The Bomb That Almost Wasn't Dropped on Nagasaki

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Did you know that Nagasaki was never supposed to be bombed? The city that became the second target of nuclear warfare was chosen in a matter of hours during one of the most chaotic missions of World War II, August 9th, 1945. The B-29 bomber Boxgar takes off with Fat Man, a plutonium bomb twice as powerful as the one dropped on Hiroshima. But everything goes wrong from the start.

[00:00:20]Their primary target, Kakura, is covered in thick clouds and smoke. After three failed bombing runs, fuel is running dangerously low. Commander Frederick Ashworth makes a split-second decision.

[00:00:31]Divert to the backup target, Nagasaki.

[00:00:33]Even then, clouds nearly force them to dump the 21 kiloton bomb into the Pacific Ocean. At the last moment, a small break in the weather appears. Fat Man falls toward the Urkami Valley. The blast kills 70,000 people instantly, but Nagasaki's hills actually reduce the destruction compared to flat Hiroshima.

[00:00:51]6 days later, Emperor Hiito announces Japan's surrender, ending the deadliest war in human history and preventing a mainland invasion that could have killed millions more.