The Enola Gay taxis into a hard stand of the North Field airbase on Tinian island after having completed its mission a few hours ago, on the 6th of August in 1945.
This specially modified B-29 Super Fortress Bomber had just returned from Hiroshima, having released the Little Boy atom bomb at 8:15 am, Japanese Standard Time. It was the first of the two bombers to have ushered in the nuclear age – and which in 1945 had effectively crippled imperial Japan’s military enthusiasm and brought World War II to an early end.
From the military’s point of view, the Super Fortress had successfully accomplished the final stage of an intricately planned and top-secret mission, authorized by U.S. President Harry S.Truman – and who at the time was searching for less costly alternatives to sacrificing human lives as the second world war having entered into its fifth year had continued to drain energy, resources, and economy without showing any signs of stopping.
Enola Gay, a specially modified B-29 Super Fortress bomber.
The Enola Gay was manufactured by the Martin aeronautics company and had entered service with the U.S. air force on the 8th of May in 1945. It was personally selected by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets from the assembly line and assigned to the 393rd Heavy Bombardment Squadron’s 509th corps.
This air corps was a special division of eighteen hundred men and fifteen bombers. Created in September of 1944 by Major General Leslie Groves to deliver the atom bombs to their designated targets from the airfields of Saipan and Tinian.
The warplane was initially referred to by its serial number: 44-86292. It was a Boeing-29-45 model and measured 99 feet in length with its wingspan close to 141 feet.
Though the Enola Gay had come factory equipped with four Wright 2200 horsepower/R-3350-57 Cyclone engines to comfortably lift off with a weight of 67 tons and cruise at a speed of 190 miles an hour at a maximum altitude of 35,000 feet, it had later undergone further modifications for its role as a special mission aircraft at the Glen G Martin plant at Omaha.
The Enola Gay on Tinian island.
The bomber had landed on Tinian, on the 6th of July in 1945. At North Field it had participated in practice runs and bombing raids to perfect its battle worthiness for the mission that lay ahead. On the 5th of August in 1945, the bomber had embarked for Hiroshima at 2: 45 am Japanese Standard Time. Its target was the T-shaped Aioia Bridge spanning the Ota River.
The Enola Gay’s bombing run.
Over Hiroshima, the Enola Gay had made her bombing run for a duration of eight minutes. At precisely 8:15 am Japanese Standard Time, she had released her atomic cargo over her designated target, and then made a sharp turn for home – climbing higher to escape the blast radius.
The ensuing shock wave, however, had still rocked her violently and blinded her crew in goggles with the flash of the explosion.
Also see the Farbound.Net story: Little Boy,the world’s first atomic bomb.
When the bomber was named Enola Gay.
The B-29 Super Fortress was named Enola Gay on the 5th of August in 1945 – minutes before her flight for Hiroshima. Prior to this hour, the aircraft was known by its serial number: 44-86292.
Enola Gay was the name of Colonel Paul Tibbets’ mother. Tibbets was commanding officer of the 509th corps and the pilot of the bomber. Tibbets was very found of his mother and had greatly appreciated her support during the rough patches of his life.
He had intentionally chosen the name and had it painted in bold and capitalized letters just below the cockpit window on the port side – to honour his beloved parent at this hour, and on a journey which in spite of the assurance of technical safety and the U.S. high command’s promise of not being a suicide mission, was still fraught with danger.
Restoration of the Enola Gay.
After being exposed to years of neglect, scavenging and later storage inside a Smithsonian facility in dismantled pieces, this historic B-29 bomber was refitted and restored back to its original shiny splendor in 2003 at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Maryland. It is presently on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Virginia, U.S.
According to Martin Harwitt, a former director of the National Air and Space Museum, and author of the book, An exhibit denied: Lobbying the History of Enola Gay.
In 1988 almost 600 retired World War II veterans had contributed generously to the aircraft’s restoration. While Colonel Tibbets and three other members of the crew had specially come over to help experts restore the aircraft as it had been at the time of its historic flight.
Martin Harwitt was later forced to tender his resignation, after having organized an exhibition of the Enola Gay’s fuselage and history on the 50th anniversary of World War II. An event that was opposed by members of the U.S. Congress and protesters for ideological and political reasons.
The photo.
This photo of the Enola Gay was produced by an uncredited photographer at North Field. Possibly, a photographer of the U.S War Department. It was taken as the B-29 had just returned from Hiroshima, possibly on the evening of the 6th of August in 1945. It is now archived with theU.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
I F I This is an independent story highlighting this featured Vintage photo of the B-29 Super Fortress Bomber Enola Gay in 1945. The story also sheds light on the specifications of the bomber, the history behind the name, when the warplane completed its mission and its eventual fate. It has been created from facts curated from literary sources and historical documents. I
