 The Enola Gay ( pronunciation : / ᵻˈnoʊlə ˈɡeɪ / ) is a Boeing B @-@ 29 Superfortress bomber , named for Enola Gay Tibbets , the mother of the pilot , Colonel Paul Tibbets , who selected the aircraft while it was still on the assembly line . On 6 August 1945 , during the final stages of World War II , it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb . The bomb , code @-@ named " Little Boy " , was targeted at the city of Hiroshima , Japan , and caused unprecedented destruction . Enola Gay participated in the second atomic attack as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the primary target of Kokura . Clouds and drifting smoke resulted in a secondary target , Nagasaki , being bombed instead . 
