Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Silverplate "Enola Gay" and Radio Press News Collection
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Tinian Island, part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, fell to the Japanese after World War I. It was captured by the United States on June 15, 1944. From December 1944 until the end of World War II, the island served as an airbase for Boeing B-29s. It was the loading point for atomic weapons onto the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Silverplate "Enola Gay". Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II, and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Although designed to fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a variety of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons. On August 6, 1945, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. The "U.S.S Guildford" (APA-112) was a Bayfield-class attack transport. The vessel assisted in Operation "Magic Carpet", which facilitated the return of of troops from the Pacific theatre and the supplying of troops for the occupation of Japan.