called forces bomber dropped fat man nuclear weapon japanese city nagasaki world war second nuclear attack history built nebraska delivered march assigned utah april training practice missions combat missions dropped bombs industrial targets japan august piloted commander major dropped fat man nuclear bomb blast yield equivalent tnt city nagasaki city destroyed people killed injured war returned united_states november september given ohio aircraft flown museum september original markings restored permanent display ohio replica fat man airplane history victor number assigned built nebraska aircraft modified designated block involved extensive modifications carry nuclear weapons bomb bay doors fuselage section bomb bays removed create single foot bomb bay british attached shape types gun type suspension anchored aft bomb bay type mounted forward bay weight reduction accomplished removal gun turrets armor plating improved engine aircraft represented significant increase performance standard variants delivered march assigned captain crew flown utah april chosen aircraft painted mission pun aircraft commander left june arrived june originally given victor unit assigned identification number august given triangle tail markings security measure victor changed avoid actual aircraft training practice missions combat missions dropped bombs industrial targets japan crew bombed lieutenant crew bombed atomic bomb mission mission crew flown august crew great piloted major commander plane piloted lieutenant normal aircraft commander great designated observation instrumentation support plane second mission flown major photographic aircraft mission primary target city located secondary target nagasaki large armament plants located flown crew test drop rehearsals fat man assemblies days leading second mission including final rehearsal day great assigned aircraft crew flew designated preliminary planning drop second bomb aircraft fitted observation instruments hiroshima mission moving instrumentation great complex time consuming process second atomic bomb mission moved august august adverse weather forecasts crews great instead exchanged aircraft result bomb carried flown crew great nagasaki pre flight inspection flight engineer notified fuel transfer pump impossible use gallons imp gal fuel carried reserve tank fuel carried way japan consuming fuel replacing pump hours moving fat man aircraft long dangerous bomb live group commander colonel elected continue mission took mission profile directed fly individually rendezvous point changed bad weather feet cruising altitude instead customary feet increasing fuel consumption began climb feet bombing altitude half hour rendezvous mission warned minutes rendezvous proceeding target reached rendezvous point assembled great time failed appear weather planes dragon reported nagasaki accepted parameters required visual attack ordered circle longer minutes continued wait urging commander plane command mission exceeding original departure time limit half hour accompanied great proceeded thirty minutes away delay rendezvous resulted clouds drifting smoke fires started major raid nearby previous day covering area aiming point bomb runs minutes burning fuel exposing aircraft repeatedly heavy defenses unable drop visually time bomb run japanese anti aircraft fire getting close second lieutenant monitoring japanese communications reported activity japanese fighter direction radio bands increasingly critical fuel shortage resulted decision reduce power conserve fuel divert secondary target nagasaki approach nagasaki minutes later indicated heart city downtown covered dense cloud decided bomb nagasaki radar according captain small opening clouds end minute bomb run permitted identify target features visually dropped fat man local time exploded seconds later blast yield equivalent tnt altitude feet approximately miles northwest planned aiming point resulting destruction city failure drop fat man precise bomb aim point caused atomic blast confined consequence major portion city protected intervening hills bomb dropped city industrial valley midway south ordnance works north estimated people killed injured bombing nagasaki killed japanese munitions workers korean slave laborers japanese soldiers landing delays mission fuel transfer pump sufficient fuel reach emergency landing field flew aircraft okinawa arriving minutes trying contact control tower landing clearance finally concluding radio faulty critically low fuel barely runway okinawa fuel landing attempt brought miles hour instead normal miles hour firing distress alert field landing number engine died fuel starvation began final approach touching runway hard heavy left row parked bombers pilots managed regain control propellers insufficient slow aircraft adequately pilots standing brakes degree turn end runway avoid running runway second engine died fuel exhaustion time plane came stop flight engineer later measured fuel tanks concluded minutes total remained following mission confusion identification plane eyewitness account war correspondent new_york_times accompanied mission aboard aircraft piloted reported leading mission great noted victor number writing personnel commented jersey number football player interviewed crew depth aware referred airplane great gay names painted fact noted account unaware switch aircraft assumed victor great fact great victor current status war returned united_states november served new_mexico nominally assigned task force records indicating deployed tests august assigned arizona storage placed display aircraft bombed nagasaki markings great september title passed ohio aircraft flown museum september original markings restored permanent display ohio display primary exhibit museum gallery includes replica fat man bomb signage states aircraft ended short documentary nagasaki mission aboard including details mission preparation titled nagasaki commander voice crew members regularly assigned crew manned great nagasaki mission captain aircraft commander lieutenant pilot lieutenant navigator lieutenant philadelphia master flight engineer rochester assistant sergeant sergeant nagasaki mission crew crew normally assigned great major aircraft commander captain don pilot pilot miami second lieutenant regular pilot captain navigator captain houston master columbus staff gunner assistant flight engineer chicago staff lisbon sergeant board following additional mission personnel commander lieutenant assistant second lieutenant baltimore flew atomic missions serving radar august august display
Bockscar