Friday, March 12, 2010

Plutonium bombing of Nagasaki on August 9 1945

Photo: Mushroom cloud from the atomic explosion over Nagasaki rising 60,000 feet into the air on the morning of August 9, 1945. The picture was taken from one of the B-29 Superfortresses used in the attack.

On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki, the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan, was the target of the world's second atomic bomb attack by USA. It was bombed with the second plutonium bomb, after the first was tested in New Mexico, USA. The attack was at 11:02 AM when the north of the city was destroyed, and approximately 40,000 people were killed by the bomb nicknamed ‘Fat Man’.

Statistics found within Nagasaki Peace Park count the toll from the atomic bombing at 73,884 people dead, 74,909 people injured, and several hundred thousands of people diseased and dying due to nuclear fallout and other illness caused by atomic radiation.

The city was rebuilt after the Second World War. New temples and new churches were built due to an increase in the presence of Christianity. Nagasaki is the seat of a Roman Catholic Archdiocese. Some of the rubbles from the nuclear destruction were maintained as a memorial, and an arch near ground zero. New memorials, such as the Atomic Bomb Museum were also built. Nagasaki is the first and foremost a port city, supporting a rich shipping industry and setting a strong example of perseverance and peace.

Hiroshima, the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, was the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when USA dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II.

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