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J. 333305-M O State
Galley 357
UNCORRECTED GALLEY PROOF
Department of Defense Files
The Commanding General, Manhattan District Project (Groves), to the
Chief of Staff, United States Army (Marshall¹
1 A separate typewritten notation dated December 30, 1944, which is attached
to this communication, reads: "Pencilled markings made by Secretary of War
for emphasis in presentation to the President at our conference in the White
House. L. R. G[roves]." The mentioned markings are the underscorings as
shown herein.
TOP SECRET
WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, December 30, 1944.
Subject: Atomic Fission Bombs
To:
The Chief of Staff
It is now reasonably certain that our operation plans should be
based on the gun type bomb, which, it is estimated, will produce the
equivalent of a ten thousand ton TNT explosion. The first bomb,
without previous full scale test which we do not believe will be neces-
sary, should be ready about 1 August 1945.² The second one should
2 Stettinius (pp. 33-34) indicates that he was given information about the
atomic bomb by Roosevelt a few weeks before the trip to the Crimea. In response
to a telegram dated June 25, 1951, from Senator B. B. Hickenlooper, William S.
Considine (formerly with the Manhattan District Project) indicated that a few
days before the Yalta Conference he had delivered certain papers to Stettinius
at Malta and had discussed their effectuation. In his telegram Considine then
stated: "Discussion also involved questions of certainty of explosion, possible
date of use and power potential of A-bomb. I advised him that my information
from General Groves was that bomb would explode, that Groves had double-
checked scientists on this, that probable date would be about August 1st in accord-
ance with statement in August 1944 that bomb would be ready in year and that
explosion of bomb would wreck a large city.' (Military Situation in the Far
East, Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Foreign Relations, United States Senate, 82d Cong., 1st sess., pt. 4, p. 3120.)
It has not been possible to identify with certainty the papers that Considine
delivered to Stettinius at Malta. No available records, however, contain any
indication that atomic-energy matters were discussed with the British at Malta
or with either the British or the Russians at Yalta.
be ready by the end of the year and succeeding ones at
intervals thereafter.
Our previous hopes that an implosion (compression) type of bomb
might be developed in the late spring have now been dissipated by
scientific difficulties which we have not as yet been able to solve. The
present effects of these difficulties are that more material will be
required and that the material will be less efficiently used. We
should have sufficient material for the first implosion type bomb
sometime in the latter part of July. This bomb would have an effect
which would be equivalent to about 500 tons of TNT. During the
remainder of 1945 it is estimated that we can produce
addi-
tional bombs. The effectiveness of these should increase towards
1000 tons each as development proceeds and, if some of our problems
are solved, to as much as 2500 tons.
The plan of operations while based on the more certain more power-
ful gun type bomb also provides for the use of the implosion type
bombs when they become available.
The time schedule
must not be adversely affected by anything other than the difficulties
of solving our scientific problems. The 509th Composite Group, 20th
Air Force has been organized and it is now undergoing training as well
as assisting in essential tests.
The time has now come when we should acquaint the Assistant
Chief of Staff OPD and possibly one of his assistants and the Chief of
333305-55-pt.1
23
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"ocrText": "J. 333305-M O State\nGalley 357\nUNCORRECTED GALLEY PROOF\nDepartment of Defense Files\nThe Commanding General, Manhattan District Project (Groves), to the\nChief of Staff, United States Army (Marshall¹\n1 A separate typewritten notation dated December 30, 1944, which is attached\nto this communication, reads: \"Pencilled markings made by Secretary of War\nfor emphasis in presentation to the President at our conference in the White\nHouse. L. R. G[roves].\" The mentioned markings are the underscorings as\nshown herein.\nTOP SECRET\nWAR DEPARTMENT,\nWASHINGTON, December 30, 1944.\nSubject: Atomic Fission Bombs\nTo:\nThe Chief of Staff\nIt is now reasonably certain that our operation plans should be\nbased on the gun type bomb, which, it is estimated, will produce the\nequivalent of a ten thousand ton TNT explosion. The first bomb,\nwithout previous full scale test which we do not believe will be neces-\nsary, should be ready about 1 August 1945.² The second one should\n2 Stettinius (pp. 33-34) indicates that he was given information about the\natomic bomb by Roosevelt a few weeks before the trip to the Crimea. In response\nto a telegram dated June 25, 1951, from Senator B. B. Hickenlooper, William S.\nConsidine (formerly with the Manhattan District Project) indicated that a few\ndays before the Yalta Conference he had delivered certain papers to Stettinius\nat Malta and had discussed their effectuation. In his telegram Considine then\nstated: \"Discussion also involved questions of certainty of explosion, possible\ndate of use and power potential of A-bomb. I advised him that my information\nfrom General Groves was that bomb would explode, that Groves had double-\nchecked scientists on this, that probable date would be about August 1st in accord-\nance with statement in August 1944 that bomb would be ready in year and that\nexplosion of bomb would wreck a large city.' (Military Situation in the Far\nEast, Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on\nForeign Relations, United States Senate, 82d Cong., 1st sess., pt. 4, p. 3120.)\nIt has not been possible to identify with certainty the papers that Considine\ndelivered to Stettinius at Malta. No available records, however, contain any\nindication that atomic-energy matters were discussed with the British at Malta\nor with either the British or the Russians at Yalta.\nbe ready by the end of the year and succeeding ones at\nintervals thereafter.\nOur previous hopes that an implosion (compression) type of bomb\nmight be developed in the late spring have now been dissipated by\nscientific difficulties which we have not as yet been able to solve. The\npresent effects of these difficulties are that more material will be\nrequired and that the material will be less efficiently used. We\nshould have sufficient material for the first implosion type bomb\nsometime in the latter part of July. This bomb would have an effect\nwhich would be equivalent to about 500 tons of TNT. During the\nremainder of 1945 it is estimated that we can produce\naddi-\ntional bombs. The effectiveness of these should increase towards\n1000 tons each as development proceeds and, if some of our problems\nare solved, to as much as 2500 tons.\nThe plan of operations while based on the more certain more power-\nful gun type bomb also provides for the use of the implosion type\nbombs when they become available.\nThe time schedule\nmust not be adversely affected by anything other than the difficulties\nof solving our scientific problems. The 509th Composite Group, 20th\nAir Force has been organized and it is now undergoing training as well\nas assisting in essential tests.\nThe time has now come when we should acquaint the Assistant\nChief of Staff OPD and possibly one of his assistants and the Chief of\n333305-55-pt.1\n23"
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