William Parsons, who flew on the mission as the bomb specialist.Īnd because of that risk, the 10-foot-long “Little Boy” had not yet been armed. It was a “gun-type” bomb, one in which an explosive charge would fire a “subcritical” piece of uranium 235 down a six-foot-long “gun” barrel into a second subcritical piece of uranium, according to Thomas and Morgan-Witts. This created critical mass and the explosive nuclear chain reaction that would lay waste to Hiroshima. (National Archives) They thought Hiroshima had been spared The weapon is hoisted into the bomb bay of the B-29 dubbed “Enola Gay” in August 1945 on Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands. #THE PILOT OF ENOLA GAY FLYING OUT OF THE SHOCKWAVE CRACK#.
