As lead pilot, he named the Enola Gay after his mother. With him that day were copilot Capt. Robert Lewis , bombardier Maj. Thomas Ferebee , navigator Capt. Theodore Van Kirk , weaponeer Capt. William Parsons , assistant weaponeer Lt. Morris Jeppson , electronic countermeasure operator Lt. Jacob Beser , radar operator Sgt. Joseph Stiborik , radio operator Pvt. Richard Nelson , flight engineer Staff Sgt.
Wyatt Duzenbury , assistant flight engineer Sgt. Robert H. Shumard and tail gunner Staff Sgt. Robert Caron. Beser would also fly on the mission to Nagasaki on August 9 aboard the Bockscar , the B that delivered Fat Man , the second atomic bomb dropped in war. As the Enola Gay made its final approach to Hiroshima that day, Tibbets ascended to 31, feet, then turned over controls to Ferebee. He released the bomb at that morning. As the 10,pound Little Boy fell away, the aircraft lurched violently upward.
Tibbets began evasive maneuvers and banked hard to return to base. Forty-three seconds later, the bomb detonated at its predetermined height of 1, feet with the force of 15, tons of TNT. A huge mushroom cloud appeared over what had been the heart of Hiroshima. The Enola Gay was then buffeted violently when struck by two shock waves—one direct and the other reflected from the ground.
Caron took photos from the tail of the plane and described what he saw over the intercom for the rest of the crew. He later recounted the experience in his book Fire of a Thousand Suns :. A few crewmen claimed they heard him say them. The devastation of Hiroshima was apocalyptic. The city was almost completely leveled while a conservative estimate places the death toll at , people. Of course, this was not a fleet of Bs.
This was two planes—the Enola Gay and the backup plane. The Japanese understandably assumed they were just weather planes. We flew them over Japan all the time in advance of bombing missions. So nobody went into the shelters. In his book, Rhodes wrote about what happened on the ground just after Little Boy detonated. Mosquitoes and flies, squirrels, family pets crackled and were gone. The fireball flashed an enormous photograph of the city at the instant of its immolation fixed on the mineral, vegetable and animal surfaces of the city itself.
A spiral ladder left its shadow in unburned paint on the surface of a steel storage tank. Leaves shielded reverse silhouettes on charred telephone poles. A human being left the memorial of his outline in unspalled granite on the steps of a bank.
It is believed that another , Japanese citizens died when Fat Man erupted over Nagasaki on August 9. Flight engineer. Radar countermeasures. Only person to fly on the strike plane on both bombing missions. Tail gunner. Joseph S.
Radar operator. Robert H. Assistant flight engineer. Richard H. VHF radio operator. William "Deak" Parsons. Weaponeer and mission commander. Assistant weaponeer. Olivi did not fly on this mission because he was "pre-empted because they had to have some scientific observers on board," according to an interview with Olivi. Major Charles W. Aircraft commander. James Van Pelt. Kermit K. Abe Spitzer. Radio operator. Gunner, assistant flight engineer. Albert Dehart. Luis Alvarez. Scientific observer.
Harold Agnew. Lawrence H. He was the only person to witness the Trinity test and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Camera plane. Crew B regularly assigned to Up An' Atom flew the plane. George W. James W. Russell Gackenbach. Flight Engineer. Warren L. Joseph M. Melvin H. Anthony D. Capua, Jr. Bernard Waldman. Camera operator. Ralph R. Taylor, Jr. Nathaniel T. Richard B. Weather reconnaissance over Kokura.
Regular crew Crew B-6 flew plane. John A. Vernon J. Chester A. Donald L. Claude Eatherly. Francis D. Wey, Jr. Albert G. Gillen T. Jack Bivans.
Backup strike plane on Iwo Jima. Crew B-8 reguarly assigned to Top Secret flew the plane. Airplane commander. Lloyd J. Roderick E. Donald O. Strike plane carrying Fat Man. The Great Artiste. Big Stink. Full House. Strike plane carrying Fat Man atomic bomb. CDR Frederick Ashworth. LT Philip M. Crew C regularly assigned to Bockscar flew the plane. Frederick C.
Hugh Ferguson. Leonard A. Charles Levy. Ralph D. William C. Robert J. William L. New York Times reporter. Crew C regularly assigned to Necessary Evil flew the plane. Major James I. Hopkins, Jr. Aircraft Commander. Norman Ray was the crew's regular aircraft commander, but he was ill and did not participate in the mission. Francis X. Richard F. Martin G. Thomas A.
Sidney J. Radar observer. Leonard Cheshire. William Penney. Robert Serber was supposed to fly as a scientific observer and camera operator, but he forgot his parachute and was not allowed on the mission.
Weather Reconnaissance over Nagasaki. Crew B-8 regularly assigned to Top Secret flew the plane. Crew C Luke the Spook participated in training missions. Crew A-5 flew three combat missions. Thomas J. Rowe, Jr. William E. Bobby J. George A. Lee E. McLenon , Cpl. Roy K. Balliet , Cpl. Left to right, standing: Capt. Theodore J. Ferebee, bombardier; Col. Tibbets, pilot; Capt. Lewis, co-pilot; and Lt. Jacob Beser, radar countermeasure officer.
Left to right, front row: Sgt. Joseph S. Stiborik, radar operator; Staff Sgt George R. Richard H. Nelson, radio operator; Sgt. Robert H. Shumard, assistant engineer; and Staff Sgt. Wyatt E. Duzenbury, flight engineer. The other two individuals that participated in the flight, weaponeer and mission commander, Capt.
William S. Parsons of the U. Navy, and his assistant, 2nd Lt. Morris R. Jeppson, are not pictured. Tibbets and his crew took off from Tinian in Enola Gay at am on August 6, Dutch van Kirk plotted the 1, mile route from Tinian to Hiroshima. Weaponeer and mission commander Capt. Navy activated the bomb during the flight and his assistant, 2nd Lt. Jeppson, inserted the arming plugs 30 minutes before reaching the target.
Radar operator Jacob Beser tracked the bomb as it fell 43 seconds to its predetermined detonation height of approximately 2, feet over the city center. The explosion of the uranium bomb, which was equal to 15 kilotons of TNT, and the resultant firestorm killed an estimated , to , people, destroyed 4.
A bright flash overwhelmed the senses of the crew. The bomber traveled Staff Sgt. George R. Radar operator Sgt. Joe Stiborik recalled the crew was speechless overall.
0コメント