The Great Artiste

The Great Artiste was named for its bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan, in reference to his bombing talents. It was the only aircraft to participate in both the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as an observation aircraft on each mission. It was to have been the aircraft carrying the Fat Man bomb, but the mission schedule had been moved forward two days because of weather considerations, and the instrumentation had not yet been removed from the aircraft. To avoid delaying the mission, Major Charles Sweeney traded airplanes with the crew of Bockscar to carry the Fat Man atomic bomb to Nagasaki. Captain Frederick Bock and his crew flew The Great Artiste to Nagasaki on its instrument support mission.

The plane was scrapped in September 1949 after being heavily damaged in an accident.

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