The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On August 6th, 1945 the US dropped a bomb on Hiroshima (nicknamed little boy and weighed nearly 8000lbs. This was the first time man had used a nuclear weapon against his fellow man. It was delivered by a US B29 nicknamed Enola Gay. The bomb contained Uranium 235, and exploded about 580m above the ground. Three days later on August 9th the US dropped a second bigger atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki (nicknamed Fatman). It was delivered by a B29 nicknamed Bockscar. It weighed nearly 9000lbs. The causes for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were: the bombing of Pearl harbor, to prevent Operation Downfall, and to prevent the war from going on any longer. On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (Overview of the Pearl Harbor Attack, 7th December 1941). It resulted in twenty one of the US Pacific Fleets to be sunk or damaged. It caused 2403 American deaths including 68 civilians. In addition 1178 military and civilians were wounded. In the end twenty nine planes, less than 10 percent of the Japanese attacking force failed to return. The bombing of Pearl Harbor would cause the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland called Operation Downfall. Operation Downfall was a planned invasion of the Japanese mainland, but was delayed because of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and canceled after the Japanese surrendered (World War 2 in the Pacific Operation Downfall). In Operation Downfall the US was to invade Southern Kyushu which would provide a large air base and air force within range of Tokyo. Then on March 1st 1946 the US was planned to invade Central Honshu, and then Tokyo. It was to be complete within a year of the end of the war in Europe. It would relate to the third and final cause, which is to prevent the war from going on any longer. The US wanted to prevent the war from continuing, because it would have resulted in mass causalities on both sides (Japanese and United States) such as an estimated number approaching about half a million people and more (John Gillard). The effects of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were that it killed an estimated combined 220,000 people (The bombing of Hiroshima killed an estimated140, 000 and the bombing of Nagasaki killed an estimated 80,000), (BBC News). It ended up killing Allied powers, Koreans, Chinese laborers, and Malaya students on scholarships. In addition it killed an estimated 3200 Japanese American citizens. Also many died from radiation sickness and it is even affecting unborn children by giving them cancer and stunted growth. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was one of the main reasons why the Japanese surrendered to the allies on August 14th 1945. There were many people who didn’t agree with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki such as Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, and Peter Kuznick, but the US had to bomb those cities because of these causes: the bombing of pearl harbor, to prevent Operation Downfall, and to prevent the war from going on any longer. There is one question on everybody’s mind what would have happened if we didn’t bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki?