Lewis it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. The bomb, code-named " Little Boy ", was targeted at the city of Hiroshima , Japan, and caused the near-complete destruction of the city.
Enola Gay participated in the second atomic attack as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the primary target of Kokura. Clouds and drifting smoke resulted in a secondary target, Nagasaki , being bombed instead.
In May , it was flown to Kwajalein for the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in the Pacific, but was not chosen to make the test drop at Bikini Atoll. Later that year it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution , and spent many years parked at air bases exposed to the weather and souvenir hunters, before being disassembled and transported to the Smithsonian's storage facility at Suitland, Maryland , in In the s, veterans groups engaged in a call for the Smithsonian to put the aircraft on display, leading to an acrimonious debate about exhibiting the aircraft without a proper historical context.
Udvar-Hazy Center. The last survivor of its crew, Theodore Van Kirk , died on 28 July at the age of The bomber was one of the 15 initial examples of Bs built to the " Silverplate " specificationโ65 of these eventually being completed during and after World War IIโgiving them the primary ability to function as nuclear "weapon delivery" aircraft.
These modifications included an extensively modified bomb bay with pneumatic doors and British bomb attachment and release systems, reversible pitch propellers that gave more braking power on landing, improved engines with fuel injection and better cooling, [2] [3] and the removal of protective armor and gun turrets. Enola Gay was personally selected by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. Crew B-9, commanded by Captain Robert A. Thirteen days later, the aircraft left Wendover for Guam , where it received a bomb-bay modification, and flew to North Field , Tinian , on 6 July.
