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The Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and flew one other mission before being stored at the Smithsonian. It was modified to carry nuclear weapons and named after the pilot’s mother. The crew included 12 members. The plane became famous and models of the bomb are on display.
The Enola Gay is an aircraft that was famously used to drop the atomic weapon over Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. After the bombing, the aircraft flew only one other combat mission, a reconnaissance mission to prepare for the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, before being stored at the Smithsonian Institution as a historic artifact. Today, the restored Enola Gay can be seen at the National Air and Space Museum.
This B-29 Superfortress bomber was manufactured at the Lockheed Martin plant in Omaha. It was selected along with a group of other aircraft for modifications designed to allow it to carry a nuclear weapon while flying above anti-aircraft guns. This modification mission, codenamed “Silverplate,” revealed a number of aircraft equipped to handle nuclear weapons. When completed, the aircraft measured 99 feet (30.2 meters) long and had a wingspan of 141.25 feet (43 meters).
When the order was given to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 5, 1945, Captain Paul Tibbets, the pilot in charge, decided to redesign the aircraft. He christened it in honor of his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets. The aircraft took off from Tinian in the Mariana Islands with a crew of 12 on board, accompanied by The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil. In particular, the Enola Gay bombing mission over Hiroshima was considered a textbook perfect mission, proceeding exactly as planned and scheduled.
In addition to Captain Tibbets, the crew included Captain Robert A. Lewis as co-pilot, Captain Theodore van Kirk as navigator, and Major Thomas Ferebee as bombardier. Technical Sergeant Wyatt E. Duzenberry was flight engineer and Staff Sergeant Robert S. Shumard was assistant flight engineer. Lieutenant Jacob Beser handled radar countermeasures, while Sergeant Joe S. Stiborik was the radar operator and the VHF radio operator was Private First Class Richard H. Nelson. The weapons assistant was Second Lieutenant Morris R. Jeppson, Technical Sergeant George R. Caron was the tail gunner, and Captain William S. Parsons of the United States Navy was seconded to the mission as an armourer because he had nuclear training.
For her role in the bombing of Japan, Enola Gay became famous. Tibbets later expressed some regret for naming the plane after her mother. Many crew members were interviewed about their experiences aboard the Enola Gay and many of them also wrote about the Hiroshima mission and their role in it. Models of the bomb dropped by the Enola Gay, known as the “Little Boy,” are on display at various locations across the United States.
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