Ryan Sterling
New York Times. "A Boy's School Project Aims to Revise History". 1998. 18 April 2006. <http://www.ussindianapolis.org/main.htm>
"...the Navy knew there were submarines in the area but never told McVay and sent the ship to sea unescorted ... Worse, the Navy failed to notice that the cruiser had never arrived at port, while hundreds died at sea."(S TOP)
At 12:14 a.m. on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine
Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remainder, about 900 men, were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. (S Top)
and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later only 316 men were still alive. (S Top)
The ship's captain, the late Charles Butler McVay III, survived and was court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag"(S 1/4)
Patrick, Bethanne Kelly. "Rear Adm. Charles McVay III". Military.com. 26 April 2006.
http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent?file=ML_mcvay_bkp
(S top) The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 July 1945, after her final overhaul.
On July 26, 1945, the USS Indianapolis reached the tropical island of Tinian after traveling 2,000 miles in less than 75 hours(S Top)
Charles McVay III, knew what his men did not: that the ship was delivering key components for the atomic bomb that would be used to destroy the Japanese city of Hiroshima.(S Top)
McVay turned his ship towards the Philippines for a voyage that faced, he was assured by his superiors, no enemy threat. (S Top)
The Navy has long claimed that SOS messages were never received because the ship was operating under a policy of radio silence; declassified records now show the Navy lied.(S 1/4)
"The Ship". USSIndianpolis.org. 2003. 17 April 2006. <http://www.ussindianapolis.org/ship.htm>
Length overall-610 ft.,3-3/4 in. [584 ft. at the waterline
Extreme breadth [beam] -66 ft., 5/8 in.(S Top)
Powered by eight White-Forster type boilers and four sets of geared Parsons turbines driving four out-turning propellers (S Top)
The builders were successful in meeting the requirements set, for the ship,and at trials at sea, exceeded the speed demanded in the contract. (S Top)
"USS Indianapolis". Wikipedia. 16 May 2006 . 18 April 2006 . <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_%28CA-35%29>
a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy(S Top)
After delivering the first atomic bomb to be used in combat to the United States air base at Tinian Island on 26 July 1945, she was in the Philippine Sea when attacked at 00:14 on 30 July 1945, by a Japanese submarine. Most of the crew was lost to shark attacks, as they floated helplessly for several days, waiting for assistance.(S Top)
Indianapolis was laid down on 31 March 1930 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey; launched on 7 November 1931; sponsored by Miss Lucy Taggart, daughter of the late Senator Thomas Taggart, a former mayor of Indianapolis; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 November 1932, Captain John M. Smeallie in command.(S 1/10)
Finneran, Patrick J. The Tragedy of The USS INDIANAPOLIS (CA-35). 1999. 27 April 2006. http://www.ussindianapolis.org/pfinnstory.htm
Officially, on the day the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941, Indianapolis was conveniently out of her home port, Pearl Harbor, making a simulated bombardment of Johnson Island off to the West. Captain E.W. Hanson, USN was then in command. It is noteworthy to mention here that all of the carriers assigned to Pearl were also conveniently out of Pearl as well. Indianapolis immediately joined Task Force 12 to search for the attacking Japanese carrier force. Returning to Pearl Harbor Indianapolis was assigned to Task Force 11 for operations against the enemy.(S 1/4)
Indianapolis's first wartime action was in the enemy dominated waters of the South pacific some 350 miles south of Rabal, New Britain. Late on the afternoon of 20 February, 1942, the American force was attacked by two waves of twin-engined bombers totaling 18 aircraft. The ensuing battle saw 16 of the 18 Japanese bombers shot down by aircraft from the carrier Lexington and the combined antiaircraft fire of the screening ships. Later two more Japanese seaplanes were also 'splashed'.(S 2/5)
In the early morning hours of that very same day, shrouded in security and secrecy, but with a huge assembly of Admirals, Generals and many technicians at pier-side looking on, the atom bomb components were loaded aboard Indianapolis. (S 3/4)
Several large wooden crates were stowed in one of the ship's hangars, and guards were placed to keep all inquisitive souls away. The "heart" of two bombs, uranium-235, sealed in a lead-lined metal container, was lashed to cleats which had been tac-welded to the deck in the Admiral's Cabin. (S 3/4)
Orders were given that should the ship come under attack and find herself 'in extremis' the lead container was to be immediately thrown over the side. Even given the strangeness of this particular order, the nature of the cargo itself was kept secret from all aboard- including Indianapolis' Captain, Charles McVay. Indianapolis sailed into history on that fateful morning.(S 3/4)
Following a record-setting run--average speed 29 knots--from California, stopping off at Pearl Harbor for 6 hours to refuel and replenish, Indianapolis anchored off the island of Tinian in the Western Pacific, and off-loaded its secret cargo. Tinian was one of several American held islands from which B-29 bombing raids were conducted. (Tinian Island is along the Marianas Trench, and about 100 nautical miles North of Guam Island- Nearly 5,300 nautical miles from California.)(S 3/4)
Responding to Marks' calls for help, the destroyers, Cecil Doyle, (DE-368), Talbot, (DD-390), and Dufilho, (DE-423), converged on the scene. The Auxiliary Ships Ringness, (APD-100) Bassett, (APD-73), and Register, (APD-92) also came to the rescue of the remaining Indianapolis crew. Following medical treatment on Guam, the 317 weary, but deliriously happy, survivors were returned to the US aboard the escort carrier, Hollandia, (CVU-97).(S 9/10)
Lebow, Cleatus. Personal Interview. 29 April 2006.
- "When I saw that plane come I was as happy as a man could be."
- "There were 130 men who found a loading net."
- "We had to tie 56 of the men to the wings with parachute string"