Originally posted by Fishu
War had already ended when it was used, only up to stubborn japanese by the time.
it just gave the final blow which made the emperor to realise it could mean destruction of all what he believed and fought for, if more of such bombs would drop in the mainland.
Planes before had more impact, which made it possible to concentrate on the mainland of japan.
B-29 went active in 1944. Prior to that Japan had not suffered bombing by long-range heavy bombers. Until factories were destroyed, Japan still maintained the ability to wage war. However, U.S. submarine operations had reduced importation of raw materials to a trickle.
The best fighter (in terms of performance) in the Pacific was the F4U-4. Second best was probably the P-47N. The most "effective" fighters were the F6F Hellcat and P-38 Lightning, especially prior to 1945. These two were doing everything, everywhere, right up until VJ day. Indeed, the F6F and P-38 were clearly the most important fighters in the Pacific, dominating the Japanese from the moment of their respective deployments.
My regards,
Widewing
