USS Indianapolis, July 30, 1945: Worst Sea Disaster In US Naval History, Near 900 Men Died, Sharks

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sun Jul 11, 2021, 12:29 PM - Edit history (2)

- USS Indianapolis (CA-35), Sept. 27, 1939.
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- 'USS Indianapolis: Survivor Accounts From the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History.'- 'There were a lot of sharks,' says one of the survivors. 'So many.' By Lynn Vincent & Sara Vladic, History.com, July 28, 2020.

Though Tony King is sharp and alert at the age of 94, a part of him is trapped forever in the summer of 1945. He time-travels there when he speaks of it—even as he sits in a wheelchair near the lone window in his San Francisco apartment. King’s eyes mist over as he tells his story, and with his arms swimming in the sleeves of an old blue bathrobe, his hands draw pictures in the air.

He is young again. It has been days since his ship, USS Indianapolis, was sunk from under him, and he is among hundreds of sailors fighting for their lives in the center of the Philippine Sea. Hundreds have already died of wounds or dehydration. Now, among those still living, many are losing their minds. “Men started getting ideas that the ship wasn’t far in the distance,” King says. “Promises of pretty girls carrying fresh buttermilk biscuits, or a cold drink just over the horizon. It wasn’t hard to be talked into things out there. So a group of us swam off, following the leader, not wanting to be left behind.”

Then King’s story pauses and his demeanor changes. He looks down at his lap, clearly reliving the nightmare as though it happened just moments before. “There were a lot of sharks,” he says, his voice nearly a whisper. “So many. I’d see them swimming below me.” King’s hand traces slow circles near his legs, describing the sharks’ menacing patrol. His eyes unfocus as he watches the scene play out, the predators still lurking just feet below him after all these years. His breathing shallows and tears stream down his tortured face. “So many friends,” he finally says. “Gone.”

Tony King was one of the lucky ones. When he and nearly 1,200 USS Indianapolis crew members sailed from Mare Island, California, on July 16, 1945, no one aboard dreamed that in exactly two weeks they would be cast adrift while their beloved Indianapolis, the 5th Fleet flagship, lay at the bottom of the sea. Or that its sinking would precipitate the worst sea disaster in the U.S. Navy’s history...

Continued,
https://www.history.com/news/uss-indianapolis-sinking-survivor-stories-sharks
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- Survivors of the Indianapolis on Guam in August, 1945.

- USS Indianapolis, Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35)

.. In July 1945, Indianapolis completed a top-secret high-speed trip to deliver parts of Little Boy, the first nuclear weapon ever used in combat, to the U.S Army Air Force Base on the island of Tinian, and subsequently departed for the Philippines on training duty. At 0015 on 30 July, the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship.
The remaining 890 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while stranded in the open ocean with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy only learned of the sinking 4 days later, when survivors were spotted by a PV-1 Ventura crew on routine patrol. Only 316 survived. The sinking of Indianapolis resulted in the greatest single loss of life at sea from a single ship in the history of the US Navy...

- Sinking in Shark-Infested Waters: WWII Survivors Recall Navy Disaster | National Geographic. July 30, 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis—the maritime disaster made famous by Captain Quint’s monologue in the movie Jaws.
The heavy cruiser sank in just 12 minutes, after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine shortly after midnight on July 30, 1945. Some 300 men went down with the ship, and the remainder of the crew—between 800 and 900 men—struggled for five days to survive dehydration, hypothermia, shark attacks, and madness while floating in the South Pacific. Only 317 succeeded.

- Charles B. McVay III, commanding officer of the USS Indianapolis when lost in action in 1945. Court-martial of McVay.

.. Charles Butler McVay III (August 31, 1898 – November 6, 1968) was an American naval officer and the commanding officer of the cruiser USS Indianapolis when she was lost in action in 1945, resulting in a significant loss of life. Of all captains in the history of the United States Navy, he is the only one to have been subjected to court-martial for losing a ship sunk by an act of war, despite the fact that he was on a top secret mission maintaining radio silence (the testimony of the Japanese commander who sank his ship also seemed to exonerate McVay).
After years of mental health problems, he took his own life aged 70 years. Following years of efforts by some survivors and others to clear his name, McVay was posthumously exonerated by the 106th United States Congress and President Bill Clinton on October 30, 2000.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._McVay_III

[lapfog_1]

1. sort of a history

[appalachiablue]

4. Including that story of the disaster

was very effective and powerful. Thanks for posting.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. My Uncle Steve was awarded his first Navy Cross there....

As he dove in fighting off sharks to rescue some of the survivors of the USS Indianapolis. He was in the US Navy from 1939 to 1976.

An Excellent book by Douglas Stanton called IN HARM'S WAY, details the secret mission THE USS Indianapolis underwent. No matter, the entire Pacific Ocean was a war zone. The US Navy scapegoated Captain McCay. The rest is history.

[appalachiablue]

3. Thank you for sharing this, the bravery

of your uncle and the In Harm's Way book. What a horrible event and story of survival. McKay's treatment was a tragic, and the enormous disaster.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

5. A harrowing look at bravery at its most terrifying...

Thank you. It was 40 years ago when I last saw him. I asked him about the scars on his arms. It was when no one was around when he told me how he got them. I cried.

McKay committed suicide in 1968. It was just in the last 10 years or so that the Department of The Navy reinstated his rank, removed the Court martial record, and paid out the benefits to his heirs. It was their mistake.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. I'm kicking this thread back to the top, because today is the anniversary of its sailing. NT