Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

It took only twenty minutes to complete the 100-mile flight to Nagasaki. Bockscar arrived over the city at 11:50 a.m., more than two hours later than the planned drop time. The airplane had been in the air for more than eight hours, and its fuel reserve was near the point of no return. Looking down, Sweeney and his copilots saw with dismay that Nagasaki was fairly socked in, with “ 80 to 90% cumulus clouds at 6,000 to 8,000 feet.”51 The plane did not have fuel for more than a single bomb run, but the bombardier could not see the aiming point, the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works. In desperation, Sweeney said that he would authorize a radar drop on his own authority. The alternative was to dump the bomb into the ocean. But as the Bockscar entered the bomb run, the bombardier suddenly shouted that he had a visual fix: “I got it! I got it!” Forty-five seconds later, Fat Man fell from Bockscar’s bomb bay, and Sweeney banked hard to the right to evade. The Great Artiste followed.