The atomic bomb had been used twice in warfare. The Uranium bomb "Little Boy" which weighed over 4.5 tons was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. At 0815 hours the bomb was dropped from the U.S. B-29 Enola Gay. It missed Ground Zero at 1,980 feet by only 600 feet. In the flash of an instant, 66,000 people were killed and 69,000 people were injured by a by a 10 kiloton atomic explosion.
Nagasaki fell to the same treatment as Hiroshima on August 9, 1945. The plutonium bomb, "Fat Man' was dropped on the city. It missed it's intended target by over one and a half miles. Nagasaki's poplutation was dropped in one split second from 422,000 to 363,000. 39,000 were killed, over 25,000 were injured. That blast was less than 10 kilotons as well. Physicists who have studied the atomic explostions conclude that the bombs utilized only 0.1% of their respective explosive capabitities.
Pictures:
Actual Bombs
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Copyright @1998 Matt Fields