Weaponeer led team that dropped second atomic bomb
Retired Vice Admiral Frederick Ashworth, who armed the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan to help end World War II, died last weekend in Phoenix. Ashworth, who lived in Santa Fe, was 93.
A service is scheduled for 1 p.m., Thursday in Santa Fe National Cemetery.
Ashworth recalled his wartime experiences at the Laboratory and in the Pacific during a talk at the Laboratory in March 2004. He called the World War II bomb drops among the most significant events of the 20th century and said they are part of Los Alamos' heritage. At that talk, Ashworth told employees that he hoped his reminiscences would help them understand their current mission.
"I say to the Laboratory: This is your heritage; guard it well," he said.
Ashworth came to Los Alamos in November 1944 to manage the field testing of the first atomic bombs. He was a U.S. Navy commander at the time. An accomplished naval aviator, Ashworth recently had returned from duty in the Pacific, where he flew combat missions in the Solomon Islands and served on the staff of Admiral Richard Turner, who commanded many of the amphibious landings in the Pacific.
In a personal memoir, Ashworth recalled arriving in Los Alamos and being briefed on the work under way at Los Alamos. He was offered housing on "Bathtub Row," as it was called, given that these were the only houses in Los Alamos at the time with bathtubs. "I must say I was skeptical, but it did no harm to hope," Ashworth wrote.
Ashworth flew the second atomic bombing mission against Japan as the bomb commander. Flying in BocksCar, Ashworth had the responsibility for arming the Fat Man device. Along with aircraft commander Charles Sweeney, he made the decision to drop the bomb on Nagasaki.
In February 1945, Gen. Leslie Groves sent Ashworth to Guam. In a money belt, he carried the classified letter that informed Admiral Chester Nimitz that the bomb would be deployed to Nimitz's area of the Pacific by August. After a 48-hour journey, he delivered the "rather disheveled" letter, and was shocked to learn that he was supposed to be able to answer any questions that Nimitz might have about the letter.
"As a result of that priority, I arrived in Guam, Admiral Nimitz's headquarters . . . Needless to say, I was a fairly disheveled looking Navy commander when I arrived," Ashworth wrote in the memoir. He recalled that an aide to Nimitz at first suggested that [the aide] deliver the letter to Nimitz. "His aide asked me what was the big hurry and what was it all about. I informed him that I had a letter for the admiral from 'Admiral King,' which I must deliver into his hands personally.
"The aide stated that he was fully capable of delivering the letter and asked that I give it to him, which I refused to do. He then apparently decided that I meant what I said and went into the admiral's office to arrange for me to see him," Ashworth continued.
After the aide left Nimitz's office, Ashworth said he "unbuttoned the jacket of my more or less disheveled looking khaki uniform, unbuttoned my shirt and removed from around my waist the fairly-well soaked money belt that contained the letter, all to the amusement of the admiral."
Two days later Ashworth flew to Tinian "to carry out the other half of my mission," he wrote.
In his March 2004 talk at the Lab, Ashworth recalled the rapid pace of events in the days leading up to the use of the first atomic bombs to end World War II. The federal government in June 1945 authorized use of the bomb no earlier than Aug. 2, 1945, based on Gen. Groves' best estimate that it would be ready by Aug. 1.
Assembly of Fat Man on Tinian was scheduled to take a week. Because summer typhoons reduced the predicted window of good weather over Japan from Aug. 6-9, scientists and military personnel worked around the clock on Tinian to complete the job in three days, he recalled.
Research and testing continued up to the last minute. In fact, final tests of the explosive components for the Fat Man device dropped on Nagasaki took place on Aug. 4 at Wendover and again on Aug. 8 at Tinian Island, the day before the BocksCar aircraft carrying Ashworth and the bomb took off for Nagasaki.
"That was probably the shortest time in development for actual combat use of any weapon in history," Ashworth told a captivated Lab audience.
The flight over Nagasaki included 13 crew members; Ashworth was assigned as the weaponeer, the person in charge of the bomb. The original target, Kohura, was bypassed because of overcast skies. Ashworth wrote in his memoir that approaching the target from a different direction might be in order. "Now it became obvious that we must consider making our attack on the secondary assigned target, Nagasaki," he wrote. As Bockscar approached Nagasaki, the crew members saw that it too was completely covered by clouds. They eventually found a break in the overcast and the bomb was dropped.
"Then Major [Kermit] Beahan called out over the internal communications circuit, 'I have target, taking control.' In about 20 seconds he called out 'Bomb away' and we felt the jolt as the 10,000-pound bomb left the aircraft," wrote Ashworth. "There was a brilliant flash of light visible even through the almost opaque goggles everyone aboard was wearing and I knew that apparently the bomb had detonated as anticipated . . . "
Recalling that moment at the Laboratory, Ashworth said "It was obvious from what we saw that the bomb had gone off technically OK."
After World War II, he participated in Operation Crossroads, the test of the atom bomb against naval ships. Ashworth later was on the staff of the Atomic Energy Commission's Division of Military Applications from 1952-54. He headed the Atomic Energy Division for the Chief of Naval Operations from 1958-60. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1966 and then assumed command of the Sixth Fleet. He retired from the Navy in 1968.
Ashworth was born Jan. 24, 1912 in Beverly, Mass., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1933. He is survived by his wife, Ercie, of Santa Fe; sons, Frederick Jr., David and Stephen; three grandchildren and one great-grandson.
