Little Boy

Little Boy was the codename for the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, during World War II. It was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare and was developed by the United States as part of the Manhattan Project.

Development

The development of Little Boy was a significant part of the Manhattan Project, a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. The bomb was designed by a team of scientists and engineers led by Robert Oppenheimer and included notable figures such as Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, and Niels Bohr.

Design

Little Boy was a gun-type fission weapon that used uranium-235 as its fissile material. The bomb was approximately 10 feet long, 28 inches in diameter, and weighed about 9,700 pounds. The design involved shooting one piece of sub-critical uranium into another to achieve a supercritical mass, initiating a nuclear chain reaction.

Deployment

On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped Little Boy over Hiroshima. The bomb exploded at an altitude of approximately 1,900 feet, with a yield of about 15 kilotons of TNT. The explosion caused widespread destruction and resulted in the deaths of an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people immediately, with tens of thousands more dying later from injuries and radiation exposure.

Impact

The bombing of Hiroshima, along with the subsequent bombing of Nagasaki by the Fat Man bomb, played a crucial role in leading to the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II. The use of atomic bombs has since been a subject of intense debate and has had a profound impact on international relations and the development of nuclear weapons policy.

Legacy

The legacy of Little Boy is complex, encompassing both the devastating human cost of its use and its role in ending World War II. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been memorialized in various ways, including the establishment of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the annual observance of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony.

See also

• Manhattan Project
• Fat Man
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Nuclear weapon
• World War II