France, 1944
Posted on 08/20/2015 5:17:01 AM PDT by WhiskeyX
In August 1945, during the final stage of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in human history.
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We saved Japan from a Smallpox epidemic in 1934. No good deed goes unpunished. Take THAT Tojo.....AND THAT!
The Japanese military were using oxen to pull new Zero airplanes along the assembly line. They were hardly on the cusp of an atom bomb.
Hitler was an ally of Japan in a similar way to how the US was an ally of the USSR. Some “apparent” collaboration may have been going on, as you can see in some of the aircraft the Japanese were producing towards the end of the war, most notably things like the Shinden, but Japan had a long ways to go to produce a bomb.
And, frankly, Germany was trying but the bombings and sabotage kept them from really getting anywhere. Also, Hitler was kind of dumb when it came to seeing the potential of technology. A classic example is turning the 262 into a bomber.
Obviously “A ways off” means different things to you and me. ;-)
The did have a bomb program, but by the end of the war it was years behind even the Germans.
France, 1944
“Debunked.”
They’ve been saying that ever since Snell published his news story. As recently as just ten years ago I had a number of nuclear scientists going to great lengths to deny many of the details about how impossible it was for the Japanese to conduct such research. They each refused to listen to reason or acknowledge evidence of the resources available to the Japanese researchers. Yet, they were subsequently proved to be utterly wrong. As this film documents, the Japanese nuclear physicists who are still living corroborated some of the surviving and handwritten documentation of the atomic bomb research and acknowledged their work on the Japanese atomic bomb. Like most black projects, the cloak of secrecy is heavily defended by denials, but the truth continues to leak out.
Not quite. The Soviets used a modified Christy suspension for the T-34, but the hull design married to a diesel engine were their concepts. The original Christy design was weight limited to about under 30 tons. As far a Hughes developing the Zero prototype. His H-1 racing aircraft, used a low wing, radial engine concept. It was developed in 1935. Also in 1935,the Japanese designers at Mitsubishi developed the A5m series which also used radial engines and low wing design. This aircraft was the predecessor to the A6M series Japanese Naval fighters To say Hughes developed the prototype of the Zero is like saying he developed the prototype for the FW 190, the F4U, F4,F6,F8,P47, and the A1. All radial engine, low wing designs.
“Obviously “A ways off” means different things to you and me. ;-)”
The comment, “A ways off”, originated with Sweeney, but in the retelling over the years the meaning has been stretched by various parties to mean some indefinite period stretching from September 1945 to sometime in 1946. With respect to this particular Fat Man bomb, the scheduling started with a no later than date of 24 August 1945, but that schedule was later shortened to 19-20 August 1945. The top of the target list was Sapporo, but there was also some talk of changing the targeting after Nagasaki to somewhere in the Tokyo Plain; e.g. perhaps Yokohama etc.
None of the authentic post war histories mentions it.
Oh, I have no doubt the Japs had top notch scientists with real understanding of what they were trying to do. It was a significant and practical program.
But it’s a long ways from there to claiming an actual atomic explosion took place without anyone nearby noticing.
We know that the Japanese and Germans were cooperating on nuclear weapons because of Magic decrypts. These decrypts described efforts to share military technology and critical materials. The Japanese attached great priority to obtaining enriched uranium. Allied command of the sea severely limited contacts between Axis allies Germany and Japan. Several German and Japanese submarines were involved in this effort because by the time the Japanese requested the uranium, surface transport was no longer possible.
Details on most of the submarine transports are hazy. We know a great deal about the last one--the U-234. This is because the captain surrendered to the Americans who recovered 560 kg of enriched uranium aboard. We do not know if the Germans transg\ferred nuclear technology to Japan. The U-234 was a very large mine-laying U-boat. It had been adapted as an undersea freighter to carry a much larger cargo than a standard U-boat.
Germany transferred considerable weapons technology to Japan. Once the War began because of the Royal Navy and later the U.S. Navy's control of the Atlantic this had to be done mostly by U-boat. The U-234 was dispatched to Japan with a cargo of German high-tech equipment (April 1945). The cargo included air defense radars and jet engine equipment as well as German technical experts. In addition there were 80 gold-lined cylinders containing 560 kilograms of uranium oxide marked "For the Japanese Army". There is very limited cargo space even aboard this cargo U-boat. Thus only items of the highest priority would have been loaded.
The only purpose for the uranium oxide given the state of Japanese nuclear research would have been a dirty bomb. Also aboard were two Japanese officer--Air Force Colonel Genzo Shosi, an engineer, and Navy Captain Hideo Tomonaga. The U-234 was informed of Hitler's suicide (May 1). Naval High command ordered all German submarines to observe a ceasefire (May 4). The order to surrender was then given (May 8). The captain of the U-234 at this time arrested the Japanese officers who subsequently attempted suicide with sleeping pills. The German officers then discussed if they should surrender or proceed to Japan.
They decide to surrender and to kill the Japanese who had botched their suicide attempt. This meant that they could not talk to the Americans about the purpose of the uranium oxide. Their bodies were discarded at sea. The captain then contacted naval authorities in Halifax to arrange a surrender. Finally he decided to surrender to the Americans. The USS Sumter escorted the U-234 to Portsmouth. The U-234 was interned at Portsmouth (May 19). There the Americans learned for the first time that radio-active uranium oxide was aboard. What the Americans did not know was if other U-boats had gotten through to Japan with uranium an nuclear technology.
This may have influenced the subsequent American decision to use the bomb on Japan. The nature of the uranium and disposition by the U.S. Navy is shrouded in mystery. Using lead containers with gold lining suggests it was very high grade enriched uranium, perhaps U235. [Hydrick, p.7.] As far as I know, the Government has never released the level of enrichment which would provide an insight into the German atomic program. It is generally accepted that the Los Alamos team was having trouble obtaining the amount of uranium needed for a bomb. [Goldberg] Some authors believe that the uranium on U-234 was used by the Americans to bomb Japan. Lt. Col. John Lansdale Jr. who worked with the Manhattan Project as a security officer an was responsible for tracking uranium. He says the German uranium was used to build the bombs dropped on Japan.
[Broad] Some authors also wonder about the "infrared proximity fuse" and whether it was actually a fuse connected with the atomic program. Many of these questions are still unanswered. But the fact that the Germans had enriched uranium strongly suggests that they had made more progress in building a bomb than is recognized by most authors. And it raised the questions about the Japanese atomic bomb program and the extent of cooperation between the Axis allies.
(snip)
Not only this, but even IF the Japanese had an atomic bomb (and it's laughable that anyone even considers this plausible), what could they have done with it? Where and how would they have used the bomb?
After the Battle of Midway in the summer of 1942 the Japanese never launched another serious offensive. By 1943 we had achieved air supremacy. The Kamikaze attacks began because the Japanese didn't have any other real options, their air force had been decimated.
There is NO WAY that the Japanese could have successfully put a bomber in the air and keep it there. They lacked the ability to drop a bomb anywhere.
Agree.
The Russian nuclear program after WW2 owes as much to the Japanese as the Germans, maybe more. The Germans had stopped working on a bomb. If the Japanese had a prototype that would explain how the Russian program was successful so soon after the war stopped
Your post actually brings up what I was thinking as I typed my last post. ;-)
Generals and leaders have to make decisions on what tech to pursue based on their practical options. They might throw a couple of bucks into a bomb but their REAL effort was in survival. Why put great effort in a weapon you have no means to get to the target? That is a project for after you win or at least go on the offensive again.
Read the book “The Making Of The Atomic Bomb” by Richard Rhodes. The atomic bomb that Germany and Japan were attempting to build was a pathetic undertaking. Japan never had anything close to an atom bomb and certainly we would have known about it if they did explode one off Korea.
“No understanding of history...”
Seven years ago last month, some previously obscure mulatto chap said “...from the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor, to the threat of nuclear annihilation. Americans have adapted to the threats posed by an ever-changing world.”
Talk about “no understanding.”
The Russian nuke was the result of thievery from the US.
I recall reading about German submarines supposedly delivering uranium to Japan but later reports largely debunked this story.
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