Not from what I’ve read.The Japanese army AND navy had separate nuclear programs underway. In 1944, as the war was inching toward the Mainland, Tojo ordered both to collaborate, and speed things up.In the spring of 1945, they had a feasable design. It did not have the explosive force of our uranium and plutonium bombs; it was a uranium-based “dirty bomb”. They were short of uranium. As Germany was being crushed by the Russians, Brits and Americans, and they knew they could not develop their bomb in time, the sent a large quantity of it, via U-Boat, to their Japanese ally. The U-Boat left late April 1945 (with a dis-assembled ME262, and 2 Japanese officers on board) to begin the journey. While at sea, Hitler offed himself, Doenitz took over, stalled several days and surrendered. He sent out a signal to all his U-boats at sea to surrender at the nearest Allied port.
This sub was nearest to Halifax, Nova Scotia. U.S. intelligence somehow got wind of the fact that this sub had something valuable on board, and, first, one of our Coast Guard Cutters met it, quickly followed by a navy destroyer, which escorted it to the sub base at Portsmouth NH.
Upon arrival, the German captain informed the base commander what he had on board, and his destination. Oppenheimer himself flew out to NH, inspected the uranium, and it was quickly, secretly taken by express freight train to Los Alamos. You know the rest.
BUT, the Japanese were so far advanced, that they were only awaiting the arrival of the uranium, and they could, within THREE WEEKS, have assembled THREE dirty bombs. These were to be loaded into three aircraft-carrying super-submarines. Their targets? The Panama Canal, San Francisco, and the navy yards in Bremerton Washington State.
If the German sub commander was a rabid Nazi, and went ahead to complete his mission, Japan could, if all went smoothly, have delivered these weapons BEFORE August 1945. It was DAMN CLOSE!
I read your Wiki-link. Thanks. This is not the first time I have read diametrically opposed histories.
I live near Portsmouth NH, and have seen photos, and read many other articles over the years about the German sub, it’s cargo, and how Oppenheimer came there. The rest? How close was Japan? I guess I’ll have to keep reading.
moosemin almost 10 years ago
Not from what I’ve read.The Japanese army AND navy had separate nuclear programs underway. In 1944, as the war was inching toward the Mainland, Tojo ordered both to collaborate, and speed things up.In the spring of 1945, they had a feasable design. It did not have the explosive force of our uranium and plutonium bombs; it was a uranium-based “dirty bomb”. They were short of uranium. As Germany was being crushed by the Russians, Brits and Americans, and they knew they could not develop their bomb in time, the sent a large quantity of it, via U-Boat, to their Japanese ally. The U-Boat left late April 1945 (with a dis-assembled ME262, and 2 Japanese officers on board) to begin the journey. While at sea, Hitler offed himself, Doenitz took over, stalled several days and surrendered. He sent out a signal to all his U-boats at sea to surrender at the nearest Allied port.
This sub was nearest to Halifax, Nova Scotia. U.S. intelligence somehow got wind of the fact that this sub had something valuable on board, and, first, one of our Coast Guard Cutters met it, quickly followed by a navy destroyer, which escorted it to the sub base at Portsmouth NH.
Upon arrival, the German captain informed the base commander what he had on board, and his destination. Oppenheimer himself flew out to NH, inspected the uranium, and it was quickly, secretly taken by express freight train to Los Alamos. You know the rest.
BUT, the Japanese were so far advanced, that they were only awaiting the arrival of the uranium, and they could, within THREE WEEKS, have assembled THREE dirty bombs. These were to be loaded into three aircraft-carrying super-submarines. Their targets? The Panama Canal, San Francisco, and the navy yards in Bremerton Washington State.
If the German sub commander was a rabid Nazi, and went ahead to complete his mission, Japan could, if all went smoothly, have delivered these weapons BEFORE August 1945. It was DAMN CLOSE!
OmqR-IV.0 almost 10 years ago
Well seasoned squab, just needed a little heat. China provided that!
moosemin almost 10 years ago
I read your Wiki-link. Thanks. This is not the first time I have read diametrically opposed histories.
I live near Portsmouth NH, and have seen photos, and read many other articles over the years about the German sub, it’s cargo, and how Oppenheimer came there. The rest? How close was Japan? I guess I’ll have to keep reading.
moosemin almost 10 years ago
I do, but I read much more.