Interesting pictures of Fat Man and Little Boy. - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Interesting pictures of Fat Man and Little Boy. (Page 1 of 5)

Posted: 11/27/2018 1:54:35 PM EST

A friend sent me a link of images of the two atomic bombs we dropped on Japan, when they were being put together and loading in planes for the bombing of Japan that ended WWII

I looked around and did not see it anywhere on here, so thought some might find them interesting.

Fat Man and Little Boy

Posted: 11/27/2018 1:56:55 PM EST

[#1]

Love the ' FatMan' logo on the coveralls.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:05:27 PM EST

[#2]

Cool thanks for sharing...

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:05:30 PM EST

[#3]

Thanks for sharing. That was interesting and informative to see the loading process!

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:08:18 PM EST

[#4]

Attached File

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:09:07 PM EST

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
Love the ' FatMan' logo on the coveralls.

View Quote

Now I need a shirt with that logo

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:09:07 PM EST

[#6]

Great pics...thanks for posting

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:11:55 PM EST

[#7]

Thanks OP!

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:13:23 PM EST

[#8]

Cool pics....thanks for sharing.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:15:51 PM EST

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
Thanks for sharing. That was interesting and informative to see the loading process!

View Quote

The unloading process was even better!

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:16:11 PM EST

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
Love the ' FatMan' logo on the coveralls.

View Quote

The original Badger Ordnance Works.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:16:59 PM EST

[#11]

Thanks. I've never seen them before.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:17:43 PM EST

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:

Now I need a shirt with that logo

View Quote

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:18:29 PM EST

[#13]

Shorts, no shirts and no PPE. How did they survive?

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:19:31 PM EST

[#14]

Quote History

Quoted:
Cool thanks for sharing...

View Quote

And share we did.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:19:52 PM EST

[#15]

...the early Model 1222 “Fat Man” casings, which required 1,200 bolts to assemble,...

View Quote

Wow!

Think of all that shrapnel!

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:20:06 PM EST

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:
Cool pics....thanks for sharing.

View Quote

This. That was awesome.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:22:54 PM EST

[#17]

Notice how thin and in shape they all were. Not a fat-ass American in the bunch.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:23:31 PM EST

[#18]

... Very cool! I've never seen any of these pictures

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:23:57 PM EST

[#19]

I've seen most of those before, but what really surprised me was the first time I saw the color photos of Fat Man. Never pictured it as being painted bright yellow.

A lot went into the handling and loading, something to keep in mind is that those bombs weighed on the order of 10,000 pounds. Very substantial construction.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:24:40 PM EST

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:
This. That was awesome.

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Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Cool pics....thanks for sharing.

This. That was awesome.

+1

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:24:53 PM EST

[#21]

MADE IN AMERICA

tested in japan

not one,....but two different designs, here to fuck your whole day up

KAPOOYA

KAPOOYA

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:25:14 PM EST

[#22]

Quote History

Quoted:
Wow!

Think of all that shrapnel!

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

...the early Model 1222 “Fat Man” casings, which required 1,200 bolts to assemble,...

Wow!

Think of all that shrapnel!

You know you're having a bad day when the shrapnel hitting your body is iron plasma.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:25:50 PM EST

[#23]

Cool.

I wonder if they even knew what they were playing with? Meaning I wonder if the ground crew knew what kind of instant death they were loading up.

I guess that since the bombs didn’t have dicks painted on them, those soldiers weren’t marines! ??

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:27:02 PM EST

[#24]

Cool pics, OP

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:27:17 PM EST

[#25]

8 different "thin man" bomb casings are pictured in 1944 in the first photo.

If that's accurate, our early nuke program was prepared for a much wider, more destructive campaign than I previously realized.

By Nagasaki, I thought the U.S. had used up all the nukes we had?

Were there more of them ready to go by VJ Day?

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:27:19 PM EST

[#26]

Not many people know that the Military dropped dummy atomic bombs on the NE side of the Salton Sea.

There's still two 4,000 foot long runways, bunkers and a dummy bomb still stuck in the ground out there.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:29:28 PM EST

[#27]

Thanks! Very cool.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:29:58 PM EST

[#28]

What does JANGFU stabd for? (Edit - I see what JANFU is, like SNAFU, joint army navy fuck up)
It's on the nose of fat man right above the fat man logo, stenciled on

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:33:39 PM EST

[#29]

Quote History

Quoted:
Shorts, no shirts and no PPE. How did they survive?

View Quote

exactly what I was thinking

Imagine if OHSA had existed. we'd still be working on it.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:34:31 PM EST

[#30]

Quote History

Quoted:

Now I need a shirt with that logo

View Quote

The stencil in the nose cone:

JANFCU = Joint Army Navy Fucking Cluster Up?

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:35:38 PM EST

[#31]

Nice pics OP.

Just thinking, it was very gracious of the Japanese to help us with final testing of the bombs.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:35:40 PM EST

[#32]

Thanks for sharing OP

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:36:36 PM EST

[#33]

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:37:05 PM EST

[#34]

Quote History

Quoted:

The original Badger Ordnance Works.

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Ok. Now we need this on a PSA lower.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:37:43 PM EST

[#35]

That’s pretty cool, the videos are better!

Tinian, Little Boy, and Fat Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXD_fzrcE20

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:43:10 PM EST

[#36]

Met a genuine member of the SED who worked on that project. He was recruited out of Princeton after graduating early. He couldn’t commission because of his age.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:43:24 PM EST

[#37]

Today, the Op was cool. Thanks.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:45:01 PM EST

[#38]

I have long had a fascination with all things atomic. I've seen a gazillion old b&w pix of this kind of stuff. (I was the local spokesman for the Atomic Testing Museum one year, thanks to Allan Palmer.) Thank you, OP, for posting this. Cool stuff!

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:48:50 PM EST

[#39]

Quote History

Quoted:
I have long had a fascination with all things atomic. I've seen a gazillion old b&w pix of this kind of stuff. (I was the local spokesman for the Atomic Testing Museum one year, thanks to Allan Palmer.) Thank you, OP, for posting this. Cool stuff!

View Quote

I also find it fascinating (thx again, OP).

I'm especially intrigued by the photos of the very earliest stages, where mass is being converted to energy and conditions mimic the early universe:

What a strange moment in time.

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:50:31 PM EST

[#40]

Quote History

Quoted:
The stencil in the nose cone:

JANFCU = Joint Army Navy Fucking Cluster Up?

View Quote

"Joint Army and Navy Command Fuck/Foul Up"

Attached File

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:51:20 PM EST

[#41]

Quote History

Quoted:
Not many people know that the Military dropped dummy atomic bombs on the NE side of the Salton Sea.

There's still two 4,000 foot long runways, bunkers and a dummy bomb still stuck in the ground out there.

View Quote

It is mentioned in the book "Enola Gay" and in another book dedicated to the "Silverplate B-29's" Very fascinating as they were based in Wendover, Utah and flew missions down to the Salton Sea and back.

Picture of the Little Boy....

Attached File

If you notice the 3 plugs protruding from the top of the case. Those are green safety plugs left in and switched out during flight with red plugs used to arm the device. Morris Jeppsom, Electronics officer, still had the safety plugs in his possession when he passed away. I believe one sold for over $100k

Attached File

Posted: 11/27/2018 2:52:27 PM EST

[#42]

Quote History

Quoted:
8 different "thin man" bomb casings are pictured in 1944 in the first photo.

If that's accurate, our early nuke program was prepared for a much wider, more destructive campaign than I previously realized.

By Nagasaki, I thought the U.S. had used up all the nukes we had?

Were there more of them ready to go by VJ Day?

View Quote

The booms were in full production, about 3 per month in September , continually ramping upwards.

4. The final components of the first gun type bomb have arrived at Tinian, those of the first implosion type should leave San Francisco by airplane early on 30 July. I see no reason to change our previous readiness predictions on the first three bombs. In September, we should have three or four bombs. One of these will be made from 235 material and will have a smaller effectiveness, about two-thirds that of the test type, but by November, we should be able to bring this up to full power. There should be either four or three bombs in October, one of the lesser size. In November, there should be at least five bombs and the rate will rise to seven in December and increase decidedly in early 1946. By some time in November, we should have the effectiveness of the 235 implosion type bomb equal to that of the tested plutonium implosion type.

Posted: 11/27/2018 3:01:16 PM EST

[#43]

Quote History

Quoted:
It is mentioned in the book "Enola Gay" and in another book dedicated to the "Silverplate B-29's" Very fascinating as they were based in Wendover, Utah and flew missions down to the Salton Sea and back.

Picture of the Little Boy....
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96423/Little_Boy_jpg-752880.JPG

If you notice the 3 plugs protruding from the top of the case. Those are green safety plugs left in and switched out during flight with red plugs used to arm the device. Morris Jeppsom, Electronics officer, still had the safety plugs in his possession when he passed away. I believe one sold for over $100k

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96423/Little_Boy_safety_plugs_jpg-752887.JPG

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Not many people know that the Military dropped dummy atomic bombs on the NE side of the Salton Sea.

There's still two 4,000 foot long runways, bunkers and a dummy bomb still stuck in the ground out there.

It is mentioned in the book "Enola Gay" and in another book dedicated to the "Silverplate B-29's" Very fascinating as they were based in Wendover, Utah and flew missions down to the Salton Sea and back.

Picture of the Little Boy....
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96423/Little_Boy_jpg-752880.JPG

If you notice the 3 plugs protruding from the top of the case. Those are green safety plugs left in and switched out during flight with red plugs used to arm the device. Morris Jeppsom, Electronics officer, still had the safety plugs in his possession when he passed away. I believe one sold for over $100k

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/96423/Little_Boy_safety_plugs_jpg-752887.JPG

They have a couple displayed at the Air & Space museum (at the Udvar-Hazy complex). They were apparently found in the plane after the mission, and it is unknown if they were from the bomb or practice plugs.

Posted: 11/27/2018 3:07:32 PM EST

[#44]

Quote History

Quoted:
8 different "thin man" bomb casings are pictured in 1944 in the first photo.

If that's accurate, our early nuke program was prepared for a much wider, more destructive campaign than I previously realized.

By Nagasaki, I thought the U.S. had used up all the nukes we had?

Were there more of them ready to go by VJ Day?

View Quote

Thin man was a failure. Initial plutonium production was from a cyclotron and very pure. Reactor produced plutonium 239 had Plutonium 240 contaminants sufficient to cause pre detonation of the bomb. Those were casings tested in '43 and '44 before the project was dropped.

The bomb casings themselves proved a problem due to length and weight.

IIRC we only produced 5 bombs. There might have been plans for more dependent on the eventual Japanese surrender:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-planned-to-drop-12-atomic-bombs-on-japan

" A transcript of a top-level call between two military experts on August 13 reveals details of this “third shot.” It also confirmed that a vast production line of about 12 other atomic bombs was being readied for additional continuous strikes against other key targets.

It was agreed this next bomb would be available to be dropped on August 19, with a schedule of further bombs available throughout September and October.

One U.S. general explained: “If we had another one ready, today would be a good day to drop it. We don’t, but anyhow within the next ten days, the Japanese will make up their minds.”

On August 15, however, just as the plutonium was about to be sent to Tinian, news of the Japanese surrender came through and its loading was stopped."

Thanks, OP, that was very interesting and informative.

Posted: 11/27/2018 3:20:08 PM EST

[#45]

As a kid in the early 50's (yeah, I'm old) one of the biggest questions among us was, "how big was the A bomb." It was not general knowledge at the time.

Guesses went from the size of a soft ball to close to a house.

A big wig we knew in the NYC water department overheard us guessing and he said, "if you take two full size living room sofas and put one on top of the other, you would be close."

Don't know if he had any inside info or if he was just trying to entertain us, but he didn't miss by too much.

Posted: 11/27/2018 3:20:16 PM EST

[#46]

Quote History

Quoted:
Shorts, no shirts and no PPE. How did they survive?

View Quote

The toolboxes near the pit kinda unnerved me.

Posted: 11/27/2018 3:22:39 PM EST

[#47]

LOL at "Top Secret" painted letters on them. Nothing to see here..........

ETA: Maybe those letters are on the photos themselves. Sometimes my brain works slow.

Posted: 11/27/2018 3:26:12 PM EST

[#48]

Quote History

Quoted:
What does JANGFU stabd for? (Edit - I see what JANFU is, like SNAFU, joint army navy fuck up)
It's on the nose of fat man right above the fat man logo, stenciled on

View Quote

I wondered about that too.

OP, thanks for posting!! I'd never seen any of those photos.