Not Nagasaki, but this city was first target of atom bomb, US changed its decision due to….

In the final phase of World War II, on 6 and 9 August 1945, US caused the worst destruction in history by dropping atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, ‘Hiroshima and Nagasaki’. Bombs named “Little Boy” were dropped on Hiroshima and “Fat Man” on Nagasaki, killing millions of people and turning both cities into ashes. But do you know that Nagasaki was not US’s first target? The second atomic bomb was actually to be dropped on another city in Japan, but at the last moment America changed its target and Nagasaki was destroyed instead of that city.

This city was US’ first target

During World War II, the US planned to use atomic bombs with the intention of forcing Japan to surrender. After dropping the first bomb on Hiroshima, the second target was decided and that target was the Japanese city of Kokura. Kokura was an important industrial city of Japan at that time, where there were large-scale ammunition and weapons manufacturing factories. The US strategy was to further weaken Japan’s military power by attacking Kokura. For this, on 9 August 1945, the B-29 bomber aircraft “Box Car” was sent to Kokura with the “Fat Man” bomb.

How the target changed

On the morning of August 9, when the B-29 plane reached over Kokura, the weather was bad there. The sky was covered with thick clouds and smoke, due to which the pilot Major Charles Sweeney could not see the target clearly. According to the rules of the US Army, the atomic bomb was to be dropped only on the basis of vision, so that the target could be hit accurately. When the attack on Kokura was not possible even after several rounds, the plane started running out of fuel. In such a situation, Sweeney had to choose the second option and that option was Nagasaki.

74,000 people died due to the bombing

Nagasaki was an alternate target on the US list at the time. It was a port city and was also industrially important, but was a lower priority target than Kokura. Weather made it impossible to target Kokura, and the “Fat Man” bomb was finally dropped on Nagasaki at 11:02 am. The attack killed about 74,000 people, and devastated a large part of the city.

Kyoto was also a target, but it survived

You will be surprised to know that US had initially included Kyoto city of Japan in the target list. Kyoto was the cultural capital of Japan at that time, where there were many universities, industries, and historical heritages. But American War Minister Henry Stimson got Kyoto removed from the list. The reason was his personal attachment. Stimson had celebrated his honeymoon with his wife in Kyoto and he had many memories associated with this city. Due to his insistence, Nagasaki was included in the list instead of Kyoto. In this way, the memory of a honeymoon saved Kyoto from destruction, but Nagasaki had to pay the price for it.

The “Fat Man” bomb dropped on Nagasaki was even more powerful than Hiroshima’s “Little Boy”. The bomb exploded about 500 meters above the ground, causing a huge mushroom ball of fire to rise into the sky. The explosion was so powerful that 70% of the city’s industrial area was completely destroyed. However, the mountains around Nagasaki limited the scope of the devastation to some extent, causing less damage than Hiroshima. Still, the attack took the lives of thousands of people and left a deep impact of radiation on future generations.

What do historians say?

Many historians believe that Japan was already on the verge of defeat at that time, and the use of atomic bombs was probably not necessary. Some argue that the US demonstrated its military power through these attacks and wanted to send a message to the Soviet Union. At the same time, some say that US President Harry Truman wanted to force Japan to surrender as soon as possible, so that the war could be ended. After these attacks, Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, and World War II came to an end.

 

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