B29 Superfortress
During WWII, Tokyo suffered air raids by US bombers 106 times since November 1944. Especially the capital of the Empire of Japan was made a big air raid on on March 10, April 13, April 15, May 24, May 24, and May 25 to 26, 1945.
However, the so-called Tokyo Great Air Raid usually means the air tack carried out on May 10, 1945 when 100,000 Tokyo citizens were killed due to bombings and fires caused by incendiary bombs total 279 B29s dropped on down-towns of Tokyo. This air raid injured 400,000 citizens and forced one million people to be evacuated. Total 270,000 buildings and houses were burnt and lost.
This Tokyo Great Air Raid started at 0:07 a.m. and ended at 2:37 a.m. B29s flew low 2000 meters or lower above the ground as new tactics, since high-altitude bombings had not resulted in big achievement, though the B29 was most strongly featured by its ability to fly 10,000 meters high.
The leading player of these bombings was the B29 bomber. It was a warplane more advanced by one generation than other fighters and bombers having been used by nations at war in those years.
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States toward the end of World War II and during the Korean War. It was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II and a very advanced bomber for its time, with features such as a pressurized cabin, an electronic fire-control system, and remote-controlled machine-gun turrets. The name "Superfortress" was derived from that of its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. Although designed as a high-altitude strategic bomber, and initially used in this role against the Empire of Japan, these attacks proved to be disappointing; as a result the B-29 became the primary aircraft used in the American firebombing campaign, and was used extensively in low-altitude night-time incendiary bombing missions. One of the B-29's final roles during World War II was carrying out the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
General characteristics of the B29
Crew: 11
Length: 99 ft 0 in (30.18 m)
Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43.06 m)
Empty weight: 74,500 lb (33,800 kg)
Loaded weight: 120,000 lb (54,000 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 357 mph (310 knots, 574 km/h)
Cruise speed: 220 mph (190 knots, 350 km/h)
Stall speed: 105 mph (91 knots, 170 km/h)
Combat range: 3,250 mi (2,820 nmi, 5,230 km)
ArmamentThe US manufactured about 3,900 B29 bombers during WWII almost all of which were assigned to the war against the Empire of Japan. But more than 1,500 B29s were damaged in the air of Japan due to Japanese antiaircraft artillery and interceptors. Specifically more than 700 B29s were shot down during their action for bombing Japanese cities.
Guns:
10× .50 caliber (12.7mm) Browning M2/ANs in remote-controlled turrets.[60]
2× .50 BMG in and 1× 20 mm M2 cannon in tail position (the cannon was later removed)[N 11]
Bombs: 20,000 lb (9,000 kg) standard loadout.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress
But what is more impressive might be following facts:
1. The US Government spent total $30 billion for development and production of about 3,900 B29 bombers during WWII. On the other hand, they allocated $20 billion for their development of atomic (nuclear) bombs which were actually used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
(For reference, GDP of the Empire of the Empire of Japan in 1941 was $200 billion while the US GDP was $1100 billion.)
2. The US military studied in earnest features of Japanese houses and towns. They actually built a mocked Japanese town in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. An American architect who had lived in Japan for 18 years before WWII was in charge of this simulation project. In fact, they built perfect Japanese residential houses to find the best way to destroy them. The answer is thorough use of firebombs.
3. General LeMay was the commander who introduced a change of role of B29s from high-altitude day bomber to low-altitude night bomber. In Japan some Japanese hate the name LeMay, since he looked most responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Tokyo citizens on March 10, 1945. But his boss general Henry Arnold was more responsible. General Arnold had been preparing for Tokyo raids for three years before the actual bombings on Tokyo started. He decided to use a new type of incendiary bomb, later called a napalm bomb, for Japanese cities on his own authority. Arnold wanted to build the US Air Force by expanding air fleets of US Army. To achieve this goal, he needed big contribution from air fleets and B29s to the coming victory over the Empire of Japan. So, he appointed LeMay suitable for cruel tasks as the commander of air raids on Japan.
4. General LeMay and his staff first targeted six big cities of Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Yokohama, and Kobe (however Kyoto was dropped from the targets due to objections from Secretary of War Henry Stimson). After having bombed enough these big cities, they selected 180 medium or small cities based on national census data of the Empire of Japan. But the war finally ended when B29s bombed the 57th medium city of Japan. The last city actually attacked in this scheme was Toyama City on the Sea of Japan. Even on August 15 when the Emperor announced surrender of Imperial Army and Navy by radio to the Japanese people, B29s bombed Kumagaya City and Isezaki City, north of Tokyo. Anyway the post-war economic recovery of Japan was partially made possible because most of small and medium cities could get rid of exhaustive bombings by B29s.
http://kissyarita.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-109.html
In addition, the Imperial Navy produced about 10,000 Zero fighters during WWII, though other types of warplanes were developed toward the end of the war to cope with the high-power B29s. Zero fighters were exhaustively used for kamikaze (suicidal attack) missions. But at the end of the war only 1,000 Zeros remained most of which were however set apart for expected battles on mainland Japan rather than being used for interception of B29s on the air over Japanese cities.
Incidentally, that famous Iwojima Island was important for B29 missions to bomb Japan as they needed an airfield for emergency escape in this island when returning to their main air bases in Mariana Islands.
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Luk 10:23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: