On what date did the United States drop the atomic bomb on Nagasaki?

The United States dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The B-29 Bockscar released the plutonium weapon Fat Man at approximately 11:02 a.m. local time.

Nagasaki was the secondary target after weather obscured Kokura, the mission’s intended primary target. The city contained important industrial facilities, including arms production, but its hilly terrain affected the blast pattern compared with Hiroshima’s flatter landscape.

The attack came during an extraordinary week: Hiroshima had been bombed three days earlier, and the Soviet Union had begun military operations against Japan. Japan’s leaders debated surrender before Emperor Hirohito supported accepting the Allied terms. The formal surrender still required the September 2 signing aboard USS Missouri.