National Archives image The bomb - called “Fat Man” - that was dropped on Nagasaki.

“Nagasaki Objective of Second Atomic Bomb.”

“Rail Center On Kyushu Is Pulverized.”

Readers also learned that Russia had attacked Japanese forces in Manchuria. The nation of Japan had the two most militarily powerful nations in the world knocking at its doors from opposite sides.

“The world’s most destructive force, the atomic bomb, was used for the second time against Japan today, striking the important Kyushu island city of Nagasaki with observed “good results,” the lead story explained.

Nagasaki, Japan after the atomic bomb detonation. Formerly restricted. Declassified 9/10/1959. Photograph taken March 17, 1948. John H. Lawrence Collection-355.

“More than one bomb may have been dropped in this attack and it might have been of a different size than the first one which destroyed 60 percent of Hiroshima. The carefully worded communique said only that the second use of the atomic bomb had occurred, leaving to speculation all details.”

Information about the bomb and its use were closely guarded secrets but this report was right – the bomb over Nagasaki, “Fat Man,” was substantially more powerful than the bomb dropped three days earlier.

“The bomb was dropped at noon Japanese time – about nine hours after Tokyo radio reported Red army troops had backed up Russia’s declaration of war on Japan by attacking enemy forces in Eastern Manchukuo both by land and by air, and while four other Japanese cities still burned from around-the-clock B-29 incendiary and demolition attacks.

“The Japanese had had time to study the devastation wrought at Hiroshima, where they reported “practically every living thing” was destroyed as the world’s first mighty atom wrecked 60 percent of that city of 343,000 Monday.”

The population of Nagasaki, per the report, had a population of about 255,000 people in 12 square miles but noted that it was “a far more important military target.”

Library of Congress image The cloud left in the wake of the dropping of the atomic bomb over Nagasaki in Aug. 1945.

But there was a downside that anyone concerned about the human toll would have realized in reading this article.

“General Spaatz’s U.S. Army Strategic Air Force headquarters said Nagasaki, with its houses jampacked probably was even more vulnerable to an atom bombing…. Hiroshima was one of the best laid out cities for defense against fire raids but its extensive firebreaks and three streams flowing through or near the city failed to save it. Damage and death extended outside the city limits – damage greater than had been caused by 1,000 tons of incendiary and demolition bombs dropped on other Japanese cities.”

The atomic bomb wasn’t an action that occurred in isolation. It was part of a much broader, coordinated attack as

“The double blow, coupled with renewal of Halsey’s Third Fleet carrier raids and stepped up B-29 attacks could not daily, however, to hit hard at Japanese morale,” the report concludes. “Nagasaki will give observers another opportunity to study the mighty atom’s effectiveness against a large city.

How penultimate events were covered – what people knew as these events were unfolding – is interesting on its own merits.

This one, however, is fascinating for a different reason – the rapidly shifting perspective of the Times-Mirror’s editors.

The first two editorials that give us that glimpse were published with the announcement of the Nagasaki bombing on Aug. 9 and were entlted “The Big Secret” and “Japan’s Day Is Ending.”

“The Big Secret” quotes the nation’s director of censorship, who called the bomb the “best-kept single secret of the war.”

That official claimed that the “secrecy results obtained by the newspapers and broadcasters should be sufficient answer to anyone who thinks voluntary censorship cannot work.”

“These groups,” the editorial states, “accepted at war’s start, voluntarily, a censorship code. They agreed not to publish or broadcast anything to hurt the war effort…..”

A further request not to report on secret military weapons or experiments was “followed.

“It resulted in silence on a number of experiments, such as radar and particularly about the atomic experiments, although at that time not too many people knew about that.

“So all over the country – although thousands of people wondered what was happening and some others may have guessed – the secret was kept.”

The second editorial expressed optimism that Japan was now in a position “where she must surrender quickly or suffer destruction…. Moscow’s declaration of war represents a masterly psychological coup. First came the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, destroying that great city and, as the Japs themselves say, killing every living thing. There followed the Soviet block-buster in the form of war which today is tearing into both sides of Japan’s Manchurian stronghold. And finally, we have today’s successful atomic bomb attack against the great port of Nagasaki.”

The information before them put them in a place to make a strong prediction.

“There’s nothing for Japan to do but surrender– or commit national hara-kiri,” the editorial states

Now that we have the facts before us, it is clear that these events are the result of careful and astute planning over a considerable period.

“Of course, Japan was well on the road to defeat before the atomic bomb was brought into action. It was only a question of how much time it would take to finish the job. The first demonstration of the bomb made it clear that if we used it indiscriminately, we could wipe out Japan in a very short time.”