The Moment in Time: The Manhattan Project

under military control and the targets had been selected. - Now we are prepared to more quickly and completely destroy all the productive companies that the Japanese have in any city. We will destroy your docks, your factories and your communications. Let there be no error. We will completely destroy Japan's power to wage war. To prevent the total destruction of the Japanese people, the July 26 ultimatum was issued in Potsdam. Its leaders quickly rejected that ultimatum. If you do not accept our terms now, you can expect a rain of ruin from the air, such as has never been seen on this land. - A few hours before dawn on July 16, as Trinity Site scientists awaited testing in the New Mexico desert, the main components of the cannon-type uranium weapon were being hoisted aboard the cruiser Indianapolis.

The ship set sail for the Pacific island of Tinian in the Marianas. A few weeks later, on August 6, 1945, a B-29 named Enola Gay took off in the early morning hours. Shortly after eight in the morning, he dropped the weapon called Little Boy, which exploded about 300 meters above the Japanese city of Hiroshima. (intense dramatic music) (dark, ominous music) Three days later, another mission carrying the plutonium implosion weapon called Fat Man detonated over Nagasaki. (solemn music) A few weeks later, the war ended with the Japanese surrender on the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. World War II was over. - Let us pray that peace be restored now in the world and that God preserve it forever.

These procedures are closed. (slow, somber music)