Near Failure at Nagasaki case
Facts
Mission planned for Aug. 11th. Moved to Aug. 9th due to weather conditions.
Maj. Charles W. Sweeney was the pilot in command. Flew the leading aircraft, Bockscar, which would drop the bomb.
Navy Cmdr. Frederick L. Ashworth: senior weaponeer on board Bockscar. Had managed field-testing of the atomic bomb.
Primary target: Kokuro. Secondary target: Nagasaki.
Six B-29s were assigned for the mission.
Capt. Fredrick C. Bock flew the instrumental aircraft, The Great Artiste.
Lt. Col. James I. Hopkins Jr. flew the observation/photo airplane, Big Stink.
Two weather airplanes: Enola Gay (flown by Capt. George Marquardt) and Laggin’ Dragon (flown by Capt. Charles F. McKnight).
Enola Gay monitored Kokuro and Laggin’ Dragon monitored Nagasaki.
“Fat Man” was loaded into Bockscar at 10PM on August 8th. First major issue: Bockscar’s rear bomb bay bladder was not pumping fuel.
Bockscar took off at 3:49AM on August 9th.
Bockscar had only enough fuel for one bomb run. Beahan picked new aiming point in industrial valley since it was to late to drop in original aiming point.
Despite the problems, the mission was successful and did not undergo investigation. The bombing ultimately ended the war.
Issues
Leadership
Expectation
Lack of motivation
Issue: Leadership
The entire mission needed a leader. Unfortunately, there was not one specific person leading the mission, therefore causing a loss of communication and execution.
Solution
The best solution for this issue would be to have Tibbets lead the mission. He was already familiar with the process due to him being pilot in command for the successful Hiroshima mission. He had prior experience. After all, he did show Sweeney the “ropes” on how the process worked at the Hiroshima mission. Tibbets did choose Sweeney personally for another mission, if there was to be one. However, the reasons for that are unknown.
Tibbets displays the qualities of a good leader. He puts trust into his crew and does
Mission planned for Aug. 11th. Moved to Aug. 9th due to weather conditions.
Maj. Charles W. Sweeney was the pilot in command. Flew the leading aircraft, Bockscar, which would drop the bomb.
Navy Cmdr. Frederick L. Ashworth: senior weaponeer on board Bockscar. Had managed field-testing of the atomic bomb.
Primary target: Kokuro. Secondary target: Nagasaki.
Six B-29s were assigned for the mission.
Capt. Fredrick C. Bock flew the instrumental aircraft, The Great Artiste.
Lt. Col. James I. Hopkins Jr. flew the observation/photo airplane, Big Stink.
Two weather airplanes: Enola Gay (flown by Capt. George Marquardt) and Laggin’ Dragon (flown by Capt. Charles F. McKnight).
Enola Gay monitored Kokuro and Laggin’ Dragon monitored Nagasaki.
“Fat Man” was loaded into Bockscar at 10PM on August 8th. First major issue: Bockscar’s rear bomb bay bladder was not pumping fuel.
Bockscar took off at 3:49AM on August 9th.
Bockscar had only enough fuel for one bomb run. Beahan picked new aiming point in industrial valley since it was to late to drop in original aiming point.
Despite the problems, the mission was successful and did not undergo investigation. The bombing ultimately ended the war.
Issues
Leadership
Expectation
Lack of motivation
Issue: Leadership
The entire mission needed a leader. Unfortunately, there was not one specific person leading the mission, therefore causing a loss of communication and execution.
Solution
The best solution for this issue would be to have Tibbets lead the mission. He was already familiar with the process due to him being pilot in command for the successful Hiroshima mission. He had prior experience. After all, he did show Sweeney the “ropes” on how the process worked at the Hiroshima mission. Tibbets did choose Sweeney personally for another mission, if there was to be one. However, the reasons for that are unknown.
Tibbets displays the qualities of a good leader. He puts trust into his crew and does