Who commanded the B-29 Bockscar during the 1945 bombing of Nagasaki?

Major Charles W. Sweeney commanded the B-29 Bockscar during the bombing of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.

Sweeney was the aircraft commander of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron’s mission from Tinian. Bockscar carried the Fat Man atomic bomb, while the accompanying B-29 The Great Artiste served as an observation and instrumentation aircraft.

The mission encountered serious difficulties. A faulty fuel-transfer pump made reserve fuel unavailable, and the aircraft spent too long waiting for a rendezvous plane. When clouds and smoke obscured Kokura, the primary target, Sweeney proceeded to Nagasaki, the designated secondary target.

Bockscar dropped Fat Man after a gap in the clouds allowed the bombardier to identify the target area. Because the aircraft was critically low on fuel, Sweeney landed at Yontan Airfield on Okinawa rather than returning directly to Tinian. He later continued his military career and retired as a brigadier general.