The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Statement by the President of the United States: “Sixteen
hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on
Hiroshima, Japan, and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy.
That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T.
It had more than two thousand times the blast power of
the British Grand Slam, which is the largest bomb ever yet
used in the history of warfare”.
These fateful words of the President on August 6th, 1945,
marked the first public announcement of the greatest scientific
achievement in history. The atomic bomb, first tested
in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, had just been used against
a military target.
On August 6th, 1945, at 8:15 A.M., Japanese time, a B-
29 heavy bomber flying at high altitude dropped the first
atomic bomb on Hiroshima. More than 4 square miles of
the city were instantly and completely devastated. 66,000
people were killed, and 69,000 injured.
On August 9th, three days later, at 11:02 A.M., another
B-29 dropped the second bomb on the industrial section of
the city of Nagasaki, totally destroying 1 1/2 square miles
of the city, killing 39,000 persons, and injuring 25,000 more.
On August 10, the day after the atomic bombing of
Nagasaki, the Japanese government requested that it be
permitted to surrender under the terms of the Potsdam
declaration of July 26th which it had previously ignored.

On August 11th, 1945, two days after the bombing of
Nagasaki, a message was dispatched from Major General
Leslie R. Groves to Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell,
who was his deputy in atomic bomb work and was representing
him in operations in the Pacific, directing him to
organize a special Manhattan Project Atomic Bomb Investigating
Group.
This Group was to secure scientific, technical and medical
intelligence in the atomic bomb field from within Japan
as soon as possible after the cessation of hostilities. The
mission was to consist of three groups:
1. Group for Hiroshima.
2. Group for Nagasaki.
3. Group to secure information concerning general Japanese
activities in the field of atomic bombs.
The first two groups were organized to accompany the
first American troops into Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The primary purposes of the mission were as follows, in
order of importance:
1. To make certain that no unusual hazards were present in
the bombed cities.