Hiroshima was the first Japanese city targeted by an atomic bomb in August 1945, before Japan surrendered.
The United States dropped the uranium bomb Little Boy on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The B-29 bomber Enola Gay carried out the mission, and the bomb detonated at approximately 8:15 a.m. local time. The blast destroyed much of the city and caused enormous civilian casualties, including deaths from injuries and radiation exposure.
The bombing occurred three days before the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and began its invasion of Manchuria. A second atomic bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9. These events formed part of the rapidly escalating crisis that preceded Japan’s acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.
Hiroshima was not the final surrender site, and the bombing did not itself constitute Japan’s legal capitulation. Japan’s government later accepted the Allied terms, and representatives signed the formal instrument aboard USS Missouri on September 2. The bombings remain subjects of historical and ethical debate.