Nagasaki was bombed on 9 August 1945, three days after Hiroshima.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August and a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki on 9 August. The Nagasaki weapon, code-named “Fat Man,” was carried by the B-29 bomber Bockscar. The attack caused massive destruction and loss of life, although the city’s terrain affected the blast pattern.
Nagasaki was not the original primary target for the mission. Kokura had been designated the primary target, but cloud and smoke obscured the aiming point. The aircraft therefore proceeded to Nagasaki, where visibility was sufficient for the attack.
The bombings formed part of the crisis that preceded Japan’s surrender announcement. Japan’s leaders also faced the Soviet Union’s entry into the war on 8 August, and Hirohito’s surrender broadcast followed on 15 August.