80 Years Ago, Thursday, 9 August 1945

            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.