I'm all over the map when it comes to reading. I recently finished "The Day of Trinity" about the Manhattan Project. I wanted to read it before I go see Oppenheimer. I was surprised to learn that the Trinity test (first nuclear explosion ever) was actually of the "implosion" style plutonium bomb used on Nagasaki. The "gun barrel" uranium bomb that was used on Hiroshima was never actually tested. However, the data from the Trinity test helped confirm that the Hiroshima bomb was likely to work. I thought that was very interesting.
Another really interesting book for military history/secrecy buff's is "The Taking of K-129". The CIA's elaborate plan to use Howard Hughes as a cover story to raise a sunken Soviet nuclear missile submarine from a depth of 3 miles.
I found a history professor in school who was really a Professor unlike many who had the title. I took a bunch of classes with him even though I did not need the credits. One of the classes was about the Nuke Age. Not sure if I learned it in the class or on my own, but the gun barrel bomb, was as you said, was never tested before use. It was really a gun barrel bomb since a naval 6" gun barrel was used to fire a part of the uranium into the rest of the fissionable mass to make a big boom. At least my memory said it was a naval 6" gun barrel.
The implosion bomb was the hard one to build since the sphere has to be evenly blown into a compact sphere to cause the super critical explosion. An implosion fission bomb is used to ignite a fission reaction, aka a hydrogen bomb.
I think after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs had been dropped, there was only one more bomb, or maybe enough material to make one more bomb. There was not a stockpile, even a small one, of fission bombs. If more had been needed the US could only have made and dropped one or two a month.
I read a really good book about the invasion of Japan and how it would have been an absolute slaughter. Unknown to the allies, the Japanese had:
- managed to preserve quite a few aircraft, fuel and pilots
- shipped over combat hardened divisions from Manchuria
- built and staged thousands of suicide planes, pilots, and fuel
- figured out that mountains blocked radar
- noticed that wood framed planes were not easily seen on radar
- built and staged thousands of suicide boats, crews and fuel
- prepared and manned defense positions and protected supply networks
- trained the civilian population to fight with spears, dynamite, mines, etc., in suicide attacks
- knew when and where the allies would land. This is not hard to figure out since there are only so many beaches that could be used, especially when close to Okinawa and the Philippine Island. The landings would have to be protected from the ocean as well so it was pretty obvious where the landings would take place. Furthermore, the landing had to take palce during certain seasons and tide times...
The invasion would have been exceedingly bloody. The allies thought the Japanese were far weaker than was reality. One of the slogans at the time was to be at the Golden Gate in '48. Without the atomic bombs, I think the slogan was going to be correc,t and not many allied military personnel would have returned home.
One of the reasons Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hit with the fission bombs was to cut off the southern island were the invasion would first take place. Both cities were militarily important but also were critical supply nodes.
For the most part I read history books though I did read quite a bit of science fiction, fantasy, and historical novels. Kinda gave up on those when I realized that so many historical events would not be believable is written as a novel so just read history. Having said that, I have been reading the Witcher books after Netflix ruined what should have been a great series.
I have a couple biographies on Mao. One I got about halfway through and just could not continue. The number of people killed by Mao, directly or indirectly, including his own family, is mind boggling. Never could start the other book. Half of one book was enough. Mao makes what ****** and Stalin did look like child play.
Mao's techniques are in play in the West if one reads the history.
