Tinian – Connoisseurs of Experiences

After my group and I settled into our hotel on Saipan we took a bus to Saipan International Airport, formally Aslito Airfield, for the short flight to Tinian. The flight took only ten minutes. In the past there was a ferry that took passengers back and forth between Saipan and Tinian. I have always flown beginning in 2002. It was a gloriously sunny day so that I got some nice photographs of the islands and, more important, North Field.

We were greeted by our local guide and her son, our bus driver. We immediately set out for our one day tour of Tinian.

Tinian lies about 3 miles southwest of Saipan. The airfields were located in the northern end of the island. Eventually, there were four runways, long enough to accommodate B-29s, Able, Baker, Charlie, and Dog. Runway Able was the runway used by the B-29s that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.

The Marines of the 2nd and 4th Division landed on White Beach 1 and 2 and quickly overran the island. It has been described as the perfect amphibious operation of the war.

This is a 14in main gun from the USS Colorado (BB-45). This was in much better condition when I saw it for the first time in 2002. Then, it had a nice coat of paint.

Tinian with North Field in the foreground. At the time it was the busiest airfield in the world, home to the 509th Composite Group, the fleet of B-29s

North Fields with the runways and bomb pits labeled as seen after the war. The hardstands have been overgrown with vegetation and can no longer be seen.

This is a view of Saipan from Tinian. It is only about 3 miles from one island to the other. Mt. Topochau can be seen on Saipan, the highest point on the island.

The coast of Tinian looking mostly north to Saipan.

This is the length of Runway Able looking west. The threshold is directly behind me. This is original Tarmac and is still useable today.

The B-29s parked on hardstands, North Field, with Saipan in the distance.

One of the few color photographs of Enola Gay at North Field, Tinian.

This is our group at Runway Able, the runway used by the Enola Gay to the bomb on Hiroshima. The bomber took off left to right. The threshold of the runway is just to the right in this photo. The woman in this group photo was our guide. She is a Chamorro, a native of the Northern Marianas. She was quite knowledgable about this war. Her son was our bus driver.

North Field with the Bomb Pits and runways labeled.

This is the Tarmac to the two bomb pits. The pit for Little Boy is on the left and Fat Man on the right.

Bomb bit for Little Boy. Enola Gay was backed up to the pit, the bombed hoisted aboard, and then it pulled away to Runway Able.

This is the A-bomb pit used to load Little Boy into the bomb bay of the Enola Gay. The first time I saw this bomb pit, it was uncovered and filled in.

This is my group at the first A-bomb pit, the one used to load Little Boy, the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. L to R, me, Bob, Dana, Craig, Lou, and Tom.

This is the Little Boy bomb pit. A hydraulic piston in the center lifted the bomb into the bomb bay of the bomber. Enola Gay was the name of the B-29, the name of Col Paul Tibbets’ mother.

Little Boy being loaded aboard Enola Gay from the bomb pit. The bombs were too big to load conventionally, hence the bomb pits.

Preparing Fat Man bio at assembly building.

This is the bomb pit for Fat Man, the bomb delivered by B-29 named Bockscar by pilot, Maj Charles Sweeney, to Nagasaki.

Fat Man being loaded aboard Bockscar from the bomb pit. A hydraulic piston lifts it into the bomb bay.

This is the road to the bomb assembly building from one of the many hardstands.

This is the foundation of the bomb assembly building where the atomic bombs were assembled in great secrecy and security.

Among the most remarkable Japanese military structures on Tinian are two storage bunkers that were cut into a coral hill, enclosed in massive concrete shells, and protected with steel plate doors.

The above fuel storage structure was ignited sometime in the first days of the American invasion. The fire was so intense that a nearby battalion of Marines was forced to take a different position. The ferocity of the heat can be seen in the huge concrete slabs stripped from the ceiling and in exploded fuel drums.

The Japanese Fuel Storage bunker with evidence of several hits from high caliber naval gunfire shells.

This is the interior of the fuel storage bunker. The fuel drums are still there.

This is an Landing Vehicle, Tracked (LVT).

This is the Japanese Air Command building.

This is a pair of Japanese air raid shelters near the Air Command building. This design was used all over the Western Pacific and they all look the same.

This is Lou and our bus driver inspecting the air raid shelter.

It is evident that this shelter took multiple hits but remained intact owing to its hard construction. I have seen several of these shelters on my travels throughout the Western Pacific and have never seen one completely destroyed. Still, it must have been hell to be inside one during an air raid.

This is the blast door in front of the entrance to the air raid shelter.

This is the interior of the air raid shelter.

The Japanese gun cave with two of my passengers.

The large caliber gun. The blackened surface indicates that this position may have been attacked with a flame thrower.

This is another cave in the back of the Japanese gun.

This is a man-made cave near a large caliber Japanese gun.

From the west side of Tinian looking south.

Suicide Cliff where Japanese civilians jumped to their deaths rather than surrender to the Marines. Japanese propaganda had inculcated a fear in them that the Marines would rape and kill them.

The coast of Tinian looking mostly south.

These are the two planes that flew us from Tinian back to Saipan.

This view indicates the short distance from Saipan to Tinian. Marine 155mm Howitzers were placed on the southern tip of Saipan to provide support to the Marines fighting the Japanese on Tinian.

Runways Able and Baker with Saipan in the distance looking mostly north. Runway Dog can been seen in front of the wing and Runway Charlie is barely visible between Baker and Dog.

North Field today with the runways as indicated.

We have just taken off from Tinian and are approaching Saipan.

The runway of Saipan International Airport, formally Aslito Airfield.

I got to sit in the copilots seat as we flew back to Saipan when I recorded this landing.

2025 Tour

During the 2025 tour, when we flew from Saipan to Tinian, North Field, I, again, sat in the copilot’s seat (it goes to the passenger who weighs the least) where I had a relatively unobstructive view of the approach to TInian. I expected to see more of the cleared runways but was surprised at how much was now visible. More brush had been cleared from runways Able and Baker but, now, I could also see runways Charlie and Dog and the taxiways connecting them. The following ten minute video shows the takeoff from Saipan, Isley Field (formally Aslito Field during the war), the southern end of Saipan, the strait between Saipan and Tinian, and a beautiful view of all of North Field and the nearly cleared runways, circling out over the coast of Tinian, and the approach to Tinian International Airport on the southern end of the island.