The Tragedy of USS Indianapolis CA-35

The USS Indianapolis was the ship which delivered materials for the first atomic bomb. Soon afterward, on its way to Guam, it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, leaving the survivors in shark-infested waters for four days. The sinking of the Indianapolis was the worst military tragedy in United States history.

History of the USS Indianapolis

After being hit by a kamikaze fighter in Okinawa in March 1945, the Indianapolis returned to California for repairs. It left in July with materials for the first atomic bomb, which it delivered to a United States base on Tinian. Believing that the threat from the Japanese Navy in the area had decreased, the U.S. Navy directed the Indianapolis towards Guam via the Philippine Sea, without a protective escort.

Sinking of the USS Indianapolis

Tragedy struck on July 30, 1945, when the Indianapolis was hit by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine. A quarter of its nearly 1200-man crew lost their lives when the ship sunk. The worst, however, was yet to come. The ship had sunk in shark-infested waters. Although the Japanese contacted the Americans to inform them of the sunken battleship, no one made the connection or looked for the Indianapolis.

The crew was left abandoned, without lifeboats, food, or water. Nearly 600 men died from the combination of exposure, starvation, thirst, and shark attacks. The ship was spotted by accident four days later by a pilot flying over the area. There were only 317 survivors - a quarter of the ship's original crew.

Scapegoating of the Tragedy of the USS Indianapolis

The tragedy of the USS Indianapolis left the United States government eager to assign blame. The ship's captain, Charles Butler McVay III, was court-martialed for failing to avoid the torpedoes, despite overwhelming evidence that he did all he could and that it was the Navy's failure to provide an escort or anti-submarine detection which put the ship in danger. He was the only Naval captain to be court-martialed for the loss of a ship in World War II.

Admiral Charles McVay was exonerated over fifty years later by Congress and President Bill Clinton. This exoneration was the result of a long campaign by his supporters, including other survivors of the tragedy. Unfortunately, he did not live to hear this news; weighed down by undeserved guilt, he committed suicide in 1968.

Sources

USS Indianapolis CA-35

A Perspective: The USS Indianapolis Disaster