If the Atomic Bomb was ready by 1944 how would it have been used?

The plan as of 1943 was to drop the first operational bombs on Truk Harbor and destroy IJN forces there. The reasoning was that Japan should be attacked rather than Germany because the Japanese nuclear program was considered less capable of reverse-engineering a bomb, and Truk was chosen because its deep water would prevent easy salvage.

http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/wp-c...tary-Policy-Committee-Minutes-of-Meetings.pdf

As it stands, Truk was neutralized by conventional air strikes in February of 1944, but this reasoning might guide target selection still in summer of 1944.

I wonder if Saipan wouldn't be the chosen target--as a tactical weapon, to destroy the Japanese defenses (and defenders) and so accelerate the capture of the island to use as a base for attacks on the Home Islands. The battle in its later phases sank into caves (which would be not so vulnerable to damage from the bomb), but if it's dropped before the rest of the bombardment commences, Japanese forces caught in the open might suffer greatly.
 
You'd also need to accelarate the B29 program at the same time. Otherwise you're left with a weapon that you can't deliver.
air_superfortress12.jpg

Late 1943 for YB-29 deliveries

35bfuog.jpg

And in the UK, before flying off to India

So a couple YB-29s get the Silverplate Mods in late 1943, and is ready anytime after March, 1944

another YB was converted to use the Allison W-24 engine at low priority is case the Wright R-3350 continued to have problems
Boeing-GM_XB-39_41-36954_%285412707154%29.jpg

CREW: 10
LENGTH: 99.02 feet (30.18 meters)
WIDTH: 141.24 feet (43.05 meters)
HEIGHT: 27.72 feet (8.45 meters)
WEIGHT (EMPTY): 74,516 pounds (33,800 kilograms)
WEIGHT (MTOW): 133,512 pounds (60,560 kilograms)
ENGINE: 4 x Allison V-3420-11 W24 liquid-cooled engines developing 2,100 horsepower each.
SPEED (MAX): 404 miles-per-hour (650 kilometers-per-hour; 351 knots)
RANGE: 6,251 miles (10,060 kilometers; 5,432 nautical miles)
CEILING: 36,089 feet (11,000 meters; 6.84 miles)
RATE-OF-CLIMB: 1,000 feet-per-minute (305 meters-per-minute)

So a roughly 45mph faster, at a higher altitude with more range than the B-29A, if there are worries about Luftwaffe interception
 
I wonder if Saipan wouldn't be the chosen target--as a tactical weapon, to destroy the Japanese defenses (and defenders) and so accelerate the capture of the island to use as a base for attacks on the Home Islands. The battle in its later phases sank into caves (which would be not so vulnerable to damage from the bomb), but if it's dropped before the rest of the bombardment commences, Japanese forces caught in the open might suffer greatly.

On a tangent it's fascinating to imagine the post-war legal situation if the atomic bomb had been used as a tactical weapon. Presumably soldiers stationed in the general area after the bomb had been used would have been affected by the fallout - I don't know how well fallout was understood in 1943 - and over time the consequences would have dwarfed the likes of Gulf War syndrome. Presumably the US government would find a way to legally absolve itself of paying compensation to US service personnel.
 
Apparently a modified LNcaster could have carried an A-bomb

A Lanc could have carried one easily - physically, both Little Boy or Fat Man were toys compared with Grand Slam. The problem was that the Lanc's performance envelope was too low and slow to get clear of the blast radius in time, so any attack would be a one-way trip.
 
What would happen to Germany if the A-Bomb was used successfully on a decapitation strike in Berlin, or Berchtesgaden.
 
Accelerate the Boeing B29 Project? The Battle Of Kansas? Possible but unlikely. History tells us the Boeing B29 killed more of its own airman than the Japanese Empire. The Wright R3350 engine was not perfect by any means but there was a war going on. Even if the B29 Silver Plate Project had somehow been completed a year early perhaps we are better off not knowing how the bomb would have been used.
 
On a tangent it's fascinating to imagine the post-war legal situation if the atomic bomb had been used as a tactical weapon. Presumably soldiers stationed in the general area after the bomb had been used would have been affected by the fallout - I don't know how well fallout was understood in 1943 - and over time the consequences would have dwarfed the likes of Gulf War syndrome. Presumably the US government would find a way to legally absolve itself of paying compensation to US service personnel.

It could become an issue if the bomb is used as a ground-penetrating weapon. Air-burst weapons don't generate much fallout (witness the fact that Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain habitable). But if it pops into anyone's head to have the bombs penetrate the ground and use the blast to try and destroy the fortifications...

On a related note, maybe some of the targets the RAF hit with earthquake bombs would be on the atomic list ITTL.
 
A Lanc could have carried one easily - physically, both Little Boy or Fat Man were toys compared with Grand Slam. The problem was that the Lanc's performance envelope was too low and slow to get clear of the blast radius in time, so any attack would be a one-way trip.

The last time this was brought up a parachute was mentioned as a potential solution?
 
It could become an issue if the bomb is used as a ground-penetrating weapon. Air-burst weapons don't generate much fallout (witness the fact that Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain habitable). But if it pops into anyone's head to have the bombs penetrate the ground and use the blast to try and destroy the fortifications...

On a related note, maybe some of the targets the RAF hit with earthquake bombs would be on the atomic list ITTL.

IMHO it would not matter much at all. My father was a Navy Corpsman with the Marines in Korea. After the fun there they got to go out in Navada for a series of tests. For four tests they manned the trenches. After the blast wave went over them and got sucked back, they would stand and advance towards ground zero. They were put in a special category by the VA. They each got $75,000 which you had to seriously fight for. They were not allowed to sue, either individually or class action. The VA did take very good care of him as he died from several forms of cancer.
 
The major impetus behind the atomic program was to get such weapons for use against Germany before they could get the bomb. To use it elsewhere tells the Germans it can be done, and would accelerate their program. OTL it would not matter as they were too far behind to catch up by 1944, but the Allies don't really know that. The most sensible use of the bomb would be against Germany in such a way as to bring an end to the war in Europe before they could build their own bomb. Vaporizing Berlin or a couple of other major cities would be much better for that purpose then using the bomb tactically. Given the small number of bombs, and how tactical targets shift very rapidly (as well as some accuracy issues), tactical use i, in the ETO in 1944, less useful. The potential use for Olympic is another discussion.
 
It would have been used on Dresden or other pending air-raid targets.

Decapitating strikes against bunkers might not work, this were only a few kilotons yield and CEP would be several hundred meters.

Yalta is going to be interesting: Churchill might decide the Allies don't need Stalin's help anymore.
 
A Lanc with a chute on the bomb, perhaps even a delay fuse? Doable. Though a groundburst would have a smaller blast area, and the chute would lower accuracy by quite a bit.
It took the USAF years to get drogue and chute combination for multi-ton bombs working. Almost longer than it took to get a bomb in the first place

Silk and Cotton webbing in used for parachutes just is not strong enough.

As it was, Fatman and Little Boy had drag plate inside the box fin assembly, to slow them slightly. Otherwise would have had even faster drop speeds over OTL. Too fast and barometric fuzes get wonky

Implosion Bombs that could survive a ground impact also took years of development, while Little Boy was pretty much what is a 'Bunker Buster' today, having a very heavy tungsten carbide cap over an artillery barrel.
 
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