The USS Indianapolis

 

The U.S.S. Indianapolis was a Portland-class cruiser of the United States Navy and was built between World War I and World War II. She was launched on 7 November 1931 and later commissioned on 15 November 1932. In her years of service she was awarded 10 Battle Stars for her actions during World War II. The U.S.S. Indianapolis is possibly most famous for her sinking at the end of July in 1945. On her way to Leyte Gulf, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was struck by two torpedoes, one on her bow and one on her starboard side, from a Japanese Submarine in the Philippine Sea at 12:14am on the morning of 30 July 1945. She sank within 12 minutes. Of the 1,197 men on board the Indianapolis, it has been estimated that about 900 men made it off the sinking ship and into the water. Many were badly wounded or burned; some wore life vests while others did not. When the ship had been hit, the fuel tanks had ruptured, thus releasing a large amount of fuel oil into the water with the men. It coated the men and made many of them sick. They had no food, no water, and no way to signal for help. The explosions had knocked out the electrical system making it impossible to send out an S.O.S. before she went down. The nightmare for the men was far from over. For the next four and a half days the surviving men experienced hunger, thirst, exhaustion, illness, and extreme terror. Daylight brought only more fear, for with the daylight came the shark attacks. “The survivors say the sharks were always there by the hundreds- swimming just below their dangling feet. It was a terror filled ordeal- never knowing if you'd be the next victim.” Between the shark attacks, their injuries, and lack of food and water, many of the men died. By the third day it is estimated that out of the 900 men that made it off the sinking ship and into the waters, only 400 were left alive. On the morning of the fourth day, a Lieutenant Chuck Gwinn discovered the men in the water while on a routine submarine patrol with his Lockheed Navy Ventura PV-1 bomber. He reported the scene but it was assumed to be only a prank at first. It was another 3 hours before a PBY Flying-Boat, piloted by Navy pilot R. Adrian Marks, was dispatched to investigate. Upon reaching the men, Marks and his crew made the decision to abandon orders of never making a water landing in order to rescue the men. He radioed for help and began the rescue. The U.S.S. Cecil Doyle, a destroyer escort, had been informed of the mission while Marks was en-route and had made her way to the men as well. On his plane alone, Marks and his crew rescued 58 men; the record for a sea plane that size. When all the surviving men were rescued, of the 900 that had made it into the waters, only 317 men were left alive, making this the worst Naval Disaster in United States history. However, the news of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the loss of the majority of her crew was not released to the public until weeks after it occurred in hopes that the news of Japan’s surrender would overshadow the huge blow to the U.S. Navy. owH