Project Alberta, also known as Project A, was a section of the Manhattan Project which assisted in delivering the first nuclear weapons in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
Group photograph of Project Alberta on Tinian
The "Tinian Joint Chiefs": Captain William S. Parsons USN (left), Rear Admiral William R. Purnell USN (center), and Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell USA (right)
Assembly Building where bombs were assembled
Project Alberta's Harold Agnew (top left), Luis Alvarez (top right), Lawrence Johnston (bottom left) and Bernard Waldman (bottom right) in front of the instrumentation laboratory on Tinian with a Bangometer canister. These were dropped by parachute to measure the force of the blast.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. Japan surrendered to the Allies on 15 August, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan and invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria. The Japanese government signed the instrument of surrender on 2 September, effectively ending the war.
Atomic bomb mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)
Situation of the Pacific War on 1 August 1945. White and green: Areas controlled by Japan Red: Areas controlled by the Allies Gray: Areas controlled by the Soviet Union (neutral)
U.S. Army propaganda poster depicting Uncle Sam preparing the public for the invasion of Japan after the end of the war with Germany and Italy
A B-29 over Osaka on 1 June 1945
