William Parsons Research Paper

1506 Words4 Pages

Early life of Parsons William was born on November 26, 1901, in Evanston, Illinois, to Harry and Clara Parsons. pg. 7 Due to his family moving to New Mexico, Parsons started his formal education late, at the age of eight pg. 9 William passed the entrance exam for the Naval Academy at the age of sixteen. pg. 14 Despite being shorter and smaller then most cadets, Parsons argued before an examining board that he these were both due to him being two years young than most cadets, and he was accepted into the academy. pg. 15 Parsons attended the Naval Academy, where he was an above-average student, but he did not particularly stand out. In 1922, he graduated from the academy. pg. 20 After graduation from the Navy In 1927, Deak returned to Annapolis, to study ordnance at the Naval Postgraduate School. …show more content…

pg. 165 In regards to the Trinity test, Parsons helped select the original target date in July and make a schedule to ensure that Fat Man was ready in time. pg. 168 On July 16, 1945, the Trinity test date, he then witnessed the explosion of the implosion bomb from a B-29. pg. 171 Parsons’ role at Tinian leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima At Tinian, Parsons, “Brig. Gen. T. F. Farrell,” and “Rear Admiral Purnell” were in charge of the use of the first atomic bomb in the war. pg. 176 Over the course of the next few months, this group oversaw the assemblage of the Little Boy and Fat Man, as the nuclear components arrived from the states. pg. 178-179 On August 5, 1945, due to several B-29 crashes during take-offs, Parsons decided that Little Boy should be armed in flight on Enola Gay in order to avoid the detonation of the bomb on Tinian if the plane did crash. On August 6, 1945, Parsons went into Enola Gay’s bomb bay and used a detailed list of instructions to ready Little Boy for “its deadly mission.” Following his approval, the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at 8:15

Open Document