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The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki Was A Disaster (And Almost An Utter Failure)
A terrifying story that was kept under wraps for decades
The atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the world forever and heralded the end of history’s bloodiest war. The two missions are often lumped together in the collective psyche. Two missions, two cities, two bombs, one outcome. Destruction. A handful of the same planes and the same people were instrumental in both bombings. But each mission could not have been more different.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima went off without a hitch. It was a flawless mission.
The atomic bombing of Nagasaki was a disaster that nearly ended in catastrophic failure.
One of the reasons that many people don’t know about the events that nearly derailed the Nagasaki mission is that the details were quashed by the government for decades. It was a SNAFU of the highest magnitude with failures at every level. So the story was spiked and buried from the public for a very, very long time. But the details were eventually revealed, and they showed a mission that went off the rails before the primary plane, the Bockscar, even left the ground.
This is the truncated tale of the bombing of Nagasaki and how the mission nearly ended in disaster…
