Bockscar circled for forty minutes at a rendezvous point over Japan, wasting fuel, waiting for another American plane that never arrived. Sweeney opened the bomb bay doors over Kokura, but the city was shrouded in smoke and haze. He had strict orders to drop the bomb visually, not by radar. Bockscar spent almost an hour over Kokura, made three unsuccessful bombing runs, and drew antiaircraft fire. The city was spared by the poor visibility. Sweeney had enough fuel for one run at the secondary target, Nagasaki. He dropped the bomb there, worried that the plane might have to be ditched in the
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