80 years ago today we saw the second use of a nuclear
weapon in combat. Since then, there has
not been a third, despite the proliferation to the Soviet Union, the UK,
France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. India and Pakistan engaged in a long range
air battle earlier this summer but were dissuaded from escalating towards Armageddon. With the demise of the USSR, Russia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, and Ukraine inherited the former Soviet nuclear arsenal. Belarus and Kazakhstan gave their weapons to
Russia. Ukraine surrendered its weapons in exchange for security guarantees that
should have protected its territorial integrity. The rest of the world failed to hold up its
end of the bargain when Russia first annexed Crimea in 2014, and again when
Russia launched its so called “special military operation” in February 2022. A rose by any other name . . . Bullies pick on those they perceive as week,
and Russia coveted its neighbors land and is stealing it at great cost as Ukraine
was much stronger than they thought and they much less competent. But the hardest lessons are learned in the
crucible of combat, let us hope that the bomb employed 80 years ago remains
that last one used against fellow human beings.
US NAVY
PACIFIC—USAAF B‑29 "Bock's Car" (509th Composite
Group) drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Kyushu; USN Commander Frederick W.
Ashworth is the weaponeer on this mission. In the nuclear devastation unleashed
upon that Japanese port city, merchant tanker Tsuruoka Maru is damaged.
USN
carrier‑based aircraft from TF 38 carriers (Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.)
pound Japanese shipping and airfields, ranging from northern Honshu and
Hokkaido to the coast of Korea, sinking auxiliary submarine chasers Shintohoku Maru
and 2 Kongo Maru and 6 Takunan Maru, minesweepers W.1 and W.33, and fleet
tanker Juko Maru, and merchant cargo ship No.36 Banshu Maru off Hamada,
39°30'N, 142°04'E. USN (TF 38) and British carrier aircraft(TF 37) sink escort
vessels Amakusa and Inagi off Onagawa.
Off
Honshu, retaliatory air strikes by Japanese planes result in friendly fire
damage to destroyer John W. Weeks (DD‑701), 35°00'N, 143°00'E; kamikaze damages
destroyer Borie (DD‑704) at 37°21'N, 143°45'E.
TU 12.5.6‑‑battleship
New Jersey (BB‑62), light cruiser Biloxi (CL‑80) and four destroyers‑‑bombards
Wake Island while en route from Pearl Harbor to Eniwetok.
TU 34.8.1,
battleships and cruisers (Rear Admiral John F. Shafroth) shells industrial
targets at Kamaishi, Honshu. Two British light cruisers participate in the
bombardment as well.
Soviet
forces enter Manchuria. Russian planes sink Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.82
north of Joshin, Korea, 41°21'N,131°12'E, and merchant vessels Kasado Maru and No.2
Ryuho Maru off Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk.
Submarine Hawkbill
(SS‑366) shells Tambelan Island 230 miles east of Singapore, destroying
Japanese radio station.
Destroyer
escort Johnnie Hutchins (DE‑360), carrying out an antisubmarine sweep on the
convoy route between Leyte and Okinawa, sinks what may have been kaitens
launched by I 58, known to have been in the area at that time.
USAAF B‑25s
on antishipping sweeps against Japanese shipping traffic off the coast of Korea
sink auxiliary submarine chaser No.63 Hino Maru west of Koje‑do, merchant cargo
ship No.7 Yamabishi Maru off Tsushima, 35°09'N, 129°30'E, and army cargo ship Daito
Maru, 15 miles off Chongjin, Korea.
Aircraft
sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Izu Maru, Shiogama harbor.
U.S. aircraft
sink Japanese merchant cargo ship No.7 Yamanami Maru, 25°15'N, 138°44'E.
Aircraft
sink Japanese freighters Kagoshima Maru and Toyoshima Maru off Pusan, Korea.
Aircraft
sink Japanese merchant cargo ship Senko off Chongjin, Korea, and damage Tensho
Maru.
Aircraft
sink Japanese merchant cargo ship No.2 Ryuho Maru off Utka.
Aircraft
sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Edamitsu Maru, Sotsu Go, tanker Empo Maru and
damage Japanese merchant cargo ship Rakusan Maru off Najin, Korea.
Japanese
merchant cargo ship No.6 Banshu Maru is damaged by aircraft off Hamada, Japan.
Japanese
destroyer Yanagi and minelayer Tokiwa are damaged by aircraft, Ominato, Japan.
Japanese
escort vessel Yashiro and Coast Defense Vessel No.87, and army cargo ship Ryuwa
Maru, and merchant cargo ship Meiyu Maru are damaged by aircraft off Unggi,
Korea.
USAAF B‑25s
(5th Air Force) damage Japanese fast transport T.21 off Tsuwa Jima, 33°59'N,
132°31'E. Although T.21 is run aground to permit salvage, she never returns to
active service (see 10 August).
Japanese
transport Choun Maru is damaged by aircraft, location unspecified.
Mines
damage Japanese merchant cargo ships Enoshima Maru in Oguchi channel, Nanao; Genyo
Maru, 35°51'N,131°15'E; Shinri Go, 34°06'N, 131°19'E; and damage merchant
vessel Okita Maru near Sumoto.
US ARMY AIR FORCE
INTERNATIONAL—Soviet troops pour into Manchuria.
TENTH AF—Tenth AF moves from Kunming to Liuchow. When the
war ends, the deployment of Tenth AF units to China is still in progress. So,
for the Tenth, war ends amidst a major reorganization.
FOURTEENTH AF—5 B‑25’s, with P‑51 escort, damage Puchi
railroad bridge, and hit rail traffic N of Sinsiang. The P‑51’s strafe AA
positions and targets of opportunity near the bridge. 4 other B‑25s operating
individually, attack truck convoys and targets of opportunity S of Changsha, S
and N of Yoyang, and in Siang‑Chiang Valley, and hits S end of town of
Siangtan.
FEAF—B‑25’s over Kyshu bomb airfields at Kanoya, town of
Noma, shipping in Beppu Bay, bridges, factories, and oil storage at Tsuruaski,
and shipping, coastal villages, and communications targets in Tsushima Strait
area. A‑26’s and A‑20’s hit Kanoya airfield and industrial areas of Kushikino,
Minato, and Shimahira. B‑24s over W Honshu bomb airfield at Iwankuni. Over 200
P‑47’s and P‑51’s hit numerous targets on Shikoku, Kyushu, and in the Ryukyus
including airfield’s, barracks, harbor installations, bridges, shipping,
vehicles, and various factories and storage facilities. B‑24’s bomb military
stores at Matsuyama. B‑25’s and P‑38’s support ground forces in areas in N of
Baguio, SSE of Mankayan, S of Kabayan, SE of Cervantes, near Kiangan, and NW of
Infanta. B‑24s over Amboina‑Ceram bomb Laha barracks.
TWENTIETH AF—Second and last atomic bomb of World War II is
dropped on Japan. Maj Charles W Sweeney pilots a B‑29, Bock’s Car, off runway
at North Field, Tinian, at 0230. He is followed by 2 observation B‑29’sthe Great
Artiste piloted by Capt Frederick C Bock (who has exchanged planes with Sweeney
for the mission) and another Very Heavy Bomber piloted by Maj James I Hopkins
(who loses contact with the other 2 B‑29’s). The primary target, Kokura, is
obscured by bad weather. The attack is made against the secondary target, Nagasaki.
The bomb, dropped from 28,900 ft at 1158 (1058 Nagasaki time), explodes about a
min after release. Japanese reports claim nearly 24,000 killed. US figures
estimate about 35,000. The attacking B‑29’s refuel on Okinawa, and return to
Tinian by 2339. During 9/10 Aug, 95 B‑29’s bomb Nippon Oil Refinery at
Amagasaki.
US ARMY
JAPAN— Atomic Bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.
MANCHURIA—Soviet Forces pour into Manchuria.
US MARINE CORPS
Tinian-based B-29 drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Russia
invades Manchuria.
