to drop the bomb, the weather is no
longer clear. They then decide to proceed to secondary target Nagasaki, they still have enough
fuel to make it there and back safely, but that is only IF they drop the bomb. They MUST drop
the bomb with or without visual.
They get to Nagasaki shortly before 11:00 a.m. Just when they were about to do the radar
drop, they get visual on the city. At 11:02 a.m. they drop the bomb. The bomb drops from the
plane and approximately 45-50 seconds later the bomb deploys its parachute, and the bomb
detonates right after at approximately 1,250 feet above the city. Due to the citys terrain only part
of the city was destroyed (only about 1/3 or 33% of it). The Hiroshima bomb detonated with less

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force than the Nagasaki bomb, but the Hiroshima bomb killed more people due to nothing being
in the way of. The Hiroshima bomb was also a different design other than the Fat Man design.
This design could have had an impact on the destruction of Hiroshima. Ok, now back in
Nagasaki following the detonation of the Fat Man the death toll was rising at a fast rate, but it
was hard to tell how many people died due to the bombs 20 kiloton of TNT explosion force. The
explosion was so hot and powerful, some people just melted or vaporized in an instant in the
bombs wrath. The death toll is estimated to be around 70,000 to 80,000 with several more
injured, and several dying later from substantial injuries or from radiation.
The reason why so many people in Nagasaki died is because since the air raid warnings
went off earlier when the plane flew over Kokura they later realized it was a weather plane, but
when the two planes fly over Nagasaki they do not sound the alarms due to them believing it is
more weather planes, this is why the bomb killed so many people and was such a devastating
disaster. The final moments of war are coming to a devastating end. Who will be victorious and
who will not? The question will soon be answered.
The bomb is now over. The war is still going on. The leaders of Japan still argue over the
choice of Surrender. They all refuse surrender, but they do realize this will threaten the Emperor
System. They all decide to go to the Emperor himself to see what they shall do. They go to the
Emperor, and to their amazement, the Emperor normally trusts his loyal military, but the
Emperor decides to surrender. The leaders obey the Emperor and on August 15th (the day the
Soviets were supposed to join the war), The Emperor announces Japans surrender to the whole
world and to the citizens of his own country. The war officially ended on September 2nd, 1945,
when Japan signs the Instrument of Surrender. Was this due to the fear of the Emperor System

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being threatened? Was just an easy way to stop the war and all the fighting? Will there ever be
another war? We may never know. (Nagasaki: The Forgotten Bomb)
In my conclusion, the United States has been victorious in every war it has fought. It even
won both World War I and World War II. A country can never be victorious forever. Will one day
the United States get a taste of its own medicine? Do we need to prepare incase our own
weapons are turned against us? That answer is YES! Today, nine countries have the bomb,
including rogue nation North Korea and sworn enemies Pakistan, Iran, and India. Our Worlds
arsenal is made up of approximately 20,000 devices. This is capable of killing the entire human
population many times over. (Nagasaki: The Forgotten Bomb) There will be that one day when
the United States will be on its knees begging for mercy. Will this happen in World War III? The
next war will be a Nuclear War, and we will be fighting for our lives. The beginning of WWIII is
coming very soon, and we all need to prepare for the final moments of everybodys lives. Can we
succeed in another World War with the withering U.S. Economy? We cant take the risk for the
sake of our nation.

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Works Cited
On This Day- 9 August BBC. 2013. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday
/hi/dates/stories/august/9/newsid_3580000/3580143.stm>.
The Manhattan Project. Think Quest. 2013. 23 Apr. 2013.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/timeline/manhattan.html#>.
The Manhattan Project. U.S. History. 2013. 23 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.ushistory.org/us/51f.asp>.
Nagasaki: The Forgotten Bomb. Seconds from Disaster. National Geographic Channel.
Nagasaki, Japan. 17 Dec. 2012. Television.
Pearl Harbor. History Channel. 2013. 23 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.history.com/topics/pearl-harbor>.
Trueman, Chris. The Bombing of Nagasaki. History Learning Site. 2013. 22 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/bombing_of_nagasaki.htm>.
U.S.-Soviet Alliance. U.S. Department of State- Office of the Historian. 2013. 23 Apr. 2013.
<http://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/USSoviet>.

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