An illustrated guide to the Atomic Bombs (First Versions)

Alternativewars.com ^ | Ryan Crierie

[MtnClimber]

NOTES: A large number of these photos were assembled from the RG-77-BT collection in the Still Photo collection of the National Archives II building in College Park, MD.

Early Bombs

[MtnClimber]

I am guessing that the Fat Man design was lighter than the others, but wider. I would guess it was designed to just fit in the bomb bay of a B-29.

[MtnClimber]

On August 10th, 1945 the U.S. had exactly as many atomic bombs as any other country in the world. The U.S. had the capacity of producing approximately one nuclear weapon per month and fully intended using them Target number three was Tokyo.

The USA had several Thin Mans and considered converting every one Thin Man into 8 Fat Mans. Was that true, still classified or false? I know a lot about the nuclear weapon programs, but I don't know that.

[straps]

Its amazing how fast we progressed with weapon size and capability in 955 I went to 757 Class on loading and checkout of AW not TN weapons. In just 10 years they have minatureized it and made it that it could be loaded anywhere with minimum equipment ours was the B57 F84F and B66 aircraft....in school I was part of a B57 B/C crews......

[ProtectOurFreedom]

If you haven't read it, be SURE to read Tuxedo Park : A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II, by Jennet Conant. It is a FANTASTIC book about Loomis and the development of radar at the newly created Rad Lab at MIT.

[MtnClimber]

The Pershing 2 missile I helped design in the early 1980s had a W85 nuclear warhead which had controllable yield and the top yield was much greater than the WWII nukes. But, the size was about the size of a basketball.

[Portcall24]

Thanks for your service and excellent points about when technology helped to occur in very few years.

[Portcall24]

Thanks for your service and excellent points about when technology helped to occur in very few years.

[antidisestablishment]

[Paal Gulli]

This is Dr. Harold Agnew. He was one of the scientists responsible for assembling the atomic bombs on Tinian. A couple of days before this photo, he witnessed the nuking of Hiroshima from the observation B-29 that flew in trail of the Enola Gay.

The thing he's carrying that looks like a lady's handbag is a box containing the fissile core of the Fat Man bomb.

Inside the box is a plutonium sphere about four inches in diameter and weighing about 14 pounds. Only about two pounds actually is involved in the reaction (the rest is lost due to inefficiency of the design) and only a single gram -- about 1/30th of an ounce -- actually is converted to energy.

And he's carrying it like it was his lunch bucket.

[Steely Tom]

It is a FANTASTIC book about Loomis and the development of radar at the newly created Rad Lab at MIT.

Loomis was an amazing fellow, but spending time at Tuxedo Park didn't work out that well for Garret Hobart.

[editor-surveyor]

.
Its not terribly dangerous unless it is powder or dust that you might breathe in.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

My Dad led programs at GE developing radioisotope thermal generators for deep space spacecraft power generation. His RTGs are still generating power on the Voyager spacecraft.

During that program, he used to tell me stories about the toxicity of plutonium — it was very scary stuff. The engineering work they did to make there would be no plutonium spills on launch if the rocket crashed was just incredible.

[Paal Gulli]

One of the most interesting aspects (IMHO) of the atomic weapons program:

Atomic John

A truck driver uncovers secrets about the first nuclear bombs.

[Paal Gulli]

"Its not terribly dangerous unless it is powder or dust that you might breathe in."

Try telling that to Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotin. The exact same plutonium core killed the both of them in separate incidents without exploding or either of them breathing it in.

[steve86]

Very interesting link. I did not know about the hollow projectile. My dad probably did, working around this stuff at Los Alamos and Hanford (Fat Man material), where I still am today.

[Lean-Right]

If you came across “fat man” in the
desert in 1947, could it be mistaken
for a UFO?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

No, on 10 AUG 1945, the stock of atomic weapons was 0. But, as Amazon says, more coming! The next target was Tokyo. Truman had drafted a letter to Churchill explaining his decision, which Churchill opposed. It was our lads who were dying at the rate of about 200 a week in the Summer of 1945, many to Kamikazes. Chinese, and people in other occupied territories were being slaughtered at even a greater rate.

The kamikazes probably did more to influence the decision to drop the bomb than Pearl Harbor. The Japanese wanted to convince the U.S. that conquering the home islands would be ghastly. The U.S. wanted to convince the Japanese that it would be even more ghastly than they had imagined.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I did read Tuxedo Park. There is a Loomis Road in Bedford, MA near Hanscom AFB, site of the Air Force’s Electronic Systems Division. I noticed, that Ms. Conant, in passing, mentions that Raytheon made about half the “disks” used in World War II. Actually, Raytheon made about half the magnetrons used in World War II.

Percy Spencer saw the British multicavity magnetron which was machined out of a single block of copper. He realized that it could me made by bolting together sheets of stamped copper cut to right shape. The interior could be machined to achieve a smooth electrically continuous surface. His idea cut the cost of the magnetron dramatically. After the war, Spencer was credited with inventing the microwave oven.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Check out:

The Invention that Changed the World, Robert Buderi. A lot of the same material, by a person with fewer personal contacts than the granddaughter of a former Harvard president, but better technical insight.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-invention-that-changed-the-world-sloan-technology-series_robert-buderi/396443/?mkwid=sckPaGqkw%7cdc&pcrid=70112871912&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&pgrid=21323662872&ptaid=pla-292433309496&gclid=Cj0KCQiAxZPgBRCmARIsAOrTHSYxOeVRKu-jg-Oj-k53SfksHrBjXyctG25dDAz9coZn_lzYIZu7p5MaAup4EALw_wcB#isbn=0684835290&idiq=1329222

[trebb]

Now you’ll never know.....