Date

May 29, 1946

Description

Prepared by Shields Warren, this is a study in the histology, or microscopic anatomy, of atomic bombing victims based on data from autopsies conducted by Japanese and U.S. medical specialists. Written for the use of specialists, the report provides detailed coverage of the impact of ionizing radiation on the body’s organs. Slightly more accessible are the conclusions, which include a chronological presentation of the “pattern of injuries” from the moment of detonation through the weeks that followed, as more and more sickened or died from radiation exposure.

Part II of the report discussed residual radioactivity at Nagasaki on the basis of the research of Japanese scientists with Kyushu Imperial University (now Kyushu University) and the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Tokyo. Their data, evaluated by Warren as “essentially sound,” was the basis of diagrams at the close of the report, including the “detailed location of the explosion center” and the “pattern of deposition of fission products.”

Source

NARA, Record Group 38, Records of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval Technical Mission to Japan, box 6.

Document published in following posting(s):

78th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings: Revisiting the Record

Aug 7, 2023

Captain C[lifton] G. Grimes, Chief, Naval Technical Mission to Japan, to Chief of Naval Operations, “Miscellaneous Targets [-] Atomic Bombs, Nagasaki and Hiroshima Article 2 Medical Effects, Supplementary Studies,” 29 May 1946, Index No. X-28-2, Top Secret