The missions

Two missions

The routes

Hiroshima, 6 August

Seven B-29s took part. Three went ahead to check the weather, one waited on Iwo Jima as a spare, and three flew to Hiroshima: Enola Gay with the bomb, The Great Artiste with blast instruments and Necessary Evil with cameras. ^{Sources: 2, 4}

1. 00:00

   Final briefing

   Tibbets briefs the crews. Seven B-29s will fly, and Hiroshima is the primary target.^{Sources: 2}

2. 01:37

   Weather planes take off

   Straight Flush, Jabit III and Full House leave to check the weather over Hiroshima, Kokura and Nagasaki.^{Sources: 2, 12}

3. 01:51

   The spare leaves

   Big Stink flies to Iwo Jima, in case Enola Gay has to land there.^{Sources: 2}

4. 02:45

   Enola Gay takes off

   Tibbets lifts off from North Field with Little Boy aboard. The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil follow two and four minutes later.^{Sources: 1, 11, 12, 13}

5. 03:00

   Arming in flight

   In the bomb bay, Parsons, helped by Jeppson, loads the gun charge. His log records the job finished at 03:15.^{Sources: 2, 11}

6. 06:00

   Meeting over Iwo Jima

   The three aircraft meet over Iwo Jima and turn north for Japan.^{Sources: 2, 11, 13}

7. 07:30

   Red plugs in

   Jeppson swaps the green safety plugs for red ones. Little Boy is now live.^{Sources: 11}

8. 08:09Japan 07:09

   Alert in Hiroshima

   Air raid sirens sound in Hiroshima as the weather plane passes over.^{Sources: 2, 14, 15}

9. 08:24Japan 07:24

   Weather: bomb the primary

   Straight Flush reports less than three tenths cloud over Hiroshima and advises bombing the primary target.^{Sources: 2}

10. 08:31Japan 07:31

    All clear in Hiroshima

    The warning is lifted, and people leave the shelters.^{Sources: 2, 14, 15}

11. 08:38

    At bombing height

    Enola Gay levels off at 32,700 feet.^{Sources: 11}

12. 09:12Japan 08:12

    The bomb run begins

    Van Kirk logs the initial point, and Ferebee takes over the aim.^{Sources: 2, 13}

13. 09:15Japan 08:15

    Bomb released

    Little Boy falls from 31,060 feet, aimed at the Aioi Bridge. Tibbets turns hard away.^{Sources: 1, 2, 11}

14. 09:16Japan 08:16

    The explosion

    About 43 seconds after release, Little Boy explodes about 600 metres above the city.^{Sources: 1, 5, 16}

15. 09:30

    The first report

    Parsons radios: “Results clearcut, successful in all respects.”^{Sources: 12}

16. 10:41

    The cloud out of sight

    363 miles from Hiroshima, the crew lose sight of the mushroom cloud.^{Sources: 11}

17. 14:58

    Home

    Enola Gay lands on Tinian, 12 hours and 13 minutes after take-off.^{Sources: 1, 2, 12, 13}

18. Next day

    The world is told

    At 11:00 on 6 August in Washington, 01:00 on 7 August on Tinian, the White House releases President Truman’s statement.^{Sources: 5, 17}

Nagasaki, 9 August

Six B-29s took part. Two went ahead to check the weather, one waited on Iwo Jima, and three set out together: Bockscar with the bomb, The Great Artiste with instruments and Big Stink with cameras. ^{Sources: 4}

1. 22:00

   Fat Man loaded

   Fat Man is loaded into Bockscar on the evening of 8 August.^{Sources: 2, 3}

2. 23:00

   Briefing

   The meeting point moves from Iwo Jima to Yakushima because of the weather. The orders are to wait there no more than 15 minutes, and to bomb only if the target can be seen.^{Sources: 2, 3}

3. 02:15

   A fuel pump fails

   The flight engineer finds the pump for a reserve fuel tank is not working. About 600 US gallons cannot be used. The mission goes ahead.^{Sources: 2, 3}

4. 03:47

   Bockscar takes off

   Sweeney takes off from North Field. The primary target is the arsenal at Kokura. The Great Artiste and Big Stink follow.^{Sources: 1, 2, 6, 18}

5. 04:00

   Red plugs in

   Ashworth swaps the green safety plugs for red ones. Fat Man is now live.^{Sources: 2, 19}

6. 09:10Japan 08:10

   At Yakushima

   Bockscar reaches the meeting point and The Great Artiste joins it. Big Stink, circling higher, does not.^{Sources: 2, 6, 20}

7. 09:50Japan 08:50

   Leaving without Big Stink

   After about 40 minutes, far longer than ordered, Bockscar and The Great Artiste head for Kokura.^{Sources: 2, 6}

8. 10:44Japan 09:44

   Kokura hidden

   Haze and smoke from a fire raid on nearby Yawata hide the aiming point. Three runs are made, and it is never seen.^{Sources: 2, 3, 6}

9. 11:32Japan 10:32

   Turn for Nagasaki

   With fuel now critical, Bockscar turns for its second target, Nagasaki.^{Sources: 2, 21}

10. 11:50Japan 10:50

    Nagasaki under cloud

    The city is covered by cloud and there is fuel for one run only. The run begins on radar, against orders.^{Sources: 3, 6, 22}

11. 11:58Japan 10:58

    A gap in the cloud

    The bombardier, Kermit Beahan, sees the city through a gap and releases Fat Man over the Urakami valley.^{Sources: 2, 20}

12. 12:02Japan 11:02

    The explosion

    Fat Man explodes about 500 metres above Matsuyama-machi.^{Sources: 2, 18, 23}

13. 12:05Japan 11:05

    Course for Okinawa

    Too short of fuel to reach Tinian, Bockscar heads for Yontan airfield on Okinawa.^{Sources: 6, 21}

14. 13:51

    Emergency landing

    With no answer from the tower, the crew fire every flare and land fast. By one account about seven gallons of fuel are left.^{Sources: 3, 6, 19}

15. 17:06

    Back to Tinian

    After refuelling, Bockscar leaves Okinawa for Tinian, landing late that evening.^{Sources: 6}

Why the times differ

The records do not always agree to the minute. They come from flight logs, radio messages and memories written down later, some kept in Tinian time, some in Japan time and some in Greenwich time. ^{Sources: 2, 12, 23}

This page follows the National Park Service and the Atomic Heritage Foundation, which use Tinian time, and checks them against the flight logs kept by Parsons and Ashworth. Where sources differ by more than a little, the notes below say so. ^{Sources: 1, 6, 11}