There were many details and activities of the Atomic Bomb that we don’t think about. Support for the idea of 3 bombs noted. They thought about evacuating 20,000 personnel on takeoff from Tinian. If you forget your parachute, you don’t get on the plane. At the end of the project some items were dumped at sea.
Project Alberta
Project Alberta was formed in March 1945, and consisted of 51 United States Army, Navy, and civilian personnel, including one British scientist. Its mission was three-fold. It first had to design a bomb shape for delivery by air, then procure and assemble it. It supported the ballistic testing work at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, conducted by the 216th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Project W-47), and the modification of B-29s to carry the bombs (Project Silverplate). After completion of its development and training missions, Project Alberta was attached to the 509th Composite Group at North Field, Tinian, where it prepared facilities, assembled and loaded the weapons, and participated in their use.
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Ramsey overcame the problem of how to ship through the San Francisco Port of Embarkation. The port wanted a detailed list of what was being sent so it could track it to ensure delivery, but what needed to be shipped was still subject to last-minute change. He simply designated everything as a “bomb assembly kit”. Three of these, one for Little Boy, one for Fat Man and one spare, were shipped to Tinian, which was now codenamed Destination O, commencing in May. Kirkpatrick arranged for everything to be shipped direct to Tinian
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One serious incident occurred when a Pumpkin bomb was released in the bomb bay of the B-29 Strange Cargo while it was taxiing. The bomb fell though the closed bomb bay doors onto the taxiway.[35] The plane came to a halt in a shower of sparks, but fire fighters doused the plane and the bomb in foam, and the bomb did not explode. The aircraft had to be jacked up to remove the bomb.[36]
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In the space of a week on Tinian, four B-29s crashed and burned on the runway. Parsons became very concerned. If a B-29 crashed with a Little Boy, the fire could cook off the explosive and detonate the weapon, with catastrophic consequences.[44] Consideration was given to evacuating the 20,000 personnel on Tinian from the island, but instead it was decided to load the four cordite powder bags into the gun breech to arm the bomb in flight.[45
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Purnell, Parsons, Tibbets, Spaatz and Curtis LeMay met on Guam on 7 August, the day after the Hiroshima attack, to discuss what should be done next. Parsons said that Project Alberta would have a Fat Man bomb ready by 11 August, as originally planned, but Tibbets pointed to weather reports indicating poor flying conditions on that day due to a storm, and asked if it could be readied by 9 August. Parsons agreed to do so.[53]
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Project Alberta’s Robert Serber was supposed to be on board but was left behind by the aircraft commander, Group Operations Officer Major James I. Hopkins, Jr., because he had forgotten his parachute.
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The unused F101, F102 and F103 assemblies were packed along with spare components and shipped back to Los Alamos. For security reasons, components not returned to the United States were dumped at sea.[59]
I wonder what a bangometer was? Forgot to take the lens cap off?