Near Failure in Nagasaki Case Study

Management 3120

Professor Jim Walsh

September 29, 2014

Facts

* Mission planned for Aug. 11th. Moved to Aug. 9th due to weather conditions.

* Maj. Charles W. Sweeney was the pilot in command. Flew the leading aircraft, Bockscar, which would drop the bomb.

* Navy Cmdr. Frederick L. Ashworth: senior weaponeer on board Bockscar. Had managed field-testing of the atomic bomb.

* Primary target: Kokuro. Secondary target: Nagasaki.

* Six B-29s were assigned for the mission.

* Capt. Fredrick C. Bock flew the instrumental aircraft, The Great Artiste.

* Lt. Col. James I. Hopkins Jr. flew the observation/photo airplane, Big Stink.

* Two weather airplanes: Enola Gay (flown by Capt. George Marquardt) and Laggin’ Dragon (flown by Capt. Charles F. McKnight).

* Enola Gay monitored Kokuro and Laggin’ Dragon monitored Nagasaki.

* “Fat Man” was loaded into Bockscar at 10PM on August 8th. First major issue: Bockscar’s rear bomb bay bladder was not pumping fuel.

* Bockscar took off at 3:49AM on August 9th.

* Bockscar had only enough fuel for one bomb run. Beahan picked new aiming point in industrial valley since it was to late to drop in original aiming point.

* Despite the problems, the mission was successful and did not undergo investigation. The bombing ultimately ended the war.

Issues

* Leadership

* Expectation

* Lack of motivation

Issue: Leadership

The entire mission needed a leader. Unfortunately, there was not one specific person leading the mission, therefore causing a loss of communication and execution.

Solution

Solution | Positive | Negative |

Sweeney to make his own decisions; not relying on, or being pressured by, Ashworth for guidance. | Sweeney was the pilot in command. It was ultimately his mission. Tibbets chose Sweeney because he had trained him on the Hiroshima flight. | Sweeney does not believe in his own decision-making. He was not well prepared and felt highly pressured by...