Remember the U.S.S. Indianapolis

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This coming Tuesday, July 30, marks the 57th anniversary of the sinking of the Indianapolis.

The ship was en route from Guam, where she had just delivered the parts and fissionable material for Little Boy, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, to Leyte in the Phillipine Islands. Just around midnight, she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Badly crippled, the ship sank in 12 minutes, and was apparently unable to transmit an SOS. Her position, due to the secrecy of the mission and certain naval regulations regarding reporting of incoming ships, was not known.

A couple hundred sailors were killed instantly by the blasts, but around 900 men abandoned ship and went into the water. Because nobody knew they were missing, nobody sent out a search and rescue party. The men suffered dehydration, malnutrition, fatigue, sunstroke, hypothermia and other indignities. Repeated shark attacks may have killed as many as 200 men. Some went crazy and attacked and killed each other; others succumbed to injuries, or to the temptation to drink seawater, and simply died.

The men spent 4 days in the water before being spotted by a bomber crew on antisubmarine patrol. A massive rescue mission was mounted, taking several days to complete. When the survivors were counted, 317 men had survived the sinking and the ordeal in the water. Nearly 600 men had died in the water.

Capt. Charles McVay was court-martialed for “hazarding his ship by failing to maintain a zigzag course.” He was and is the only captain in the history of the U.S. Navy ever to be court-martialed for losing his ship to an act of war. The captain of the Japanese sub that sank him was even called to testify against him, although he testified that he could have and would have sank the Indianapolis whether she had zigzagged or not. (Ironically, the Indy was the first and only ship he sank.) McVay was convicted on the charge, essentially ending his Naval career.

After many years of receiving hate mail from the families of dead sailors, Capt. McVay committed suicide shortly before Thanksgiving, 1968. Declassified documents reveal that there were many failures in intelligence and communications that would have helped McVay avoid this sinking, but they were never revealed at his court-martial because they were irrelevant to the particular charges. His surviving crew fought for decades to have his name cleared.

Finally, in October 2000, Congress passed legislation stating that McVay’s military record “should now reflect that he is exonerated.” President Clinton signed that legislation. Furthermore, in July 2001, the Secretary of the Navy announced that McVay’s record had been amended to reflect that he was considered exonerated. Nevertheless, the felony conviction remains on his record, and in the eyes of the law, he is a felon.

The crew was also never recognized for their heroism contemporaneously with the war. They received Purple Hearts for surviving the sinking, but were never recognized for their contributions to ending the war. In 2000, the crew of CA-35 finally received a Naval Unit Citation for their role in delivering the atomic bomb parts to Guam.

Please take a moment next week to remember all 1,196 members of the crew of the Indianapolis.

2

Nice OP, pldennison. The Indianapolis is usually remembered for the horrific shark attacks that took place, as you mentioned, when the men waited to be rescued. This is thanks to the scene in Jaws when Quint tells his own tale of bobbing in the water, seeing his friends dying around him. Last year, I think, I watched several programs on Discovery and the History Channel on the Indianapolis, and you can see how shattered many of the survivors still are by what they experienced in 4 days of being lost at sea.

3

Good job, pl. Thanks so much for the reminder. We’ll certainly take part. Like brondicon said, the Discovery show is quite moving.

4

last summer on vacation, i happened on a bookstore that was having a book reading.

the book: in harm’s way, by doug stanton

an excellent book on the indianapolis.

the author had a veteran from the indianapolis with him. it was amazing meeting a survivour in person. he told many, many stories.

5

Thanks for the reminder, pl.

God rest those who perished and grant comfort to those who survive.

6

There is a memorial to the U.S.S. Indianapolis on the Canal Walk in downtown Indianapolis. It tells the story of the sinking and of the eventual rescue, and lists the names of all those that did not survive. It’s very moving.

Thanks, pldennison, for reminding us.