The immediate effects of the nuclear bombs were devastating. The original target had been the city of Kokura, but bad weather forced the bomber plane to choose the second potential target, Nagasaki, instead. military because it had suffered previous bomb damage, and it would be difficult to tell (from a scientific standpoint) how much damage the atomic bomb would cause. It was not as effective a target as Hiroshima to the U.S. Nagasaki was a military port city and shipbuilding center. They were weaker, and much of the city was highly vulnerable to fire. The city had a few buildings made of reinforced concrete, but most of the structures were made of wood. It had not suffered previous bomb damage, and it was also located in a level area where resulting damage could be easily assessed. Hiroshima had been chosen because it was a military command center as well as a communications, troop assembly, and supply point for the Japanese army. Three days later, a second atomic bomb, called Fat Man, was dropped over the city of Nagasaki.
At 8:15 am Japanese time, the bomber dropped Little Boy over the city of Hiroshima, a city in western Japan. Tucked into its bomb bay was an 8,900-pound atomic bomb nicknamed Little Boy.
On August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber named the Enola Gay took off from an airbase on the Pacific island of Tinian.
