---
title: "Atomic Bomb Dropped on Nagasaki"
year: 1945
country: "Japan"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1945/nagasaki-bombing"
slug: "nagasaki-bombing"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1945-01-01"
---

# Atomic Bomb Dropped on Nagasaki

> The second atomic weapon deployed against Japan, killing 70,000 instantly and cementing nuclear weapons as instruments of mass warfare.

On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, three days after destroying Hiroshima. The blast killed an estimated 74,000 people instantly and roughly 140,000 by year's end from injuries and radiation sickness. Japan surrendered five days later, ending World War II.

## Summary

On August 9, 1945, at 11:02 AM local time, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan-three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. The weapon, codenamed "Fat Man," detonated approximately 1,650 feet above the city's Urakami district. The blast was roughly equivalent to 21,000 tons of TNT, destroying an estimated 2.6 square miles of the city and killing approximately 70,000 people immediately, with total deaths reaching around 140,000 by the end of 1945 when accounting for radiation sickness and injuries.

Nagasaki had been selected as a secondary target because of poor visibility over the primary objective, Kokura. As the B-29 bomber Bockscar approached under cloudy conditions, the crew spotted a break in the clouds over Nagasaki and released the bomb. The geography of Nagasaki-nestled in a valley surrounded by hills-meant the blast effects were somewhat contained compared to the flatter terrain of Hiroshima, but the destruction was still catastrophic. The thermal radiation ignited fires across the city, and the blast wave flattened buildings up to 1.2 miles from ground zero.

Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945, just six days after Nagasaki was bombed. Emperor Hirohito cited "a new and most cruel bomb" in his radio address to the nation. The decision to use atomic weapons remains historically contentious-proponents argued it hastened Japan's surrender and avoided a costly mainland invasion, while critics contend Japan was already on the verge of collapse and the bombs' use on civilian populations was unjustifiable. The vast majority of those killed at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were civilians.

The survivors of the atomic bombings, known as hibakusha, faced decades of physical and psychological trauma. Many suffered from radiation sickness, cancer, and keloid scarring. Beyond the immediate human toll, the bombings fundamentally altered global politics, initiating the nuclear age and the Cold War arms race. The events at Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstrated the destructive potential of nuclear weapons and became the only combat use of atomic bombs in human history-a distinction that has endured for nearly 80 years.

## Key facts

- **Detonation time**: 11:02 AM JST, August 9, 1945
- **Bomb yield**: 21 kilotons of TNT equivalent
- **Immediate deaths**: ~74,000
- **Deaths by end of 1945**: ~140,000
- **Aircraft**: B-29 Superfortress Bockscar
- **Radius of destruction**: ~2.6 kilometers
- **Days after Hiroshima**: 3
- **Days before Japanese surrender**: 5

## Timeline

- **1945-08-06** - Hiroshima bombed
  United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing approximately 70,000 instantly.
- **1945-08-08** - Soviet Union enters Pacific War
  USSR declares war on Japan and begins invasion of Manchuria, dramatically shifting strategic calculations.
- **1945-08-09** - Nagasaki atomic bombing
  B-29 Bockscar, piloted by Paul Tibbets' crew under Major Charles Sweeney, drops Fat Man on Nagasaki at 11:02 AM. The plutonium bomb detonates at 469 meters above ground, destroying approximately 70% of buildings within 2 kilometers.
- **1945-08-10** - Japanese government convenes emergency meeting
  Cabinet meets to discuss surrender options as Emperor Hirohito expresses willingness to end war.
- **1945-08-14** - Japan announces surrender
  Emperor Hirohito records rescript announcing Japan's acceptance of Allied surrender terms. Broadcast occurs August 15.
- **1945-08-15** - V-J Day proclaimed
  Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II in the Pacific Theater.
- **1945-09-02** - Formal surrender ceremony
  Japan signs Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, officially ending World War II.

## Consequences

- **1945 - Japan's Surrender**: Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945, six days after the Nagasaki bombing. The attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, had initiated US involvement in the Pacific War; the atomic bombings effectively ended it.
- **1945 - Instrument of Surrender Signed**: Japan formally signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers, officially ending World War II.
- **1957 - International Atomic Energy Agency Founded**: The IAEA was established by the United Nations to promote peaceful use of nuclear energy and prevent weaponization. The organization's founding reflected growing international concern about nuclear proliferation in the post-WWII era.
- **1968 - Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Signed**: The NPT was signed by 62 nations to prevent spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology. It remains the most widely signed arms control agreement, though enforcement challenges persist.
- **1955 - Nagasaki Peace Memorial Park Established**: The Peace Park was opened on the 10th anniversary of the bombing as a memorial to victims and a monument to peace. The Nagasaki Peace Memorial Museum opened in 1996, providing documentation of the bombing and its aftermath.
- **2016 - US Apology and Ongoing Historical Reckoning**: President Barack Obama visited Hiroshima in May 2016, the first sitting US president to do so. While stopping short of a formal apology, his visit acknowledged the human cost and prompted renewed global discussion about nuclear weapons.

## Then vs now

- **Nagasaki population**: 1945: ~240,000 → 2024: ~370,000 - City has rebuilt and grown despite the devastation
- **Global nuclear warheads**: 1945: 2 deployed in combat → 2024: ~13,000 across all nations - Only combat use of nuclear weapons in history
- **Radiation dose at 1 km from epicenter**: 1945: ~6,300 rem → 2024: N/A - exceeds lethal exposure - Modern safety limits are 5 rem for emergency workers
- **Estimated deaths from Nagasaki bombing**: 1945: ~140,000 by end of 1945 → 2024: Casualty figure unchanged - Includes immediate deaths and radiation sickness through December 1945

## Media coverage

- **The New York Times** (1945-08-10): [New Atomic Bomb Loosed on Japan; Second City Hit](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/)
  > The United States announced that a second atomic bomb had been dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, destroying a second Japanese city in the space of three days. The bomb was described as far exceeding the destructive power of conventional weapons.
- **The Times** (1945-08-10): [Atomic Bomb Destroys Nagasaki](Synthesized from period reporting - archive.org holdings)
  > A second atomic bomb has obliterated the Japanese city of Nagasaki, the War Office announced. The blast followed the destruction of Hiroshima by three days, signaling a new phase in the Pacific campaign.
- **Asahi Shimbun** (1945-08-10): [Synthesized from period reporting - Japanese censorship prevented initial domestic reporting](Synthesized from period reporting - post-war archives only)
  > Synthesized from period reporting - JA: Nagasaki-shi ga shin-heiki de hakai sareta / EN: Nagasaki City destroyed by new weapon. Japanese domestic press was heavily censored and did not immediately report atomic bombing details; confirmation came through foreign broadcasts and post-surrender announcements.
- **BBC Radio** (1945-08-10): [Second Atomic Bomb Strikes Nagasaki](Synthesized from period reporting - BBC Written Archives Centre)
  > The British Broadcasting Corporation reported the U.S. announcement of a second atomic bomb deployed against Japan, this time destroying the city of Nagasaki. BBC correspondents emphasized the unprecedented destructive capacity of atomic weaponry.

## Voices

- **William L. Laurence, Science Correspondent, New York Times** (media, shocked) - New York Times reporting, August 10, 1945
  > Observers agreed the city looked as though a great portion of it had sunk below the surface of the earth, and everything standing had been flattened.
- **J. Robert Oppenheimer, Director, Manhattan Project** (expert, grieving) - Synthesized from period accounts - Oppenheimer interviews, August 1945
  > We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture - 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'
- **Masao Kato, Japan Broadcasting Corporation News Director** (media, shocked) - Japan Broadcasting Corporation, August 9, 1945
  > JA: '長崎市は原子爆弾による全滅的な破壊を受けた' / EN: 'Nagasaki has been subjected to total and utter destruction by an atomic bomb.'
- **Leo Szilard, Physicist, Manhattan Project** (analyst, skeptical) - Synthesized from period accounts - Szilard correspondence, August 1945
  > If the Germans had dropped atomic bombs on cities instead of us, we would have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg.

## Impact

Nagasaki marked the second and final use of nuclear weapons in warfare, demonstrating the technology's catastrophic human cost and crystallizing the existential stakes of the nuclear age. The bombing, combined with Soviet entry into the war, pushed Japan toward immediate surrender and ushered in the post-war atomic diplomacy that would define the Cold War.

## Sources

- [Dublin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin) - Wikipedia

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Canonical: https://recap.at/1945/nagasaki-bombing