This date in history

[Jimbuna]

1864 US Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay won by the Union led by Rear Admiral Farragut with the cry "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

[Mr Quatro]

The night before the A-bombing (August 5)
From the evening of August 5, 1945, to the early morning of August 6, sirens and air-raid warnings were sounded frequently. City residents passed a fitful night. On the morning of August 6, the alarms finally stopped, the all-clear siren sounded, and that morning began like any other, with people hurrying to work and with those mobilized for demolition work heading to their assigned sites ...

to be continued tomorrow

[Jimbuna]

1890 At Auburn Prison in New York, murderer William Kemmler becomes first person to be executed by electric chair.

1942 Canadian destroyer HMCS Assiniboine sinks U-210.

1942 Hermann Goering proclaims occupied areas "thoroughly empty to plunder."

1944 All 1,200 Jewish death marchers from Lipcani Moldavia have died.

1944 Deportation of 70,000 Jews from Lodz Poland to Auschwitz begins.

1945 Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the US B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay."

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

The night before the A-bombing (August 5)
From the evening of August 5, 1945, to the early morning of August 6, sirens and air-raid warnings were sounded frequently. City residents passed a fitful night. On the morning of August 6, the alarms finally stopped, the all-clear siren sounded, and that morning began like any other, with people hurrying to work and with those mobilized for demolition work heading to their assigned sites ...

to be continued tomorrow

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1945 Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the US B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay."

And so it was!

[Mr Quatro]

What a lot of people don't know is that America dropped leaflets before we dropped the A-bomb:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexpe...uman-leaflets/

Leaflets dropped on cities in Japan warning civilians about the atomic bomb, dropped c. August 6, 1945

TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE:
America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet.
We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate.
We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city.
Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan.
You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.

EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.
ATTENTION JAPANESE PEOPLE.
EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.

Because your military leaders have rejected the thirteen part surrender declaration, two momentous events have occurred in the last few days.
The Soviet Union, because of this rejection on the part of the military has notified your Ambassador Sato that it has declared war on your nation. Thus, all powerful countries of the world are now at war with you.
Also, because of your leaders' refusal to accept the surrender declaration that would enable Japan to honorably end this useless war, we have employed our atomic bomb.
A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s could have carried on a single mission. Radio Tokyo has told you that with the first use of this weapon of total destruction, Hiroshima was virtually destroyed.
Before we use this bomb again and again to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, petition the emperor now to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace-loving Japan.
Act at once or we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.

EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.
Source: Harry S. Truman Library, Miscellaneous historical document file, no. 258.

After the bombing
The atomic bombing (August 6).
8:15 A.M., August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was a picturesque, quiet city.
Then with a blinding flash and a deafening roar, a single bomb burned into to the ground.
An entire city was instantly destroyed beyond recognition.
Nearly all people and buildings within a two-kilometer radius of the hypocenter were killed or destroyed.
By the end of the year approximately 140,000 were dead or missing, nearly half of the almost 350,000 residents.

[Aktungbby]

Noting the above; there appears to be a slight discrepancy...there always is:

In preparation for dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, U.S. military leaders decided against a demonstration bomb, and against a special leaflet warning, in both cases because of the uncertainty of a successful detonation, and the wish to maximize psychological shock. No warning was given to Hiroshima that a new and much more destructive bomb was going to be dropped. Various sources give conflicting information about when the last leaflets were dropped on Hiroshima prior to the atomic bomb. Robert Jay Lifton writes that it was July 27, and Theodore H. McNelly that it was July 3. The USAAF history notes eleven cities were targeted with leaflets on July 27, but Hiroshima was not one of them, and there were no leaflet sorties on July 30. Leaflet sorties were undertaken on August 1 and August 4. It is very likely that Hiroshima was leafleted in late July or early August, as survivor accounts talk about a delivery of leaflets a few days before the atomic bomb was dropped. One such leaflet lists twelve cities targeted for firebombing: Otaru, Akita, Hachinohe, Fukushima, Urawa, Takayama, Iwakuni, Tottori, Imabari, Yawata, Miyakonojo, and Saga. Hiroshima was not listed.[

This type of leaflet was dropped on Japan, showing the names of 12 Japanese cities targeted for destruction by firebombing. The other side contained text saying "we cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked ..." Several days earlier, much of Japan, including Hiroshima, was showered by American forces with millions of leaflets, each containing a seemingly humanitarian plea to evacuate the citizens of twelve cities named on the leaflet’s reverse side. There are three known versions of this leaflet, designed by General Curtis LeMay, and the cities named were almost all of questionable military or economic value. Hiroshima was not among them. After Hiroshima, this leaflet was dropped:

America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet. We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate.
We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city.
Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan.
You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.

Also interestingly, one of the original potential bomb sites was the Japanese Emperor’s Palace, but it was scratched from the list due to its cultural significance. After all: We are the 'good guys'

[Jimbuna]

1918 6 US soldiers are surrounded by Germans in France, Alvin York is given command & shoots 20 Germans & captures 132 more.

1942 6 convicted Nazi saboteurs who landed in US executed in Washngton, DC.

1942 British Flower class corvette HMS Dianthus sinks U-379.

1945 USSR establishes a communist government in North Korea.

[Jimbuna]

1815 Napoleon Bonaparte sets sail for exile on St Helena on board British ship the Northumberland.

1898 Rudolf Diesel of Germany patents the diesel internal combustion engine.

1914 German U-15 was sunk by the British cruiser, H.M.S. Birmingham.

1945 US drops 2nd atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Japan destroys part of Nagasaki.

[Mr Quatro]

August 9th 1942
Edith Stein gassed at Auschwitz
https://www.christianhistoryinstitut...ned-today/8/9/

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

August 9th 1942
Edith Stein gassed at Auschwitz
https://www.christianhistoryinstitut...ned-today/8/9/

That's Saint Edith; Pope John Paul II declared her a saint. 1944;B-29 Bockscar drops the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 75,000 people on the whim of missed rendezvous, clouds, smoke, and Japanese fighter radio traffic.... <footnote: the nose art came after the mission; only the Enola Gay had nose art. VON C.: "Everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction," ie: In war thing do not go according to plan: History's second atomic punch was a mess.

During pre-flight inspection of Bockscar, the flight engineer notified Sweeney that an inoperative fuel transfer pump made it impossible to use 640 US gallons (2,400 l; 530 imp gal) of fuel carried in a reserve tank. This fuel would still have to be carried all the way to Japan and back, consuming still more fuel. Replacing the pump would take hours; moving the Fat Man to another aircraft might take just as long and was dangerous as well, as the bomb was live. Group Commander Colonel Paul Tibbets and Sweeney therefore elected to have Bockscar continue the mission.
Bockscar took off from Tinian's North Field at 03:49. The mission profile directed the B-29s to fly individually to the rendezvous point, changed because of bad weather from Iwo Jima to Yakushima Island, and at 17,000 feet (5,200 m) cruising altitude instead of the customary 9,000 feet (2,700 m), increasing fuel consumption. Bockscar began its climb to the 30,000 feet (9,100 m) bombing altitude a half hour before rendezvous. Before the mission, Tibbets had warned Sweeney to take no more than fifteen minutes at the rendezvous before proceeding to the target. Bockscar reached the rendezvous point and assembled with The Great Artiste, but after circling for some time, The Big Stink failed to appear. As they orbited Yakushima, the weather planes Enola Gay and Laggin' Dragon reported both Kokura and Nagasaki within the accepted parameters for the required visual attack.Though ordered not to circle longer than fifteen minutes, Sweeney continued to wait for The Big Stink, at the urging of CommanderFrederick Ashworth, the plane's weaponeer, who was in command of the mission.. After exceeding the original departure time limit by a half hour, Bockscar, accompanied by The Great Artiste, proceeded to Kokura, thirty minutes away. The delay at the rendezvous had resulted in clouds and drifting smoke from fires started by a major firebombing raid by 224 B-29s on nearby Yawata the previous day covering 70% of the area over Kokura, obscuring the aiming point. Three bomb runs were made over the next 50 minutes, burning fuel and exposing the aircraft repeatedly to the heavy defenses of Yawata, but the bombardier was unable to drop visually. By the time of the third bomb run, Japanese anti-aircraft fire was getting close, and Second Lieutenant Jacob Beser, who was monitoring Japanese communications, reported activity on the Japanese fighter direction radio bands. The increasingly critical fuel shortage resulted in the decision by Sweeney and Ashworth to reduce power to conserve fuel and divert to the secondary target, Nagasaki. The approach to Nagasaki twenty minutes later indicated that the heart of the city's downtown was also covered by dense cloud. Ashworth decided to bomb Nagasaki using radar, but, according to Bockscar's bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan, a small opening in the clouds at the end of the three-minute bomb run permitted him to identify target features. Bockscar visually dropped the Fat Man at 10:58 local time. It exploded 43 seconds later with a blast yield equivalent to 21 kilotons of TNT at an altitude of 1,650 feet (500 m), approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of the planned aiming point, resulting in the destruction of 44% of the city. The failure to drop the Fat Man at the precise bomb aim point caused the atomic blast to be confined to the Urakami Valley. As a consequence, a major portion of the city was protected by the intervening hills, but even so, the bomb was dropped over the city's industrial valley midway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works in the south and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works in the north. An estimated 35,000 people were killed and 60,000 injured during the bombing at Nagasaki. Of those killed, 23,200-28,200 were Japanese munitions workers, 2,000 were Korean slave laborers, and 150 were Japanese soldiers..

Thank god! A clearcut military 'target of opportunity' after all! (After all! we're the goodguys) Nagasaki was an exercise in keeping it simple. Bockscar, seriously fuel short, the number two engine died from fuel starvation as Bockscar began its final approach, landed at Okinawa instead of Tinian...and lo: Japan surrendered...simple. https://www.clausewitz.com/readings/OnWar1873/BK1ch07.html

[Mr Quatro]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Nagasaki was an exercise in keeping it simple. Bockscar, seriously fuel short, the number two engine died from fuel starvation as Bockscar began its final approach, landed at Okinawa instead of Tinian...and lo: Japan surrendered...[I]simple. :smug

I can just see all of those US Marine angels were clapping when she landed too

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

I can just see all of those US Marine angels were clapping when she landed too

NOPE! SInce the Bockscar:

After circling for twenty minutes before opting to land without radio firing distress flares ...touching the runway hard, ,the heavy B-29 slewed left and towards a row of parked B-24 bombers before the pilots managed to regain control. The B-29's reversible propellers were insufficient to slow the aircraft adequately, and with both pilots standing on the brakes, Bockscar made a swerving 90-degree turn at the end of the runway to avoid running off the runway.

I rather imagine they were bookin' it for the dugout trenches not knowing what was aboard the unknown bomber or the parked Liberators.

[Jimbuna]

1914 German battle cruiser Goeben reaches Dardanellen/Turkey joins Germany.

1943 Dutch submarine attacks Hertenbeest Island, NW Bali.

1943 US General George Patton calls injured soldier "cowardly".

1945 Japan announces willingness to surrender to Allies provided status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged.

[Jimbuna]

1940 38 German aircraft shot down over England.

1940 German air raid on British ports Portland and Weymouth.

1942 - Sept 30] SS begins exterminating 3,500 Jews in Zelov Lodz Poland.

1942 999 Jews are taken from Mechelen transit camp in Belgium.

1942 British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle torpedoed & sinks.

1944 Klaus Barbie, Gestapo head of Lyon France leaves for Auschwitz.

1945 Allies refuse Japan's surrender offer to retain Emperor Hirohito.

[Jimbuna]

1908 Henry Ford's company builds the first Model T car.