Charles William Sweeney (December 27, 1919 – July 16, 2004) was an officer in the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
who flew ''
Bockscar
''Bockscar'', sometimes called Bock's Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 bomber that dropped a Fat Man nuclear weapon over the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II in the secondand most recent nuclear attack in ...
'' carrying the
Fat Man
"Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
to
the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Separating from active duty at the end of World War II, he later became an officer in the
Massachusetts Air National Guard
The Massachusetts Air National Guard (MA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America. It is, along with the Massachusetts Army National Guard, an element of the Massachusetts National Guard.
As common ...
as the Army Air Forces transitioned to an independent
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
, eventually rising to the rank of
major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
.
Military career
509th Composite Group
Sweeney became an instructor in the atomic missions training project,
Project Alberta
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.
Project Alberta was formed in March 19 ...
, at
Wendover Army Airfield
Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport. During World War II, it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. Selected to be part of the
509th Composite Group
The 509th Composite Group (509 CG) was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in ...
commanded by Colonel
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his mot ...
, he was named commander of the
320th Troop Carrier Squadron
The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was activated on 17 December 1944, and inactivated on 19 August 1946 at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico. The squadron was later consolidated with the 302d Transpor ...
on 6 January 1945. Initially his squadron used
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...
and
C-46 Commando
The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...
transports on hand to conduct the
top secret
Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...
operations to supply the 509th, but in April 1945 it acquired five
C-54 Skymaster
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...
s, which had the range to deliver personnel and materiel to the western Pacific area.
On May 4, 1945, Sweeney became commander of the
393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, the combat element of the 509th, in charge of 15
Silverplate
Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop a ...
B-29s and their flight and ground crews, 535 men in all. In June and July Sweeney moved his unit to
North Field on the island of
Tinian
Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of th ...
in the
Marianas
The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
.
In addition to supervising the intensive training of his flight crews during July 1945, Sweeney was slated to command the second atomic bomb mission. He trained with the crew of Captain
(Charles D.) Don Albury aboard their B-29 ''
The Great Artiste
''The Great Artiste'' was a U.S. Army Air Forces Silverplate B-29 bomber (B-29-40-MO 44-27353, Victor number 89), assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group. The aircraft was named for its bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan ...
'', and was aircraft commander on the training mission of July 11. He and the crew flew five of the nine rehearsal test drops of inert
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...
and
Fat Man
"Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...
bomb assemblies in preparation for the missions.
On 6 August 1945, Sweeney and Albury piloted ''The Great Artiste'' as the instrumentation and observation support aircraft for the
atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima.
Bombing of Nagasaki
![Fat man](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Fat_man.jpg)
On 9 August 1945, Major Sweeney commanded ''
Bockscar
''Bockscar'', sometimes called Bock's Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 bomber that dropped a Fat Man nuclear weapon over the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II in the secondand most recent nuclear attack in ...
'', which carried the atomic bomb ''Fat Man'' from the island of Tinian to Nagasaki. In addition to ''Bockscar'', the mission included two observation and instrumentation support B-29s, ''The Great Artiste'' and ''The Big Stink'', which would rendezvous with ''Bockscar'' over
Yakushima Island
, native_name_link =
, image_caption = Landsat image of Yakushima
, image_size =
, nickname =
, location = East China Sea
, coordinates =
, map = Japan#Japan Kagoshima Prefecture
, map_relief ...
. At the mission pre-briefing, the three planes were ordered to make their rendezvous over Yakushima at due to weather conditions over
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high.
...
(the Hiroshima mission rendezvous). That same morning, on the day of the mission, the ground crew notified Sweeney that a faulty fuel transfer pump made it impossible to utilize some of fuel in the tail, but Sweeney, as aircraft commander, elected to proceed with the mission.
Before takeoff, Tibbets warned Sweeney that he had lost at least 45 minutes of flying time because of the fuel pump problem, and to take no more than fifteen minutes at the rendezvous before proceeding directly to the primary target.
After takeoff from Tinian, ''Bockscar'' reached its rendezvous point and after circling for an extended period, found ''The Great Artiste'', but not ''The Big Stink''. Climbing to 30,000 feet, the assigned rendezvous altitude, both aircraft slowly circled Yakushima Island. Though Sweeney had been ordered not to wait at the rendezvous for the other aircraft longer than fifteen minutes before proceeding to the primary target, Sweeney continued to wait for ''The Big Stink'', perhaps at the urging of Commander
Frederick Ashworth
Frederick Lincoln "Dick" Ashworth (24 January 1912 – 3 December 2005) was a United States Navy officer who served as the weaponeer on the B-29 '' Bockscar'' that dropped a Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945 during Worl ...
, the plane's weaponeer. After exceeding the original rendezvous time limit by a half-hour, ''Bockscar'', accompanied by ''The Great Artiste'', proceeded to the primary target,
Kokura
is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen lin ...
. No fewer than three bomb runs were made, but the delay at the rendezvous had resulted in 7/10ths cloud cover over the primary target, and the bombardier was unable to drop. By the time of the third bomb run, Japanese antiaircraft fire was getting close, and Japanese fighter planes could be seen climbing to intercept ''Bockscar''.
Poor bombing visibility and an increasingly critical fuel shortage eventually forced ''Bockscar'' to divert from Kokura and attack the secondary target, Nagasaki. As they approached Nagasaki, the heart of the city's downtown was covered by dense cloud, and Sweeney and Ashworth, initially decided to bomb Nagasaki using radar. However, a small opening in the clouds allowed ''Bockscar's'' bombardier to verify the target as Nagasaki. As the crew had been ordered to drop the bomb visually if possible, Sweeney decided to proceed with a visual bomb run. ''Bockscar'' then dropped ''Fat Man'', with a blast yield equivalent to 21 kilotons of
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
. It exploded 43 seconds later at above the ground, at least northwest of the planned aim point. The failure to drop ''Fat Man'' at the precise bomb aim point caused the atomic blast to be confined to the Urakami Valley. As a consequence, a major portion of the city was protected by the intervening hills, and only 60% of Nagasaki was destroyed. The bombing also severed the Mitsubishi arms production extensively and killed an estimated 35,000–40,000 people outright, including 23,200–28,200 Japanese industrial workers, 2,000 Korean slave laborers, and 150 Japanese soldiers.
Low on fuel, ''Bockscar'' barely made it to the runway on Okinawa. With only enough fuel for one landing attempt, Sweeney brought ''Bockscar'' in fast and hard, ordering every available distress flare on board to be fired as he did so. The number two engine died from
fuel starvation
In an internal combustion engine, fuel starvation is the failure of the fuel system to supply sufficient fuel to allow the engine to run properly, for example due to blockage, vapor lock, contamination by water, malfunction of the fuel pump or in ...
as ''Bockscar'' began its final approach.
[Walker, Stephen, p. 14] Touching the runway hard, the heavy B-29 slewed left and towards a row of parked
B-24
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
bombers before the pilots managed to regain control.
With both pilots standing on the brakes, Sweeney made a swerving 90-degree turn at the end of the runway to avoid going over the cliff into the ocean. 2nd Lt.
Jacob Beser
Jacob Beser (May 15, 1921 – June 16, 1992) was a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces who served during World War II. Beser was the radar specialist aboard the '' Enola Gay'' on August 6, 1945, when it dropped the Little Boy atomic ...
recalled that at this point, two engines had died from fuel exhaustion, while "the centrifugal force resulting from the turn was almost enough to put us through the side of the airplane."
After ''Bockscar'' returned to Tinian, Tibbets recorded that he was faced with the dilemma of considering “if any action should be taken against the airplane commander, Charles Sweeney, for failure to command.”
[Puttré, Michael, ''Nagasaki Revisited'', retrieved 8 April 2011][Tibbets, Paul W. ''Return Of The Enola Gay'', Columbus, Ohio: Mid Coast Marketing (1998), ][Miller, Donald L., ''D-days in the Pacific'', New York: Simon & Schuster (2005), pp. 361–362] After meeting on Guam with Tibbets and Sweeney, General
Curtis LeMay
Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was an American Air Force general who implemented a controversial strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II. He later served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air ...
, chief of staff for the Strategic Air Forces, confronted Sweeney, stating, "You fucked up, didn't you, Chuck?", to which Sweeney made no reply.
[Miller, Donald L., pp. 361–362] LeMay then turned to Tibbets and told him that an investigation into Sweeney's conduct of the mission would serve no useful purpose.
In November 1945, Sweeney returned with the 509th Composite Group to
Roswell Army Air Base in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
to train aircrews for the atomic testing mission,
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the ...
.
Post-war activities
![Charles Sweeney (13562608803) (a)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Charles_Sweeney_%2813562608803%29_%28a%29.jpg)
Sweeney left active duty with the rank of
lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
on June 28, 1946, but remained active with the
Massachusetts Air National Guard
The Massachusetts Air National Guard (MA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America. It is, along with the Massachusetts Army National Guard, an element of the Massachusetts National Guard.
As common ...
. Later promoted to full
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
, on February 21, 1956, Sweeney was named commander of its
102nd Air Defense Wing and shortly after, on April 6, was promoted to
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
. During this time, he was activated with the 102nd and served in Europe during the
Berlin Crisis from October 1961 to August 1962. Sweeney was made chief of staff in October 1967.
In the 1960s, Sweeney coordinated civil defense in Boston, serving as the Boston Director of Civil Defense.
He retired in 1976 as a
major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
in the
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
.
[Charles H. Sweeney; Led Bomb Drop Over Nagasaki (washingtonpost.com)]
/ref> He also appeared in the 1970s television series ''The World at War
''The World at War'' is a 26-episode British documentary television series that chronicles the events of the Second World War. It was produced in 1973, at a cost of £900,000 (), the most expensive factual series ever produced. It was produ ...
'' and was seen explaining the USAAF buildup to the mission raids.
Throughout his life Sweeney remained convinced of the appropriateness and necessity of the bombing. "I saw these beautiful young men who were being slaughtered by an evil, evil military force," he said in 1995. "There's no question in my mind that President Truman made the right decision." At the same time, he said, "As the man who commanded the last atomic mission, I pray that I retain that singular distinction."
Later life
Near the end of his life, Sweeney wrote a controversial and factually disputed memoir of the atomic bombing and the 509th Composite Group, ''War's End: An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission''. In ''War's End'', Sweeney defended the decision to drop the atomic bomb in light of subsequent historical questioning. However, it was Sweeney's other assertions regarding the Nagasaki atomic mission, along with various anecdotes regarding the 509th and its crews that drew the most criticism. Tibbets, Major "Dutch" Van Kirk, Colonel Thomas Ferebee
Thomas Wilson Ferebee (November 9, 1918 – March 16, 2000) was the bombardier aboard the B-29 Superfortress, ''Enola Gay'', which dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima in 1945.
Biography
Thomas Wilson Ferebee was born on a far ...
and others vigorously disputed Sweeney's account of events. Partly in response to ''War's End'', Tibbets issued a revised version of his own autobiography in 1998, adding a new section on the Nagasaki attack in which he harshly criticized Sweeney's actions during the mission.
In his later years Sweeney performed in various air shows doing many maneuvers to awe crowds. Sweeney died at age 84 on July 16, 2004, at Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
A short documentary featuring an audio recording of Sweeney describing the Nagasaki mission preparation and execution called "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice" was made in 2005. The 2002 audio recording was the last one made before his death.
Awards
See also
* Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his mot ...
, Sweeney's counterpart on the mission which dropped Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...
on Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
References
Bibliography
* Brooks, Lester. ''Behind Japan's Surrender: Secret Struggle That Ended an Empire''. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968.
* Grayling, A.C. ''Among the Dead Cities''. London: Bloomsbury, 2006. .
* Miller, Merle and Abe Spitzer. '' We Dropped the A-Bomb''. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1946.
* Olivi, Lt.Col. USAF (Ret) Fred J. ''Decision At Nagasaki: The Mission That Almost Failed''. Privately Printed, 1999. .
* Sweeney, Maj.Gen. USAF (Ret) Charles, with James A. Antonucci and Marion K. Antonucci. ''War's End: an Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission''. New York: Avon Books, 1997. .
* Tomatsu, Shomei. ''11:02 Nagasaki''. Tokyo: Shashin Dojinsha, 1966.
External links
Annotated bibliography for Charles Sweeney from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
*
* ttp://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hiroshima/Nagasaki.shtml Eyewitness account of atomic bombing over Nagasaki, by William Laurence, New York Times* .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Charles
1919 births
2004 deaths
Recipients of the Air Medal
United States Air Force generals
People from Quincy, Massachusetts
People associated with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II
People from Lowell, Massachusetts
Recipients of the Silver Star
North Quincy High School alumni
Massachusetts National Guard personnel
Burials at Massachusetts National Cemetery