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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:37:11 PM EDT
[#1]
Pencils, paper, and slide rules.
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:39:38 PM EDT
[#2]
Great pics! Thanks for posting OP. I've never seen them before.
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:40:15 PM EDT
[#3]
I had an uncle who was with the 216th at Wendover. I wish he had lived long enough to tell some stories, but he died too soon after the war, while still sworn to silence.
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:40:23 PM EDT
[#4]
Very cool, thanks for posting!
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:43:57 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Notice how thin and in shape they all were. Not a fat-ass American in the bunch. 
General Groves and Oppenheimer. I wonder where they got the names. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:44:29 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
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. Quote HistoryQuoted:
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? 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. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:49:36 PM EDT
[#7]
"a second kiss for Hirohito"
 The OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) - ? ENOLA GAY ? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:51:22 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Now I need a shirt with that logo  Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Love the ' FatMan' logo on the coveralls. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 4:56:32 PM EDT
[#9]
No pictures of Loose Lady, no care.
Kharn |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:03:22 PM EDT
[#10]
A salute those men for their great work and attention to detail.
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:10:42 PM EDT
[#11]
"what did you do during the war?"
"not much, painted a bomb on some island once..." |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:10:50 PM EDT
[#12]
A somber bit of history, thanks for the link OP.
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:16:39 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
What does JANGFU stabd for? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:20:00 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
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. Any good books on this subject? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:28:35 PM EDT
[#15]
Wasn't the third target Tokyo?
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:32:32 PM EDT
[#16]
Great thread! Thanks, OP!
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:33:29 PM EDT
[#17]
Enjoyed the pics.
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:35:18 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Wasn't the third target Tokyo? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:37:04 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Wow! Think of all that shrapnel!  Quote HistoryQuoted:
...the early Model 1222 “Fat Man” casings, which required 1,200 bolts to assemble,... Think of all that shrapnel! |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:39:27 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Wasn't the third target Tokyo? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:43:33 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Tokyo was already leveled and burned to a crisp by incindiaries |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:44:12 PM EDT
[#22]
There are interesting accounts - published after the war - of the Japanese reaction to the bombs. IIRC:
- the initial blast (and probably EMP) cut all communication to / from the city - not that many uniformed imperial soldiers were killed, although both cities were militarily important, largely due to factories there - a high-ranking Korean officer in the Imperial army was one casualty, as were a group of Korean turn-coat soldiers - allied POWs who survived the blast were executed by angry Japanese captors |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:44:30 PM EDT
[#23]
I was able to meet Theodore Van Kirk and thank him for his part in ending the war before he died
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:45:38 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 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: https://i.stack.imgur.com/2mt4P.jpg What a strange moment in time. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:49:06 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
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? There were lots of sets of casings and bomb components made and transported to Tinian. The atomic bombing group even flew practice missions to Japan and dropped a couple of the Fat Man casings on targets. Without the fissile material, they were a 5000 pound HE bomb. What paced the availability of atomic bombs was simply the supply and fabrication of the fissile metal parts - the Uranium-235 for the Little Boy types, or the Plutonium for the Fat Man. One Plutonium core was expended in the Trinity test, another in the Fat Man bomb. The next core was supposedly made and about to be loaded onto a ship for transport to Tinian when news of the surrender was received. Had the war continued, supposedly they were expecting about 2 bombs per month, then about 1 per week in late 1945 into 1946 to support Operation Downfall. The Little Boy design was terribly inefficient and used a large quantity of U235, it's unlikely they would have constructed another gun-type bomb. Los Alamos was already thinking about levitation and composite core designs to more efficiently use the available fissile materials. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:51:07 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
https://static.politico.com/dims4/default/2c0f845/2147483647/resize/1160x%3E/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fs3-origin-images.politico.com%2F2015%2F08%2F05%2F20150805_kunetkaoppenheimergroves.jpg General Groves and Oppenheimer. I wonder where they got the names. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:53:58 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: That's exactly what I wanted to ask. Any good books on this subject?  
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:58:03 PM EDT
[#28]
Quoted:
Quoted:
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. Any good books on this subject? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 5:58:06 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I may make them. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:09:12 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
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? I also want a shirt with that logo. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:12:40 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I may make them. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted: I’d be interested in one or more! |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:14:11 PM EDT
[#32]
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:14:40 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Wasn't the third target Tokyo? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:16:49 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Let me know Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I may make them. Me too. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:19:23 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
MADE IN AMERICA tested in japan not one,....but two different designs, here to fuck your whole day up KAPOOYA KAPOOYA It was Riotous. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:20:03 PM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
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! I wish there was some place where I could talk to people about it at the level that interests me. Seriously. Those pictures have been in the wild a long, long time, OP. For ham nerds, look at the bomb test unit stack, and see if there's anything remotely familiar. For the rest of you, here is a rare fucking picture: 
The hand is Alex Wellerstein's. He met a guy at a 509th reunion (I think that's right), and this guy said this was made in the exact pit mold that made the initial three FM cores. That is half, the complete plutonium core was ball-shaped. That amount (and, not all of it converted into energy, according to calculations) is what did the damage. Amazing, huh? Also, I like to push pictures like this one: 
whenever I can. People are told that popping off a nuke, it'll be barren for a zillion years, no one can ever enter again, and who is left in that area will be horribly mutated. Guess where that is? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:20:38 PM EDT
[#37]
Never seen any of those.Thanks!
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:25:54 PM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
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. (Or so I've been told) 
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:30:33 PM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Shorts, no shirts and no PPE. How did they survive? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:30:46 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
ME TOO I wish there was some place where I could talk to people about it at the level that interests me. Seriously. Those pictures have been in the wild a long, long time, OP. For ham nerds, look at the bomb test unit stack, and see if there's anything remotely familiar. For the rest of you, here is a rare fucking picture: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CGl2VQ9UAAACL0D.jpg The hand is Alex Wellerstein's. He met a guy at a 509th reunion (I think that's right), and this guy said this was made in the exact pit mold that made the initial three FM cores. That is half, the complete plutonium core was ball-shaped. That amount (and, not all of it converted into energy, according to calculations) is what did the damage. Amazing, huh? Also, I like to push pictures like this one: https://gaijinpot.scdn3.secure.raxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/02/Nagasaki.jpg whenever I can. People are told that popping off a nuke, it'll be barren for a zillion years, no one can ever enter again, and who is left in that area will be horribly mutated. Guess where that is? Quote HistoryQuoted:
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! I wish there was some place where I could talk to people about it at the level that interests me. Seriously. Those pictures have been in the wild a long, long time, OP. For ham nerds, look at the bomb test unit stack, and see if there's anything remotely familiar. For the rest of you, here is a rare fucking picture: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CGl2VQ9UAAACL0D.jpg The hand is Alex Wellerstein's. He met a guy at a 509th reunion (I think that's right), and this guy said this was made in the exact pit mold that made the initial three FM cores. That is half, the complete plutonium core was ball-shaped. That amount (and, not all of it converted into energy, according to calculations) is what did the damage. Amazing, huh? Also, I like to push pictures like this one: https://gaijinpot.scdn3.secure.raxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/02/Nagasaki.jpg whenever I can. People are told that popping off a nuke, it'll be barren for a zillion years, no one can ever enter again, and who is left in that area will be horribly mutated. Guess where that is? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:32:24 PM EDT
[#41]
I guess those pictures are proof that good welds don't have to look nice.
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:33:50 PM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 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: https://i.stack.imgur.com/2mt4P.jpg What a strange moment in time. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:34:19 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yes. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Wasn't the third target Tokyo? Operation Meetinghouse Main article: Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945) On the night of 9–10 March, 1945,[13] 334 B-29s took off to raid with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. The bombs were mostly the 500-pound (230 kg) E-46 cluster bomb which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,000–2,500 ft (610–760 m). The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground; in either case they ignited 3–5 seconds later, throwing out a jet of flaming napalm globs. A lesser number of M-47 incendiaries was also dropped: the M-47 was a 100-pound (45 kg) jelled-gasoline and white phosphorus bomb which ignited upon impact. In the first two hours of the raid, 226 of the attacking aircraft unloaded their bombs to overwhelm the city's fire defenses.[14] The first B-29s to arrive dropped bombs in a large X pattern centered in Tokyo's densely populated working class district near the docks in both Koto and Chuo city wards on the water; later aircraft simply aimed near this flaming X. The individual fires caused by the bombs joined to create a general conflagration, which would have been classified as a firestorm but for prevailing winds gusting at 17 to 28 mph (27 to 45 km/h).[15] Approximately 15.8 square miles (4,090 ha) of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died.[16][17] A grand total of 282 of the 339 B-29s launched for "Meetinghouse" made it to the target, 27 of which were lost due to being shot down by Japanese air defenses, mechanical failure, or being caught in updrafts caused by the massive fires.[18] |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:40:41 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
wasnt much left. seems like i heard more folks died in the tokoyo fire bombing than were killed by either of the atom bombs. Operation Meetinghouse Main article: Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945) On the night of 9–10 March, 1945,[13] 334 B-29s took off to raid with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. The bombs were mostly the 500-pound (230 kg) E-46 cluster bomb which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,000–2,500 ft (610–760 m). The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground; in either case they ignited 3–5 seconds later, throwing out a jet of flaming napalm globs. A lesser number of M-47 incendiaries was also dropped: the M-47 was a 100-pound (45 kg) jelled-gasoline and white phosphorus bomb which ignited upon impact. In the first two hours of the raid, 226 of the attacking aircraft unloaded their bombs to overwhelm the city's fire defenses.[14] The first B-29s to arrive dropped bombs in a large X pattern centered in Tokyo's densely populated working class district near the docks in both Koto and Chuo city wards on the water; later aircraft simply aimed near this flaming X. The individual fires caused by the bombs joined to create a general conflagration, which would have been classified as a firestorm but for prevailing winds gusting at 17 to 28 mph (27 to 45 km/h).[15] Approximately 15.8 square miles (4,090 ha) of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died.[16][17] A grand total of 282 of the 339 B-29s launched for "Meetinghouse" made it to the target, 27 of which were lost due to being shot down by Japanese air defenses, mechanical failure, or being caught in updrafts caused by the massive fires.[18] Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Wasn't the third target Tokyo? Operation Meetinghouse Main article: Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945) On the night of 9–10 March, 1945,[13] 334 B-29s took off to raid with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. The bombs were mostly the 500-pound (230 kg) E-46 cluster bomb which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,000–2,500 ft (610–760 m). The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground; in either case they ignited 3–5 seconds later, throwing out a jet of flaming napalm globs. A lesser number of M-47 incendiaries was also dropped: the M-47 was a 100-pound (45 kg) jelled-gasoline and white phosphorus bomb which ignited upon impact. In the first two hours of the raid, 226 of the attacking aircraft unloaded their bombs to overwhelm the city's fire defenses.[14] The first B-29s to arrive dropped bombs in a large X pattern centered in Tokyo's densely populated working class district near the docks in both Koto and Chuo city wards on the water; later aircraft simply aimed near this flaming X. The individual fires caused by the bombs joined to create a general conflagration, which would have been classified as a firestorm but for prevailing winds gusting at 17 to 28 mph (27 to 45 km/h).[15] Approximately 15.8 square miles (4,090 ha) of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died.[16][17] A grand total of 282 of the 339 B-29s launched for "Meetinghouse" made it to the target, 27 of which were lost due to being shot down by Japanese air defenses, mechanical failure, or being caught in updrafts caused by the massive fires.[18]  The Last Bomb | 2008 Documentary with original colour film |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:41:07 PM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I may make them. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:43:01 PM EDT
[#46]
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:46:09 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yep. And the complete absence of women and minorities must be shocking to today's generation. 
Granted, not as glamorous as spraying flexseal on a giant ass nuke, but women and minorities were behind almost all of the computing power until like the 50's, and then they did all the drudgery work on those things (like, hollerith card stacks). |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 6:53:20 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Pencils, paper, and slide rules. |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 7:08:30 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Shorts, no shirts and no PPE. How did they survive? |
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Posted: 11/27/2018 7:15:24 PM EDT
[#50]
Quote History |
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