alertken said:
One of these books (sorry, I'm unclear now which) T.B.Allen/N.Polmar, Codename Downfall,Headline,96,P307; or P.Henshall, The Nuclear Axis, Sutton,2000,P148, has 3 Jap subs. at sea August,’45 with floatplanes to hit LA with a German irradiating weapon, tested 12/8/45. Known to US Intel and decisive in causing Truman to override the "demonstration" option pre-Hiroshima.
Some thoughts here:
The Japanese were known to be planning attempts at biological attacks.
Any irradiating weapon would have been difficult to use and of limited effectiveness, even if the victims knew what was happening and would have had little affect on the war except to revitalize US resolve against the Japanese (US was losing motivation for a drawn out continued war, which was one of the reasons the Allied leaders were looking for a way to end it quickly).
Truman was the one who would make the decision on how the Bomb was to be used, there was no need for him to "override" anyone, since the decision was his.
The so-called "demonstration" option probably gained more favor in the eyes of those looking back years later, but really wasn't practical for a number of reasons:
1. Operation Olympic was to begin in late October, 1945. It couldn't be postponed because of approaching typhoon season, and also because of the sheer effort involved in launching it. So, any use of the Bomb had to be such that it would insure a Japanese capitulation before it was too "late".
2. On an island as densely populated as Japan, any "demonstration" would of necessity still involve a lot of civilian casualties, even then, so might as well hit something that had military value.
3. On a related note, the fanatics in Japan who wanted the war to go on (remember, there was an attempt to stop the Emperor's message from being broadcast so that the war would continue) still had a lot of power. Unless the "demonstration" was so close to a population or urban setting that its effects couldn't be hidden or denied, they would try and suppress knowledge of it or explain it as a hoax. In other words, the "demonstration" would have to take place in an area like Hiroshima or Nagasaki anyway.
4. Assuming you could find an area for a "demonstration", you would then have to wait while Japanese experts examined the results, reported what they found and then wait for a political decision on whether or not they would surrender before using the next Bomb. Meanwhile, the invasion date would creep closer. Also, during all that time, fighting would go on throughout the various theaters, with many, many casualties on the Allied as well as the Japanese side. What explanation could the leader give to the Allied and subjugated nations as to why he let the war go on and let all that occur when he had something in hand that had a very good chance to stop it?
5. A big one that often gets overlooked: We didn't know if the Bombs would work, which is why the two were of a different design. What if the "demonstration" was a dud?
6. Another big one: We only had three bombs in total, including Alamogordo, and only two that were deliverable, those that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We had to be able to do it twice, in order to make sure the Japanese government understood that it was not a fluke or a trick. More bombs were under construction, but none would be ready before the invasion. Essentially, we pulled off a large bluff.
I do not know if the detonation in Korea really took place, and I am not willing to state unequivocally that it did without more proof, but I find it odd that so many people are unwilling to give credit that the Japanese, whatever else you may think about them in WWII, were not industrious, knowledgeable and dedicated enough to produce a nuclear detonation on their own. Like the first US one, it would not have been a weapon, but a proof of concept experiment. It was too late, if it occurred, to affect the outcome of the War.
