Target Hiroshima: Deak Parsons and the Creation of the Atomic Bomb - Hardcover

Al Christman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1557501203 ISBN 13: 9781557501202

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 1998

Synopsis

For better or worse, Navy captain William S. ""Deak"" Parsons made the atomic bomb happen. As ordnance chief and associate director at Los Alamos, Parsons turned the scientists' nuclear creation into a practical weapon. As weaponeer, he completed the assembly of Little Boy during the flight to Hiroshima. As bomb commander, he approved the release of the bomb that forever changed the world. Yet over the past fifty years only fragments of his story have appeared, in part because of his own self-effacement and the nation's demand for secrecy.

Based on recently declassified Manhattan Project documents, including Parsons' logs and other untapped sources, this book offers an unvarnished account of this unsung hero and his involvement in some of the greatest scientific advances of the twentieth century.

About this title

From the Author:

A naval officer in the nuclear climax of World War II.
The story has long been known of Navy Captain William S. "Deak" Parsons as the Bomb Commander who made the final assembly of the atomic bomb on the historic flight of the Enola Gay to Hiroshima. Recent declassification of Manhattan Project records have now made it possible to reveal the full story of Parsons in the creation and first combat use of the atomic bomb. As the Ordnance Chief and Associate Director of Los Alamos he turned the scientists nuclear creation into a practical weapon. And as Head of Project Alberta he planned and took charge of Los Alamos's overseas operation for the assembly and delivery of the first atomic bombs. The recent revelations combined with interviews provide a dramatic picture of Parsons leadership in the nuclear climax of World War II. This biography portrays Parsons as an officer with the heart of a sailor and the mind of a scientist. It follows him from his rustic boyhood home in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, to his leadership as the Navy's "Atomic Admiral" in the postwar world, including technical direction of Operation Crossroads.

About the Author:

For most of his professional career, Al Christman was a writer and historian for the U.S. Navy. He is a former historian of Navy Laboratories. His books include Sailors, Scientists and Rockets and Grand Experiment at Inyokern, Naval Innovators: 1776 to 1900. As a combat engineer in the 99th Infantry Division, Christman saw action in World War II in the Battle of the Bulge, Remagen Bridge and the Ruhr Pocket. He was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and retired as major. He graduated from the University of Missouri with degrees in journalism and English and from California State Dominguez Hills in the humanities. Show More

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1557501203
• ISBN 13: 9781557501202
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 305