What were the various "super weapons programs" of World War II???

An a-bomb or B-29s with heavy delayed-action bombs would be the only way one could reasonably be sure of getting Hirohito. I'm sure that Dolittle understood that the bombs his planes carried probably wouldn't have gotten the job done and they did little enough as it was. However, by early summer of '45 our command of the air was so complete that we could have had a a squadron or group of B-29s fly low enough to be sure of hitting the palace and grounds with heavy d/a bombs. However, no order to do so was ever issued so there had to be a command decision to leave the palace alone.

 

Personally I believe that just as the Dolittle strike was more of a propaganda victory than military one, taking the God status away from Hirohito was a massive blow to the Japanese. If he had died as God would Japan have surrendered? His speech after the A-bombs destroyed the Japanese morale and was more valuable to the Allied than killing him during the war, I think.

Just as the 1,000 plane bombing of Germany was a massive propaganda blow showing the Germans they were not safe anymore anywhere.

 

Obunko was not completed until July, 1942. So, Doolittle's Raid, a surprise raid, would have had the best chance of getting him. Obunko was further strengthened just after the fire raids began in 1945, so only a very narrow window early in 1945 for a Tall Boy or Grand Slam strike. Atomics, would need a direct hit, but they were not that accurate.

Yes, there was a command decision made not to hit the Emperor's Place, but it was made early in 1942 - not later in 1945.

 

I was thinking less of destruction...more of airborne radioactive contamination(were there gas filters, and if so, would they prevent airborne radioactive particles from getting in) & would the nuclear fireball of a direct strike consume all the oxygen to asphyxiate those inside.

The first may or may not kill the Emperor in a timely fashion, but the second, if possible, would. But, neither would result in the destruction of the structure itself.

 

I'm not talking about fallout, but the radiation from the initial blast.

The photos of Oppie & Groves at ground zero were taken September 9 - 11, 1945, when they had the press tout the site.

Fallout was not considered a problem, because they thought dispersion would mitigate it. However, as the date for the test came closer, the scientists became more cautious.
Manhattan Project: Safety and the Trinity Test, July 1945
So, the effects of fallout were better known after, then before.

 

The humble proximity fuse gets my vote.
Not a weapon but the wood pallet we take for granted today sure helped in loading/unloading ships.
Higher octane fuel for better fighter performance.
Organization of industry for optimal distribution of resources and output.

 

"The dirty bomb" would be almost as effective as an A-bomb, I think. Making the area unable to live for years even today would make a massive propaganda effect.Think of Chernobyl.

 

Both Nagasaki and Hiroshima are lived in today...my mail says they couldn’t move the soil anywhere, Japan being so small...so they dug down two meters and simply flipped the soil...not sure how effective that would be but both sites are habitable...

 

The wood pallet was invented in 1925 but seen at that time as only useful with forklifts, so it is unlikely it would have seen wide use as most materials handling was still being done by manpower.
The History of a Wooden Pallet - P&A Pallets and Packing Cases (pandapallets.com)

The modern shipping container wasn't invented until 1952, but it too requires a good degree of mechanization in materials handling to utilize.

How Was The Shipping Container Invented? (pentalvercontainerconversions.com)

So, without far more mechanization in materials handling--eg., forklifts, cranes, etc.--these inventions don't have much useful effect. In the 40's only the US could have really made use of these, and even then only in locations where the sort of mechanization necessary was available.

 

As for bombing the snot out of some fortified location, like the bunker the Emperor might hide in, the US could have managed that easily enough.


Imagine say 30 to 50 of those unloading on the target...

 

The real "super weapon" in war is the infantryman, tanker, etc. that gets out of their hole, or in their tank, moves forward and takes the fight to the enemy even though he's got a pretty good idea that sooner or later such actions will end badly for him personally. Without them, wars can't be won.

 

Normal maximum bombload was 20,000lb, so I assume this would require reduced fuel load/range. Perhaps they would have operated from Okinawa or Iwo Jima.

Note that this aircraft has its full complement of defensive weapons.

 

The biggest reduction in performance was altitude. With two Grand Slams the B-29 could only manage about 20,000 feet altitude. I'm sure there were range and speed restrictions too, but the biggest issue was altitude. One Tallboy or Grand Slam on the other hand was easily managed on a B-29 with a modified bomb bay.

 

If we are defining 'super weapon' as something advanced that had a real impact, I'd suggest the proximity fuse.

 

Radar was probably the most successful 'wonder weapon' of the war. It quite literally changed everything. Let's start that it forms the basis for the proximity fuze. Beyond that, it completely invalidated the ideas of theorists on air power like Douhet, Mitchell, and Seversky. It made coordinated air defense possible. Radar took away most of the advantages of night and made bombing through smoke and clouds as accurate as optical means did. It brought the demise of the surface raider in naval warfare. The submarine could no longer use night and a small silhouette to attack on the surface. Variants allowed for accurate navigation by ships and aircraft. It could be used for counterbattery fire by tracking the flight of enemy shells back to their firing position. Missiles could now be guided to their targets using it.

It was revolutionary and heralded in a completely new era of warfare using electronics like nothing else did.