War is always cruel. But the bombing of cities in which strategically important objects alternate with residential buildings is distinguished by particular cruelty and cynicism, often simply vast territories are destroyed. How many civilians, children and women are there, the generals are of little interest. In the same way, the Tokyo bombing was carried out, which most Japanese still remember.
When did the biggest bombing take place?
The first bombardment of Tokyo on April 18, 1942 was carried out by the Americans. True, here our allies could not boast of particular success. 16 medium-sized B-25 bombers flew out on a combat mission. They could not boast of a significant flight range - a little more than 2000 kilometers. But it was the B-25, due to its small dimensions, that could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier, which obviously was beyond the power of other bombers. However, the bombing of Tokyo was not very effective. First of all, due to the fact that the bombs dropped from aircraft flying at normal altitude were subjected to great dispersion and there was no need to talk about any targeted bombing. Ammunition just fell in the approximate area with an error of several hundred meters.
In addition, the losses of the Americans were very impressive. The planes taking off from the Hornet aircraft carrier had to complete the mission, after which they landed at the airport in China. None of them reached the goal. Most were destroyed by Japanese aircraft and artillery, while others crashed or sank. The crews of two aircraft were captured by the local military. Only one managed to get to the territory of the USSR, from where the crew was safely delivered to their homeland.
There were subsequent bombardments, but the largest was the bombing of Tokyo on March 10, 1945. It was a terrible day that Japan is unlikely to ever forget.
Causes
By March 1945, the United States had fought against Japan for three and a half years (Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941). During this time, the Americans, though slowly, gradually, but drove the enemy from small islands.
However, the situation was completely different with Tokyo. The capital, located on the island of Honshu (the largest in the Japanese archipelago) was reliably defended. It had its own anti-aircraft artillery, aviation, and, most importantly, about four million soldiers who were ready to fight to the last. Therefore, the landing would be fraught with huge losses - to defend the city, besides knowing the area, is much easier than taking it, while studying the buildings and features of the relief.
For this reason, US President Franklin Roosevelt made the decision to carry out heavy bombardment. He decided in this way to force Japan to sign a peace treaty.
Technical solutions
Previous bombing did not bring the desired result. Aircraft actively crashed or crashed into the sea due to technical problems, the psychological blow to the Japanese turned out to be rather weak, and the targets were not hit.
American strategists understood this perfectly well - the bombing of Tokyo in 1942 provided rich food for thought. It was necessary to radically change tactics and carry out technical re-equipment.
First of all, after the failure of 1942, the engineers set a goal - to develop completely new aircraft. They became the B-29, nicknamed "Super Fortress." They could carry significantly more bombs than the B-25 and, more importantly, had a flight range of 6,000 kilometers — three times as many as their predecessors.
Specialists took into account the fact that the bombs dispersed significantly when dropped. Even a small wind was enough to carry them tens or even hundreds of meters. Of course, there was no question of any point strikes. Therefore, M69 bombs, weighing a little less than 3 kilograms each (this was the reason for the huge dispersion), fit into special cartridges - 38 pieces each. Dropped from a height of several kilometers, the centner cassette fell to the indicated location with a slight error. At an altitude of 600 meters, the cartridge opened, and the bombs fell very heap - dispersion was reduced to zero, which was necessary for the military to easily achieve the goal.
Bombardment tactics
To reduce the dispersion of bombs, it was decided to minimize the altitude of the aircraft. Target guides went at extremely low altitude - only 1.5 kilometers. Their main task was to use special, especially powerful incendiary bombs to mark the places of bombing - a cross from the flame broke out in the night city.
The next echelon was the main forces - 325 V-29. The height ranged from 1.5 to 3 kilometers - depending on the type of bombs they carried. Their main goal was the almost complete destruction of the city center - a plot of approximately 4 x 6 kilometers.
The bombing was carried out as tightly as possible - with the expectation that the bombs fell at a distance of about 15 meters, leaving no chance to the enemy.
To further increase ammunition, additional measures were taken. The military decided that the bombing of Tokyo on March 10, 1945 will take place as unexpectedly as possible, and the planes will not meet resistance. In addition, the generals hoped that the Japanese simply would not expect a raid at such a low altitude that it reduced the risk of being hit by air defense weapons. Also, the refusal to climb to a high altitude allowed to reduce fuel consumption, which means that it was possible to take even more ammunition.
It was also decided to lighten heavy bombers as much as possible. They removed all the armor, as well as machine guns, leaving only the tail, which should have been actively used for combat with pursuing fighters during the retreat.
What bombed?
Since the bombing of Tokyo during World War II was carried out repeatedly, American experts carefully thought out the strategy.
They quickly realized that conventional high-explosive bombs here are not as effective as in European cities, where buildings are built of brick and stone. But incendiary shells could be used in all their might. After all, houses, in fact, were built from bamboo and paper - lightweight and highly flammable materials. But a high-explosive shell, having destroyed one house, left the neighboring buildings intact.
Specialists even specially built model houses of the Japanese to test the effectiveness of different types of shells and came to the conclusion that it was incendiary bombs that would be the best solution.
In order for the bombing of Tokyo in 1945 to be as effective as possible, it was decided to use several types of shells.
First of all, these are the M76 bombs, which received the ominous nickname "Quarter Burners". The weight of each was about 200 kilograms. Usually they were used in the war as target indicators, allowing subsequent bombers to hit the target as accurately as possible. But here they could be used as an important military weapon.
M74 was also used - each was equipped with three detonators. Therefore, they worked regardless of how they fell - on the side, on the tail or on the nose. When falling, a jet of napalm about 50 meters long was thrown, which made it possible to ignite several buildings at once.
Finally, it was planned to use the previously mentioned M69.
How many bombs were dropped on the city?
Thanks to the surviving records, you can pretty accurately say how many bombs were dropped on the city that terrible night when the Americans were bombing Tokyo.
In a matter of minutes, 325 aircraft dropped about 1,665 tons of bombs. The removed armor and weapons, as well as a reduced fuel reserve, allowed each aircraft to carry almost 6 tons of ammunition.
Almost every bomb set fire to something, and the wind helped, fanning the flame. As a result, the fire swept the territory, far exceeding the planned strategic.
Victims on both sides
The consequences of the bombing were really scary. For clarity, it is worth noting that ten previous raids by the Americans killed about 1,300 Japanese. Here, over 84 thousand people were killed in one night. A quarter of a million buildings (mostly residential) burned down completely. Almost a million people were left without housing, they lost everything that had been acquired in several generations.
The psychological blow was also terrible. Many Japanese experts were sure that the Americans could not carry out the bombing of Tokyo. In 1941, a report was even presented to the emperor, during which he was assured that the United States would not be able to respond symmetrically to the Pearl Harbor air raid. However, one night changed everything.
The US Air Force was also not without casualties. Of the 325 aircraft, 14 were lost. Some were shot down, while others simply crashed into the sea or crashed on landing.
Effects
As mentioned above, the bombing was a heavy blow for the Japanese. They realized that even in the capital it is impossible to hide from death falling directly from the sky.
Some experts even believe that it was this bombing that led Japan to sign a surrender a few months later. But still this is a very tight version. Much more credible are the words of the historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, who stated that the attack on the USSR that followed the termination of the neutrality pact was the main reason for surrender.
Expert Score
Despite the fact that 73 years have passed since that terrible night, historians differ in their estimates. Some believe that the bombing was unjustified and extremely brutal - civilians were affected primarily, and not the Japanese army or military industry.
Others argue that this could slow the war and saved hundreds of thousands of lives - both Americans and Japanese. Therefore, today it is quite difficult to clearly say whether the decision to bomb Tokyo was correct.
The memory of the bombing
In the capital of Japan, there is a memorial complex built specifically for future generations to remember that terrible night. Every year, photo exhibitions are held here, showing photographs that depict piles of charred bodies, destroyed neighborhoods of Tokyo.
So, in 2005, in honor of the 60th anniversary, a ceremony was held here in memory of those killed that night. 2000 people were specially invited here, who saw with their own eyes that terrible air raid. Also present was the grandson of Emperor Hirohito - Prince Akishino.
Conclusion
Of course, the bombing of Tokyo is one of the worst events that occurred during the confrontation between the United States and Japan. This event should be a lesson to posterity, reminiscent of how terrible a vice of mankind is war.