North Field, Tinian Island

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This airfield on Tinian Island was established in World War II and is best known as the airfield that launched the two B-29 Superfortresses that dropped the two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The bombing hastened the end of World War II, but at the cost of at least 200,000 civilian deaths. After the war, the airfield was abandoned and has later become part of the North Field Historic District with the Tinian landing beaches. The area was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Visitors can make out the remnants of the old administrative buildings and runways. The two atomic bomb loading pits have been preserved. They were covered and reopened with commemorative plaques on the 60th anniversary of the U.S. capture of Tinian. One of the plaques reads “The Japanese Emperor, without his cabinet’s consent, decided to end the Pacific war.”

Images

No. 1 Bomb Loading Pit

North Field, 1945

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Tinian and other Mariana islands had been a Japanese protectorate after World War I. Japanese, Korean, and native Okinawans established sugar plantations there. The Japanese started military constructions in 1939. By 1944, there were three airfields and one was under construction. Ushi Point Airfield was called such because it was located at Ushi Point. Also called Puntan Tahgong, it's the northernmost point of the island. By World War II, there were 15,000 Japanese and Korean civilians here. The Japanese removed as many as 5,000 civilians before the Battle of Tinian.

The Battle of Tinian Island took place from July 24 to Aug. 1, 1944. During the battle, 326 American soldiers were killed, and at least 5,542 Japanese soldiers were killed. As many as 4,000 Japanese civilians were killed. The number of those that were suicides remains an open question. One of the hotspots of the battle was Ushi Point Airfield. After the Americans captured the island, they renamed it North Field. Ushi fell to the U.S. on July 26. Seabees immediately started repairing it. They extended the runway and added two more. By 1945, there were six runways.

These runways were flat enough and long enough to support B-29 Superfortresses. The U.S. devastated many Japanese cities with conventional bombings from Tinian, Saipan, and Guam. These conventional bombings killed millions. Most famously, or infamously, the two B-29s that dropped the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki were launched from here. Because the bombs were too large to be loaded under the planes, two loading pits were built. Once the bombs were in the pits, the bombers moved over them and the bombs were raised in the bays. Those two bombings killed a combined 200,000 people. However, it arguably hastened the end of the war.

The airfield was disused after the war. The remaining B-29s were melted down for scrap during the 1950s. The crushed coral runways are grayish and weathered, but are still generally clear and accessible to the north of San Jose. The forests have reclaimed the edges of the runways. Only the remnants of the buildings can be seen. The best preserved aspects are the two atomic bomb loading pits, which are covered for safety. In 2004, they were reopened with commemorative plaques.

Sources

North Field Historic District, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/85003268_text.

North Field, Pacific Wrecks. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/marianas/ushi/index.html.

B-29 "Enola Gay" 44-86292 Over Atomic Bomb Landing Pit, Pacific Wrecks. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-29/44-86292/1945/enola-gay-a-bomb-pit.html#axzz3hhmmKW39.

Atomic Bomb Loading Pits - Northern Mariana Islands, Atlas Obscura. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/atomic-bomb-loading-pits.

Tinian Island, Pacific Wrecks. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/marianas_tinian.html.