Hiroshima, a Japanese city and manufacturing center of some 350,000 people about 500 miles from Tokyo, was the target of the first militarily operational atomic bomb. A product of the vast Manhattan Project, the bomb, dubbed Little Boy, had been delivered to an airfield on the captured Pacific island of Tinian by the cruiser Indianapolis. The bomb was loaded aboard a B-29 that had been specially modified to accommodate the nearly 8,000-ton, 9-foot-9-inch device. Its explosive yield, derived from the implosion of a uranium-235 core, was 12.5 kilotons, that is, the equivalent of 12.5 kilotons of conventional TNT. Of course, the explosion is only one aspect of the lethality of an atomic weapon. The bomb yielded tremendous heat and radioactivity, including lethal radioactive contamination in the form of fallout.

Hiroshima had been selected by a U.S. target committee because it had not yet been bombed by U.S. Army Air Forces. The city's pristine condition would not only allow the Allies to assess the effect of the bomb, it would also vividly demonstrate that effect to the Japanese. The bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay, the B-29 piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, at 8:15 (local time) on the morning of August 6, 1945. Deployed by parachute, it was detonated (by design) at 1,885 feet above ground level in order to achieve the maximum effect of the blast. All wooden buildings within a 1.2-mile radius of the point of detonation (the hypocenter) were destroyed. Reinforced concrete structures were destroyed within 1,625 feet of the hypocenter. A total area of 5 square miles was largely incinerated, and 62.9 percent of the city's 76,000 buildings were entirely destroyed by blast or fire. A mere 8 percent escaped substantial damage. The immediate death toll among those located within three-quarters of a mile of the hypocenter was 50 percent. The oneyear death rate, through August 10, 1946, from the Hiroshima blast was 118,661. Another 30,524 persons were considered severely injured, and 48,606 were considered slightly injured. Nearly 4,000 citizens of Hiroshima went missing and have never been accounted for. Of the approximately 350,000 persons believed to have been in Hiroshima at the time, 118,613 were confirmed uninjured through August 10, 1946. In addition to the civilian deaths, it is believed that about 20,000 military personnel died as a direct result of the bombing.

The longer-term effects of radiation exposure included elevated rates of genetic and chromosome damage and birth defects (including especially stunted growth and mental retardation) of some children born to parents who survived the blast. Surprisingly, greatly increased rates of cancer, anticipated as a result of the attack, did not materialize.

The bombing of Hiroshima did not elicit an immediate offer of surrender from the Japanese, and, on August 9, 1945, a second B-29, Bock's Car, dropped a second bomb, "Fat Man," against Nagasaki.

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on American History at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to American History and other relevant topics.