Second Atomic Bomb dropped in Nagasaki

After the Bombing of Hiroshima, the Japanese War Council still refused to surrender, despite seeing the magnitude of the devastation of Hiroshima. This prompted the United States to drop a second bomb, this time in Nagasaki, a center of shipbuilding industry, and therefor a military target.

Atomic cloud over nagasaki

The date was August 9, 1945. The American B-29 bomber nicknamed "Bock's car". The bomb was dropped at 11:02 a.m.,  the explosion unleashed the equivalent force of 22,000 tons of TNT. The hills that surrounded the city did a better job of containing the destructive force, but the number killed is estimated at anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 or maybe more, not counting more deaths due to radiation.

This finally convinced the Japanese War Council to accept the unconditional surrender of Japan . But it was not an easy desicion. Despite the devastation on Nagasaki, the members of the Council was still divided. Emperor Hirohito, upon the the request of two Council members who were eager to end the war, finally decided that in order to save the Japanese race from total annihilation , Japan was to surrender unconditionally.

Today in History : Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima

On this date, August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber nicknamed Enola Gayand piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, commander of the 509th Composite Group,  dropped the world's first Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. The bomb, the first of its kind, was so powerful that  almost 90% of the buildings were destroyed. An estimated 80,000 people were instantly killed, 35,000 injured and another 60,000 , as a result of radiation,were dead in the weeks to come.

The yield of the explosion was later estimated at 15 kilotons (the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT). The devastation of Hiroshima. however, did not convinced the Japanese to surrender.