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Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

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Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#31

Post by dirktheman »

It always amazes me how seemingly careless they were with these nuclear devices back then. To know that such a devestating bomb was handled by a sultry, shirtless youngster, in a shed on a small island in the Pacific...

It reminds me of the Slotin Incident (http://www.damninteresting.com/bitten-by-the-nuclear-dragon/) where dr. Louis Slotin accidently slipped the screwdriver he used to separate two plutonium/uranium hemispheres:

"Immediately, all eight scientists in the room felt a wave of heat accompanied by a blue glow as the plutonium sphere vomited an invisible burst of gamma and neutron radiation into the room. As the lab's Geiger counter clicked hysterically, Louis used his bare hand to push the upper plutonium hemisphere off and onto the floor, which terminated the supercritical reaction moments after it began."

Big oopsie.

However gruesome the goal of these bombs, the rate of advancement in such a short timespan is nothing short of amazing. From the very first successful test (Trinity) to bombing Hiroshima: just 21 days. They were great days for science, but a shame to mankind that it had to come this far.

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#32

Post by sillysaurus3 »

yitchelle wrote: post #15

It strikes fear into me that these folks are loading a device that is design to kill thousands of lives, the madness in this thing call war.

Actually, the purpose of the bomb was to save many thousands more lives than it ended. An invasion of Japan would've cost an enormous number of lives. It would've also had a catastrophic effect on the civilian population, because they were being told that the American troops were there to enslave them. It has even been said that the propaganda being told to the Japanese civilians included the idea that the troops would kill and cannibalize their families. I'm not sure whether that latter part is true, but what is true is that the civilians were extremely incentivized to be as hostile as possible to any American invasion army, even to the extent of whole families committing suicide out of fear of being enslaved or tortured, as on Okinawa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

Simultaneously, 42,000–150,000 local civilians were killed or committed suicide, a significant proportion of the local population.

Human affairs are sometimes terrible, but they often take the least terrible path out of all terrible paths. This is evidenced by the fact that the cuban missile crisis didn't result in an all-out nuclear war, and also that these bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki rather than Americans invading Japan, which would have been far more devastating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall

Casualty predictions varied widely but were extremely high. Depending on the degree to which Japanese civilians resisted the invasion, estimates ran into the millions for Allied casualties.

I upvoted you because I agree that everyone should be terrified at the prospect of war, because war only happens when people aren't terrified of it.

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#33

Post by cpwright »

dirktheman wrote: post #31

It always amazes me how seemingly careless they were with these nuclear devices back then. To know that such a devestating bomb was handled by a sultry, shirtless youngster, in a shed on a small island in the Pacific... It reminds me of the Slotin Incident ( http://www.damninteresting.com/bitten-by-the-nuclear-dragon/ ) where dr. Louis Slotin accidently slipped the screwdriver he used to separate two plutonium/uraniu…

Ignoring the nuclear device aspect of it, I would think that these days anyone spraying any kind of sealant or paint these days in a commercial setting would have PPE to avoid breathing the stuff in.

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#34

Post by AJ007 »

dirktheman wrote: post #31

It always amazes me how seemingly careless they were with these nuclear devices back then. To know that such a devestating bomb was handled by a sultry, shirtless youngster, in a shed on a small island in the Pacific... It reminds me of the Slotin Incident ( http://www.damninteresting.com/bitten-by-the-nuclear-dragon/ ) where dr. Louis Slotin accidently slipped the screwdriver he used to separate two plutonium/uraniu…

There have been a lot of very close calls. Including recently.

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#35

Post by bd_at_rivenhill »

jonknee wrote: post #29
mendort wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They cost between 13k and 26k a piece in 2014 USD. That is truly amazing. EDIT: Even more amazing when you consider that they weighed about 10k pounds.

It's amazing/depressing how cheap bombs are when they don't have to be smart.

Actually, it's amazing how much they charge for bombs that are smart.

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#36

Post by tokenadult »

creativityhurts wrote: post #18
nmridul wrote: post #7

Wondering why the staff are not wearing any protective clothing while handling nuclear devices ?

I find it weird that most of them aren't wearing shirts at all.

Most of the local people on Tinian and the other northern Mariana islands historically haven't worn shirts, male or female, although standards of dress on those islands have of course westernized somewhat since Western colonization. The climate there is very suitable for going shirtless at many times of the year.

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#37

Post by shabda »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #32
yitchelle wrote: post #15

It strikes fear into me that these folks are loading a device that is design to kill thousands of lives, the madness in this thing call war.

Actually, the purpose of the bomb was to save many thousands more lives than it ended. An invasion of Japan would've cost an enormous number of lives. It would've also had a catastrophic effect on the civilian population, because they were being told that the American troops were there to enslave them. It has even been said that the propaganda being told to the Japanese civilians included the idea that the troops wou…

While there are many people who subscribe to your view, there are an equal number who believe that Japan would have surrendered within months/weeks with no ground invasion.

The allies had complete air and naval superiority and Russia had joined the the Japanese war theatre.

If you have read the ethics of atomic bombings in any detail you are already aware of the details, so I would refrain from linking to wikipedia. To push your POV that the bombing was entirely necessary and entirely morally right is immoral.

[Edit]

As requested below: here are the detail about the military unneccesity of the atomic bombings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate_over_the_atomic_bombings...

There are other debates around this, but this discusses only if Japan would have speedily surrendered without the Atomic bombing.

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#38

Post by kyberias »

scrollaway wrote: post #26
sophacles wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's backwards of how apostrophes normally work. In all other cases, it is the right place to use an apostrophe: * ...about to be placed in Fat Man's casing. * ...about to be placed in the bomb's casing * ... about to be placed in its casing. One of those is not like the others.

It helps to understand how it actually works. The s in its does not point towards possession, it is simply part of the word "its". My, His, Hers, Ours, Yours, Theirs, Its. Not Me's, He's, She's, Us's, Your's, Their's, It's. English is an easy language. Most languages use a lot more words than all that to convey all that. English speakers don't have to deal with the singular second person, with a separate objective no…

I think this doesn't help.

What is relevant is that there are two forms: it's and its. Its easy to mix them by non-natives like myself.

No-one ever writes She's or Us's, but "It's" is valid as is its. It's easy to deduce that one should not write us's but it's not that easy with it. :)

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#39

Post by kyberias »

shabda wrote: post #37
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, the purpose of the bomb was to save many thousands more lives than it ended. An invasion of Japan would've cost an enormous number of lives. It would've also had a catastrophic effect on the civilian population, because they were being told that the American troops were there to enslave them. It has even been said that the propaganda being told to the Japanese civilians included the idea that the troops wou…

While there are many people who subscribe to your view, there are an equal number who believe that Japan would have surrendered within months/weeks with no ground invasion. The allies had complete air and naval superiority and Russia had joined the the Japanese war theatre. If you have read the ethics of atomic bombings in any detail you are already aware of the details, so I would refrain from linking to wikipedia.…

Now is there really an equal number? How do you know?

Re: Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

#40

Post by scrollaway »

ryandvm wrote: post #14
vixin wrote: post #9

Implosion Sphere for Fat Man nearly assembled and about to be placed inside it's casing. "Its casing". Why do people have such a problem with it's and its?

Because English is like Javascript - it's weird and is riddled with vestigial design errors, but since it's everywhere, we're all forced to use it.

Part of why English is everywhere is because it is extremely flexible, malleable and very lax about its own rules. Otherwise we'd all be speaking French.

I prefer to see English like I see Python. Younger, easier, more flexible and more self-aware than the languages it draws its roots from, and fun enough that it has a lot of influence on every other language.

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