Well, Viet Nam was lost by the politicians. As to Germany, they were on the
way to "The Bomb' but we strategically bombed some of the parts supply. We
bombed a dam that they used to produce Deuterium.
"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
DSK wrote:
thunder wrote:


I'm just wondering. Inventing the Bomb, and manufacturing it in
sufficient quantities to make a difference are two different things.
If I
remember correctly, the two bombs we dropped on Japan were all we had.
Were any of the powers at that time capable of sustaining nuclear
production?

Probably not. The US had the most money, the most manpower, and the best
access to the materials, and as you noted we only could build two.

But... if the Japanese knew we only had two, would they have surrendered
when
they did? *If* either Germany or Japan had built even one atom bomb (and
I
don't think they could have, given the expense and material requirement)
who
would have called their bluff?

DSK





Not to join the family of rec.boats nitpickers but, in fact, we had at
least three atomic bombs on line or close to on line at that time, if
you include the Trinity Test of 16 July 1945.

Here are the observations of Fermi on that test:


My Observations During the Explosion at Trinity on July 16, 1945 - E.
Fermi

On the morning of the 16th of July, I was stationed at the Base Camp at
Trinity in a position about ten miles from the site of the explosion.

The explosion took place at about 5:30 A.M. I had my face protected by a
large board in which a piece of dark welding glass had been inserted. My
first impression of the explosion was the very intense flash of light,
and a sensation of heat on the parts of my body that were exposed.
Although I did not look directly towards the object, I had the
impression that suddenly the countryside became brighter than in full
daylight. I subsequently looked in the direction of the explosion
through the dark glass and could see something that looked like a
conglomeration of flames that promptly started rising. After a few
seconds the rising flames lost their brightness and appeared as a huge
pillar of smoke with an expanded head like a gigantic mushroom that rose
rapidly beyond the clouds probably to a height of 30,000 feet. After
reaching its full height, the smoke stayed stationary for a while before
the wind started dissipating it.

About 40 seconds after the explosion the air blast reached me. I tried
to estimate its strength by dropping from about six feet small pieces of
paper before, during, and after the passage of the blast wave. Since, at
the time, there was no wind I could observe very distinctly and actually
measure the displacement of the pieces of paper that were in the process
of falling while the blast was passing. The shift was about 2 1/2
meters, which, at the time, I estimated to correspond to the blast that
would be produced by ten thousand tons of T.N.T.

-------------------------------------------------

It should be pointed out that "superior firepower" is not necessarily
the key to victory. We had superior firepower in Korea and came away
with a draw. And despite what the revisionists claim, we were handed
our butts in Vietnam, even with our superior firepower and technology.

The reality is that U.S. forces did not win the two serious wars in
which they were engaged subsequent to World War II. We have done well in
skirmises against poorly motivated, grossly outgunned forces. I wouldn't
bet on the US defeating the Peoples Republic of China, if war ever broke
out between us. The Chinese are as tough at the North Vietnamese and
Koreans were, and they have far better equipment and military leadership
than those countries had. And they have the ability to mount massive
attacks against the US homeland.




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