Approximately 300 B-29s attacked Tokyo in March 1945, killing upwards of 100,000 people and destroying one-fourth of the city in a single 24 hour period. The 20th aimed to destroy Japanese industry and kill or drive away its workers by burning the mostly-wood cities to the ground. The failure to achieve results with daylight, high-altitude, precision bombing in the unique operational environment over Japan led to a switch to low-level, nighttime, firebombing raids. The nationwide effort to manufacture the technologically-sophisticated B-29 included factories in Washington, Kansas, Nebraska, and Georgia turning out complete aircraft and thousands of sub-contractors producing smaller components and equipment.Īfter a long and challenging development phase, the B-29s of the 20th Air Force went into combat against Imperial Japan in June 1944 from bases in India and China and in November 1944 from the Mariana Islands. It also had advanced tricycle landing gear and was the first bomber to have an analog computer-controlled defensive armament system and a pressurized and heated fuselage that meant the 11-person crew did not have to wear oxygen masks and heavy, bulky clothing during long missions. Designed to fly farther, faster, and higher than any other bomber, the combination of the B-29’s aerodynamic, structural, and propulsion innovations allowed it to carry 5,000 pounds of bombs to a target 1,500 miles away while cruising at 220 miles per hour at altitudes up to 30,000 feet. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the most advanced propeller-driven airplane in the world in 1945, making it the ultimate definition of a “modern” airplane. As a new and deadly weapon, an atomic bomber, Enola Gay facilitated a turning point in human history as it ushered in the dawn of the Atomic Age and the threat of nuclear war. The delivery system for these bombs, the Superfortress, represented the latest advances in American aeronautical engineering and bomber design, and its use in the skies over Japan reflected the evolution of strategic bombing doctrine. Another atomic attack on Nagasaki followed three days later. This is the kind of book we have all been hoping for on this subject" (Sen Matsuda).On August 6, 1945, the crew of a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare, called “Little Boy,” on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. It is objective, calm, restrained and yet deeply humane. "This will be the most authentic Hiroshima book ever. Here, then, is a reading experience that separates the myth from reality as the award-winning writers retrace the steps that led the world into the atomic age.
Jacket design by Bob Anthony.Īlthough it was quite possibly the most important event of World War II, the story of the bombing of Hiroshima, the momentous flight into the future of the B-29 Enola Gay, has never before been revealed from firsthand sources. Near fine in a fine price-clipped dust jacket.
Upon the death of fellow crewman Morris Jeppson on March 30, 2010, Van Kirk became the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew. ” Van Kirk has also added an original drawing and diagram of the atomic bomb exploding over Hiroshima and the Enola Gay which he has annotated, “Atom Bomb Explodes over Hiroshima, Bomb explodes 1980 ft Above Ground Zero, Mushroom Cloud about 60,000 ft above the target of center of Hiroshima, Enola Gay 31,060 ft Speed – 254K Heading 120 degrees.” America aviator Theodore Van Kirk is best known as the navigator of the Enola Gay.
#Enola gay navigator free#
Signed and inscribed by the navigator of the Enola Gay, Theodore Jerome “Dutch” Van Kirk on the front free endpaper, “Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk Navigator – Enola Gay. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 22 pages of photos and four maps. Item Number: 127022įirst edition of the authors’ gripping account of the bombing of Hiroshima, revealed from firsthand sources.