Inside was the atomic bomb, complete except for a second unit of uranium that a B-29 later delivered. On July 26, 1945, the cruiser Indianapolis dropped anchor off Tinian and unloaded a 15-foot wooden crate.
The 509th aircraft almost always used runway "A" and the aircraft were parked away from the other groups on the north side of the runway.
It was was assigned an area near the airfield on the north end of Tinian, several miles from the main installations where the other groups were assigned. troops.īy May of 1945, the 509th had moved to Tinian. In 1945, Tinian became the largest airfield in the world, occupied by 40,000 U.S. Two additional runways were built at West Field (today, known as Tinian International Airport). Hardstands were constucted to park and maintain 265 Superfortresses. Its four parallel runways at North Field were 8,500' in length and marked as "A", "B", "C" and "D" (from north to south). Shaped like Manhattan in New York, the Army engineers named the base facilities with names like Broadway and 42nd Street.
Work on restoring and improving the airfield to support Superfortresses began immediately by Army Seabees. Still, the distances to Japan were great, as the island lies at 1,500 miles south of Tokyo. The capture of Tinian was a key part in the plan to provide a closer base for the U.S. The Japanese Ushi Point airfield on the Pacific island of Tinian in the Marianas had fallen to United States forces on July 26, 1944. The Move to Tinian and Final Bombing Plans He was entitled to fly any aircraft at any time.Įnola Gay was personally selected by Colonel Tibbets on May 9, 1945, while still on the assembly line. As the Group Commander, Tibbets had no specific aircraft assigned to him as did the mission pilots. The AAF assigned 15 Silverplate Superfortresses to the 509th Composite Group commanded by Colonel Paul W. Martin modified these Superfortresses by removing all gun turrets except for the tail position, removing armor plate, and installing Curtiss electric propellers. Martin Company assembly line to produce a squadron of B-29s codenamed " Silverplate". Late in 1944, Army Air Forces leaders selected the Glenn L. As many as 1,000 Superfortresses at a time bombed Tokyo, destroying large parts of the city.
A month later, B-29s flying from Chengdu, China struck Yawata, Japan in the first raid on the Japanese home islands since the Doolittle Raid in 1942.ĭuring the last two months of 1944, B-29s began operating against Japan from the islands of Saipan, Guam and Tinian. Flying from India, B-29s first saw combat on June 5, 1944, when 98 planes struck Bangkok. The first B-29s arrived at Allied airfields in India and China in April 1944. Army Air Forces leadership committed the Superfortress to Asia, where its great range made it particularly suited for the long over-water flights against the Japanese homeland from bases in China. Designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, the B-29 flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight up to 31,850 feet at speeds of 350 mph. A total of only about 22 complete B-29 airframes are currently on display in the United States. Of the 3,970 B-29s built, few have been preserved, restored, and put on static display.