Fat Man

Operation Hiroshima & Nagasaki

August 9, 1945 · Nevada Test Site (NTS) · Airdrop · 21 kt

A nuclear device dropped from an aircraft and exploded in the atmosphere.

Aerial photograph of the mushroom cloud rising above Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945, following the detonation of the plutonium implosion bomb Fat Man by the B-29 Bockscar, 509th Composite Group, US Army Air Forces. Second and final nuclear weapon used in combat. Yield approximately 21 kt. US Army Air Forces Photo, Washington D.C. Catalog number B-58450 A.C.
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U.S. Army Air Corps (A.C.)

Printed in 1945

Silver gelatin print

8x10 in (20.3x25.4 cm)

Serial number, Stamp

↻ Show Verso↺ Show Recto

U.S. Army Air Corps (A.C.)

Printed in 1945

Silver gelatin print

8x10 in (20.3x25.4 cm)

Serial number, Stamp

On 9 August 1945 at 11:02 local time, the B-29 Bockscar of the 509th Composite Group, US Army Air Forces, dropped Fat Man over the city of Nagasaki, Japan — the second and final nuclear weapon used in combat. Fat Man was a plutonium implosion bomb, approximately 3.3 metres long and weighing approximately 4,670 kg. It detonated at approximately 503 metres above the city, producing a yield of approximately 21 kilotons. Nagasaki's hilly terrain contained the blast to a degree, limiting the destruction compared to what the yield would have produced over flat ground — yet between 40,000 and 80,000 people were killed, with total deaths by the end of 1945 estimated between 60,000 and 80,000. The primary target that day had been Kokura; Nagasaki was the secondary target, struck after Kokura was obscured by cloud cover.