Necessary Evil
Encyclopedia
Necessary Evil sometimes referred to as Plane # 91 was the name of a B-29 Superfortress
(B-29-45-MO 44-86291, victor number 91) participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima
on August 6, 1945.
Assigned to the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group
, it was used as a camera plane to photograph the explosion and effects of the bomb, and to carry scientific observers. At the time of the attack the plane was not named and was known only by its victor number. The mission was flown by crew B-10, Captain George Marquardt aircraft commander.
The crew regularly assigned to this airplane in turn flew another on the Nagasaki mission on August 9, 1945, the B-29 Big Stink
, though without their aircraft commander, who was ill.
at Omaha, Nebraska
, Necessary Evil was accepted by the Army Air Forces on May 18, 1945, and flown to Wendover Army Air Field, Utah
, by its assigned crew C-14 (Capt. Norman W. Ray, Aircraft Commander) in June. It departed Wendover for Tinian
on June 27 and arrived on July 2. It was originally assigned the victor number 11 but on August 1 was given the Circle-R tail markings of the 6th Bomb Group as a security measure and had its victor changed to 91 to avoid misidentification with actual 6th BG aircraft. It was named and had its nose art painted after the Nagasaki mission.
In addition to the Hiroshima mission, Necessary Evils operations history on Tinian included 10 training and practice missions, and three combat missions in which it dropped pumpkin bomb
s on industrial targets in Kobe
, Kashiwazaki
, and Koriyama, all flown by Capt. Ray and crew C-14.
Colonel Paul Tibbets
had chosen Necessary Evil, commanded by Captain George Marquardt, to lead the third atomic bomb drop against Japan. This was scheduled for August 14, 1945, the primary target being the city of Koromo (current day Toyota
). This mission was never executed as Japan surrendered shortly after the Nagasaki Mission of August 9, 1945 and the third atomic bomb (“Fat Man” design), which was on its way to Tinian from Wendover
was stopped at an airfield in California; the B-29 transport flight was subsequently ordered to return to Wendover
and unload the third weapon due to Japan's surrender. Kuromo appears in a target log below Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Smithsonian Channel documentary The Men Who Brought The Dawn.
In December 1945 it returned to the United States with the 509th CG to Roswell Army Airfield
, New Mexico
. It was part of the Operation Crossroads
task force from August 1946 until June 1949, when it was transferred to the 97th Bomb Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas
.
Necessary Evil was re-configured as a TB-29 trainer by the Oklahoma City Materiel Area at Tinker Air Force Base
in April 1950. It was subsequently assigned to:
Necessary Evil was dropped from the Air Force inventory in November 1956. It was transferred to the U.S. Navy and used as a target at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake
, California
.
)
, serials 67-7194 and 68-0259, carried the name and original nose art of Necessary Evil on their nosewheel doors while based at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire
, in the 1970s and 1980s.
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
(B-29-45-MO 44-86291, victor number 91) participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
on August 6, 1945.
Assigned to the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group
509th Operations Group
The 509th Operations Group is the flying component of the United States Air Force 509th Bomb Wing , assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It is equipped with all 20 of the USAF's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers...
, it was used as a camera plane to photograph the explosion and effects of the bomb, and to carry scientific observers. At the time of the attack the plane was not named and was known only by its victor number. The mission was flown by crew B-10, Captain George Marquardt aircraft commander.
The crew regularly assigned to this airplane in turn flew another on the Nagasaki mission on August 9, 1945, the B-29 Big Stink
Big Stink
Big Stink was the name of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber that participated in the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945...
, though without their aircraft commander, who was ill.
Airplane history
Built at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft PlantGlenn L. Martin Company
The Glenn L. Martin Company was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company that was founded by the aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin. The Martin Company produced many important aircraft for the defense of the United States and its allies, especially during World War II and the Cold War...
at Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Necessary Evil was accepted by the Army Air Forces on May 18, 1945, and flown to Wendover Army Air Field, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, by its assigned crew C-14 (Capt. Norman W. Ray, Aircraft Commander) in June. It departed Wendover for Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
on June 27 and arrived on July 2. It was originally assigned the victor number 11 but on August 1 was given the Circle-R tail markings of the 6th Bomb Group as a security measure and had its victor changed to 91 to avoid misidentification with actual 6th BG aircraft. It was named and had its nose art painted after the Nagasaki mission.
In addition to the Hiroshima mission, Necessary Evils operations history on Tinian included 10 training and practice missions, and three combat missions in which it dropped pumpkin bomb
Pumpkin bomb
Pumpkin bombs were conventional high explosive aerial bombs developed by the Manhattan Project and used by the United States Army Air Forces against Japan during World War II...
s on industrial targets in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Kashiwazaki
Kashiwazaki, Niigata
is a city located in Niigata, Japan.As of May 1, 2008, the city has an estimated population of 92,947 and the density of 210 persons per km². The total area is 442.70 km²....
, and Koriyama, all flown by Capt. Ray and crew C-14.
Colonel Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima...
had chosen Necessary Evil, commanded by Captain George Marquardt, to lead the third atomic bomb drop against Japan. This was scheduled for August 14, 1945, the primary target being the city of Koromo (current day Toyota
Toyota, Aichi
is a city located in the Mikawa region of Aichi Prefecture, Japan, east of Nagoya.Toyota's main plant, the Tsutsumi plant, is located here. The longstanding ties between the Toyota Motor Corporation and the town of Toyota-shi, formerly known as Koromo, gave the town its current...
). This mission was never executed as Japan surrendered shortly after the Nagasaki Mission of August 9, 1945 and the third atomic bomb (“Fat Man” design), which was on its way to Tinian from Wendover
Wendover Air Force Base
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-29 unit which dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs...
was stopped at an airfield in California; the B-29 transport flight was subsequently ordered to return to Wendover
Wendover Air Force Base
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-29 unit which dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs...
and unload the third weapon due to Japan's surrender. Kuromo appears in a target log below Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Smithsonian Channel documentary The Men Who Brought The Dawn.
In December 1945 it returned to the United States with the 509th CG to Roswell Army Airfield
Walker Air Force Base
Walker Air Force Base is a closed United States Air Force base located three miles south of the central business district of Roswell, a city in Chaves County, New Mexico, US...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. It was part of the Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
task force from August 1946 until June 1949, when it was transferred to the 97th Bomb Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Necessary Evil was re-configured as a TB-29 trainer by the Oklahoma City Materiel Area at Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in the southeast Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area, directly south of the suburb of Midwest City, Oklahoma.-Overview:...
in April 1950. It was subsequently assigned to:
- 1st Tow Target Squadron, Biggs Air Force Base (September 1952),
- 1st Radar Calibration Squadron, Griffiss Air Force BaseGriffiss Air Force BaseGriffiss Air Force Base, is a former United States Air Force base, located in Rome, New York, about NW of Utica. Missions at Griffiss AFB included fighter interceptors, electronic research, installation, and support activities, aerial refueling, and bombers...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(March 1953), - 4713th Radar Evaluation Flight, Griffiss AFB (March 1954),
- 17th Tow Target Squadron, Yuma County AirportMarine Corps Air Station YumaMarine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station which is the home to multiple squadrons of AV-8B Harrier IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 and Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 , an air combat adversary...
, ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
(June 1955), and - 4750th Air Defense Wing, Vincent Air Force BaseMarine Corps Air Station YumaMarine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station which is the home to multiple squadrons of AV-8B Harrier IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 and Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 , an air combat adversary...
, ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Necessary Evil was dropped from the Air Force inventory in November 1956. It was transferred to the U.S. Navy and used as a target at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
- About : is part of under Commander, Navy Installation Command and is located in the Western Mojave Desert region of California, approximately north of Los Angeles. Occupying three counties – Kern, San Bernardino and Inyo – the installation’s closest neighbors are the cities of Ridgecrest,...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Hiroshima mission crew
Crew B-10 (normally assigned to Up An' AtomUp An' Atom
Up An' Atom was the name of a B-29 Superfortress configured during World War II in the Silverplate project to carry an atomic bomb.-Airplane history:...
)
- Capt. George W. Marquardt, Aircraft Commander
- 2nd Lt. James M. Anderson, Co-Pilot
- 2nd Lt. Russell Gackenbach, Navigator
- Capt. James W. Strudwick, Bombardier
- T/Sgt. James R. Corliss, Flight Engineer
- Sgt. Warren L. Coble, Radio Operator
- Sgt. Joseph M. DiJulio, Radar Operator
- Sgt. Melvin H. Bierman, Tail Gunner
- Sgt. Anthony D. Capua, Jr., Assistant Engineer/Scanner
- (Civilian) Prof. Bernard Waldman, Project AlbertaProject AlbertaProject Alberta was a section of the Manhattan Project which developed the means of delivering the first atomic bombs, used by the United States Army Air Forces against the Empire of Japan during World War II...
, camera operator
Other aircraft named Necessary Evil
Two FB-111A strategic bombers of the USAF 509th Bomb Wing509th Bomb Wing
The 509th Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command, Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri....
, serials 67-7194 and 68-0259, carried the name and original nose art of Necessary Evil on their nosewheel doors while based at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sources
- Campbell, Richard H., The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs (2005), ISBN 0-7864-2139-8
- 509th CG Aircraft Page, MPHPA
- Wendover City History
- Smithsonian Channel - The Men Who Brought the Dawn