Electronic Countermeasures Position
The Countermeasures Officer (called the "Raven") was a late addition to the B-29 crew compliment. Their normal function
was to identify and counter radar that might be illuminating the squadron for gun laying or searchlight pointing. In the
case of the Enola Gay and her sisters in the 509th Composite Group, that function was modified. Because the primary
weapon fuse was based on a radar altimeter within the bomb, stray or deliberate radio waves at just the right frequency
could potentially set off the bomb as soon as internal timers and a secondary bank of barometric switches had armed it
after leaving the bomb bay. The Countermeasures Officer in the aircraft
with the weapon (Jacob Beser in the case of both atomic missions) was responsible for scanning the frequencies between
390MHz and 430MHz and notifying the Weaponeer of the frequency and characteristics of any interference.
According to Leon Smith, who designed the weaponeer's control station, the weaponeer could then choose between two sets
of four fuse frequencies (each of the four APS-13s were tuned to a slightly different frequency to avoid interference with
each other).
A fuse of the contact type was apparently considered for Little Boy as "salvage fusing" but the gun
assembly method was essentially self-assembling on contact with the ground. A conact fuse was reportedly
installed on the Fat Man weapon, because it was not self assembling due to its spherical construction with
multiple fuses.
Enola Gay Countermeasures Position prior to cabling
The primary instrument for detecting these emanations is at bottom right, called an AN/APR-4. The Countermeasures
Officer sat on the floor to operate this gear, an uncomfortable positiion to be sure, but the APR-4 was normally
configured to automatically scan back and forth across a preset range of frequencies. This would allow the officer
to sit on the chair next to the radar operator, or on the
toilet seat to the left, listening to the headphones and watching the panoramic adapter screen for any indications
of interfering signals.
The position itself may seem incomplete and missing a great deal of equipment, but in fact (for the Enola Gay on
August 6th, at least) it is shown fully configured before cabling except for the recorder to record interphone
conversations, based on documents from the week of the mission. In fact, the AN/ARR-7 receiver will be removed
because it has no documented use nor antenna to support it. The empty positions were used when the aircraft
was employed in an instrumentation mode, or in some cases for radar jamming equipment when there was an anticipated threat,
as there well might have been had it been necessary to continue dropping nuclear weapons on Japan to conclude the war.
The other pieces of equipment seen above are (from top left to right) an AN/APA-11 pulse analyzer, AN/APA-10
panoramic adapter, and an AN/ARR-7 receiver. The panoramic adapter
visually displayed a continuous band of frequencies to the left and right of the frequency actually being listened
to on any of the three receivers in this bay of equipment. The pulse analyzer was a specialized instrument that
permitted detailed characterization of electronic radar signatures. The plywood board on which the ARR-7 receiver
is currently mounted was originally
the location of a special disk recorder obtained through Navy channels that Jacob Beser reportedly used to record
interphone traffic on that day (see "Recorders").
Further research is ongoing.
In the second row is a PP-32/AR power supply, for the
AN/ARR-5 receiver to its right. The ARR-5 was used to monitor instrumentation canisters dropped prior to bombing. (See
more on this below.) The aluminum box to the left of the PP-32 is a
junction box recently made to the original specs that will be used to rewire the power and audio distribution circuits.
It has since been painted the same green color as the racks.
Countermeasures Position, AN/APR-4 receiver
Countermeasures Position, normal B-29 Installation (early)
Standard B-29 countermeasures positions only contained one vertical rack of equipment, shown above. However, a 509th
mission was considerably different from those of its brethren. There were generally three aircraft over the general target area
at one time; the weapon dropping plane, an instrumentation plane, and a photographic plane. Any of the 509th
aircraft needed to be capable of being configured to serve in any one of those roles. That is the reason that the Enola Gay
installation may seem somewhat empty. By far the most equipment-consuming
role was the instrumentation aircraft. In addition to the equipment shown in Enola, it required a total of three AN/ARR-5 receivers to listen to the three air dropped
canisters in the vicinity of 50MHz, as well as three AN/ANQ-1 wire recorders to record the overpressure signatures provided
by the canister microphones. From this information, approximate yields could be calculated. This function required a
special antenna to be rigged from the belly of the aircraft, through a hole in the radar compartment. Below are shown the
hatch and antenna. It is very similar to the antenna and procedure used by the Navy for their sonobuoy receivers in locating submarines. The antenna was too long to remain in place for landing. so it had to be rigged and removed during
flight. You can see it in the deployed position in the "Exterior
Antennas - right side" page.
Antenna loading hatch
Special whip antenna for ARR-5 receivers, mounted on ceiling for storage