Found Tinian and Saipan on Google Earth. The B-29s that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan flew from Tinian. Here's a bit about North Field on Tinian. North Field Built by the Japanese, it was known as Ushi Point Aerodrome. It was heavily damaged in the pre-invasion bombardment. After the Marine landing, Seabees began repairing the strip on a field for the Navy patrol bombers After 45 days and nights of continuous work, a field was made ready 11 days ahead of schedule. In that time the construction of the three 6000' runways involved the moving of nearly 1,000,000 cu. yds of earth and coral. A fourth runway was constructed in May 1945. Hardstands for 265 B-29 bombers were made as well. The four parallel runways are oriented nearly east-west. B-29 Base This is one of the most historically important airfields in the Pacific. This field was the base for USAAF Gen. Curtis LeMay's B-29 Superfortress raids on the home islands of Japan, a 1,500 mile round trip. Today Disused since the war, the crushed coral runways are grayish and weathered-looking, with only some weedy growth here and there. These runways are still visible today. Atom Bomb Pit #1 The No.1 bomb loading pit on Tinian is where the atomic bomb, "Fat Man" was stored before being loaded onto the B-29 "Enola Gay" 44-86292. This area was heavily guarded and a tent erected over the bomb before this top secret weapon was loaded onto the plane. Atom Bomb Pit #2 Next to it is pit "No.2", where "Little Boy" bomb was loaded into B-29 "Bockscar" 44-27297. Today, the two concrete lined pits are filled in with soil. Japanese Holdout Japanese soldier Murata Susumu was captured in 1953. He was living in a small shack near a swamp since the war. Here's a photo of one of the runways today. [URL="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f84/jacobtowne/Allsorts/NorthFieldTinianAtomBomb.jpg[/IMG"]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f84/jacobtowne/Allsorts/NorthFieldTinianAtomBomb.jpg[/IMG[/URL]] And (I hope this works) the Google Earth coordinates. 15° 04 minutes 01.09 seconds N 145° 39 min. 14.66 sec. E I need to learn how to insert these symbols. JT Test. 15° So, I found the Alt Num. code for degrees, but struck out on minutes and seconds on the Character Map.
