Operations Plan [Secret]

Kwajalein: 509th Composite Group [presumed], 1946. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Disbound sheets, printed on one side only. 24 sheets, mimeograph, some with dates in ink in upper right corner. Some type overstrikes noted. This appears to be a working document with some pages updated with an adjusted page number. All pages marked SECRET with no declassification markings. Numbering starts with D-1. D-1, Operations Plan 14 Feb 1946; Operations Plan D-1b, 3-2-46; D-2 Safety Precautions 14 Feb 1946 [prescribed by representatives of the Manhattan Project]; D-2a, Safety, 2-18-46, D-2a-1 Operations Plan (Continued) 2-18-46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-2a-2 2-18-46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-3 14 Feb 1946; Operations Plan (Continued) D-3a 2-18 46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-4 14 Feb. 1946; Operations Plan (Continued) D-4a 2-18-46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-5 14 Feb. 46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-5a 2-18-46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-6 14 Feb. 46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-6a 2-18-46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-6b [undated]; Operations Plan (Continued) D-7 14 Feb. 1946; Operations Plan (Continued) D-7a 2-18-46; Operations Plan (Continued) D-7b [undated]; Operations Plan (Continued) D-8 14 Feb. 1946; Operations Plan (Continued) D-8b [undated]; Operations Plan (Continued) D-9 14 Feb. 1946; Operations Plan (Continued) D-9b [undated]; Operations Plan (Continued) D-10 14 Feb. 1946; and a sheet entitle Tactical Doctrine Distribution listing 23 copies and where/to whom sent. Some ink notations on this sheet. Based upon related materials acquired at the same time from the same source, this is believed to have been produced by the 509th Composite Group, at Kwajalein, as part of the preparations for Operation Crossroads. Among the elements discussed in this Operations Plan are: Bomb carrier will drop from 33,000 feet and make high speed breakaway; two instrument dropping planes will orbit target at 32,000 feet until bomb release and then drop their instruments; four F-13 aircraft will take explosion pictures form 30,000 feet; C-54 photo aircraft with photograph cloud development from 12,000 feet; B-17 drones will make instrumentation flights in and about the cloud', D-1b adjusted several aspects of the previous plan elements; there is substantial difference in text between D-2 Safety Precautions and D-2a Safety (which includes D-2a-1 and D-2a-2; D-3 and D-4 addresses the Bomb carrier and was updated by D-3a and D-4a; D-5 and D-5a addressed Pressure Instrument Dropping (B-29 aircraft); D-6, D-6a, D-6b, D-7, D-7a, D-7b, D-8, D-8b, D-9 and D-9b addressed Photographic Aircraft, and D-10 addressed Drones. The 509th Composite Group (509 CG) was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. The group was activated on 17 December 1944 at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah. It was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul W. Tibbets. Because it contained flying squadrons equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, C-47 Skytrain, and C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft, the group was designated as a "composite", rather than a "bombardment" formation. It operated Silverplate B-29s, which were specially configured to enable them to carry nuclear weapons. The 509th Composite Group began deploying to North Field on Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, in May 1945. In addition to the two nuclear bombing raids, it carried out 15 practice missions against Japanese-held islands, and 12 combat missions against targets in Japan dropping high-explosive pumpkin bombs. In the postwar era, the 509th Composite Group was one of the original ten bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946 and the only one equipped with Silverplate B-29 Superfortress aircraft capable of delivering atomic bombs. It was standardized as a bombardment group and redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 10 July 1946. Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Atomic Bomb, Atomic Weapon Testing, Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, Operation Crossroads, Operations Plan, Photo Reconnaissance, Aerial Operations, B-17 Drones, Test Instrumentation, C-54. F-13, B-29 Superfortress, Mushroom Cloud

[Book #85750]

Price: $10,000.00

See all items in Atomic Bomb
See all items by ,