The United States Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS) was established in November 1944 at President Roosevelt’s direction to assess the effects of Allied bombing on Germany. President Truman extended its remit to Japan in August 1945, including investigation of the atomic attacks. Civilian specialists and military personnel examined industrial production, transport, urban destruction and civilian morale, using field surveys, interviews and recovered documents.
The 1946 U.S. Army Map Service maps offered here document Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings of 6 and 9 August 1945. The Hiroshima plan delineates the extent of fire and limits of blast damage, while the Nagasaki map records atomic bomb damage across the city. Published with the Survey’s report on the two bombings, these detailed plans preserve contemporary evidence of the destruction and the investigations that informed early understanding of nuclear warfare and civil defence.