Declassified photos show the US's final preparations for the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, following up three days later with another bomb on Nagasaki.

The bombs, known as "Little Boy" and "Fat Man," were loaded onto bombers at the North Field airbase on Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands, which are south of Japan.

Until recently, few photographs of the run up to the attacks were available.

But declassified pictures shed light on the preparations for the bombings — the first and only wartime nuclear bombings in history.

While seemingly mundane, these photos show us what it was like to prepare for one of the most important moments in modern history.

First seen on AlternativeWars.com. An earlier version of this post was composed by Christian Storm.

SEE ALSO: The nuclear bomb didn't beat Japan — Stalin did

Soldiers check the casings on the "Fat Man" atomic bomb. Multiple test bombs were created on Tinian Island. All were roughly identical to an operational bomb, even though they lacked the necessary equipment to detonate.

On the left, geophysicist and Manhattan Project participant Francis Birch marks the bomb unit that would become "Little Boy," while Norman Ramsey, who would later win the Nobel Prize in physics, looks on.

A technician applies sealant and putty to the crevices of "Fat Man," a final preparation to make sure the environment inside the bomb would be stable enough to create a full impact once it detonated.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Contributer : Tech Insider http://ift.tt/2hzwNxV

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