The first aircraft carrying Japan’s surrender delegation to Ie Shima was nicknamed Bataan 1.
Bataan 1 was a demilitarized Mitsubishi G6M1-L2 transport aircraft. It carried members of Japan’s first surrender delegation to Ie Shima on August 19, 1945, during the arrangements that preceded the formal ceremony in Tokyo Bay. A second aircraft, a disarmed Mitsubishi G4M1 bomber, was called Bataan 2.
The aircraft were given these names by the Americans who handled the transfer, linking them to the 1942 Battle of Bataan and the suffering of Allied prisoners during the Bataan Death March. Their use as surrender aircraft created a striking reversal of wartime symbolism.
Bataan 1 and Bataan 2 were not the aircraft involved in the atomic bombings. Enola Gay was the B-29 that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, while Bockscar dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. The two Bataan aircraft instead transported Japanese representatives during the surrender process.