Contrary to one of the many myths that surround the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August of 1945, none of the aircrew of either plane committed suicide or became insane after the bombing.

In 1985, a navigator on one of the planes that accompanied the bomber that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki did commit suicide, and was despondent over health issues he had, as well as the bomb.

The dropping of the two bombs might have, or might not have, convinced the Japanese to surrender. The Russian invasion of Manchuria, in fact, was a greater cause for concern to the Japanese than the two atomic bombs. Japanese troops deserted en masse in front of the Soviet Army, which was well trained, well equipped, and had the element of surprise on their side.

Also, in the Battle of Okinawa, which ended in June of 1945, almost 8,000 Japanese troops surrendered. While a small fraction of the up to 100,000 soldiers on the island, many believed the Imperial Japanese Army could see defeat as inevitable.

On August the 6th, a bombing raid destroyed the last functioning oil refinery in Japan, reducing their ability to produce fuels of any kind to zero. They imported 100% of their crude oil, and American submarine actions had reduced imports to 1% of their capacity in 1941.

The Battle of Okinawa, saw the first massive use of kamikazes against the Allied Fleet. The Japanese hoped enough ships would be hit, and sunk, to dissuade an invasion of the Japanese home islands. But the kamikazes, even when they did strike a ship, rarely did enough damage to sink that ship. American naval vessels in particular were heavily armed with antiaircraft batteries. Moreover, American ships were built to take a lot of damage before sinking, and American damage control teams were superb in both putting out fires, and repairing the damage done to their ships. Earlier in the war, the USS Yorktown was thought to be sunk twice by the Japanese before being torpedoed at Midway. The damage control teams on the Yorktown kept that boat afloat after taking damage the Japanese were certain would sink her.

In August of 1945, eighty years ago this month, the Japanese Empire was turning to dust. The Soviets were in China, the Chinese were getting stronger, the Allied Fleet was unstoppable, the American Air raids using incendiaries were killing hundreds of thousands of people, there was no oil, and then atomic bombs were dropped on two cities.

Would the Japanese have surrendered if the A Bombs had not been dropped?

Yes, I think they would have. The idea of letting the United States Marie Corp land in Japan and wreakthe havoc upon the Japanese homeland that they had in some many other places had to give the emperor pause. The Marines and American Army had thousands of veterans while the Japanese had very few.

As the battleship Yamato slipped under the sea in April 1945, the dreams of Japanese Empire went with it. I think the Japanese would have surrendered in August of 1945, simply because anything short of that would have meant the end of their entire culture.

Yes or no? Do you think The Bomb pushed them over the edge or was The Reason?

Take Care,

Mike

The post friday Firesmith – Eighty Years Later: The Bomb and The Surrender first appeared on Bits & Pieces.

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