Did terror weapons work as intended?

Did a terror weapon ever work as intended?

No, and nuclear weapons are better understood as weapons of mass destruction rather than terror weapons in the narrower sense.

The direct answer is that terror weapons did not work as intended. Nuclear weapons belong to a different category as weapons of mass destruction. A terror weapon is designed to intimidate a population that remains alive and politically responsive. A nuclear weapon creates terror but can destroy the target population so completely that intimidation is no longer its defining mechanism. The distinction focuses attention on the political purpose of a weapon rather than only on the fear it causes.