Lost USS Indianapolis found Saturday in the Philippine Sea

originally posted by: CulturalResilience
a reply to: liejunkie01

A damn fine crew, on a damn fine ship, in a damn fine Navy. Your UK friends and allies salute your brave sacrifice.

Having naval ancestors I second that, may there soul's rest in God's peace.

a reply to: liejunkie01

Oh for the simulated submarine warfare games of past in japanese cafes.
Saw the jap submarine officer who sunk this ship in my minds eye when i was
playing these games in japan.
Just a couple of years ago saw the photo of this jap submariner on the internet
maybe on the wiki.

Brave crew indeed.

I found a poem about the Indianapolis

It was written by Diane Locksley

The USS Indianapolis

It was in July of 1945
And the USS Indianapolis
Had a crew of nearly 12 hundred alive
But a Japanese sub fired and did not miss

American sailors had completed their job
Delivering parts for the first atomic bomb
Some sank with the ship others in the sea did bob
No food, few lifeboats, ocean deceptively calm

Surprise attack, no distress signal had been sent
It was four days later those floating were spotted
The survival rate was just 25 percent
With hundreds of sailor's bodies the sea was dotted

In the movie "Jaws" as Captain Quint had related
"The sharks came cruisin". so we formed into tight groups
Six men per hour were killed while for help they waited
All were lost but 316 navy troops

Some victims died of exposure or starvation
But far more were killed by the sharks that had attacked
These men lost their lives in service to our nation
But bomb parts delivered had a deadlier impact

One of the last ships that was sunk in World War II
The Indianapolis had turned the war's tide
With a mission carried out by a courageous crew
Victory was soon celebrated by allies worldwide



you know the bow was blown off the ship and it plowed forward pushing water into the ship!
Ive pictured it in my mind I believe she went down in 18 minutes

a reply to: Hyperboles

He testified at the captains court martial

originally posted by: CulturalResilience
a reply to: liejunkie01

A damn fine crew, on a damn fine ship, in a damn fine Navy. Your UK friends and allies salute your brave sacrifice.

We got our start as a UK colony, so we learned from the best.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

Wasn't there a doc on it during Shark Week not so many years ago?

Something like Worst Shark Attack Ever or Ocean of Fear?

originally posted by: TimHeller
a reply to: Hyperboles

He testified at the captains court martial

Oh, i didnt know that. which year was this? and why was the capt court marshalled?

a reply to: Hyperboles

He was court martialed after the war for failing to zigzag. The Navy claimed it made it easier for the sub to find them, and the Japanese captain testified that it didn't matter, he would have had them either way.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Hyperboles

He was court martialed after the war for failing to zigzag. The Navy claimed it made it easier for the sub to find them, and the Japanese captain testified that it didn't matter, he would have had them either way.

Ah ok. havent read the report, presumably she was torpedoed in the night.

a reply to: Hyperboles

Yes, just after midnight, July 30, 1945. She had delivered the uranium and other parts of Little Boy. She was enroute to Guam after delivering the parts to Tinian. A total of 880 men went into the water, out of a crew of 1196. They didn't know she was missing for several days, and when they were found, 317 survivors were left.

Captain McVay was court martialed and convicted, but Admiral Nimitz remitted his sentence, and he retired a Rear Admiral. He committed suicide in 1968, partly over the blame put on him by the families. His record was cleared in 2001.

a reply to: Zaphod58

My God thats really tragic

a reply to: Asktheanimals

HUndreds of me were eaten by sharks while waiting for days to be rescued.
Horribly tragic story.

Pales in comparison to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

a reply to: Zaphod58

They didn't know she was missing for several days, and when they were found, 317 survivors were left.

Because their mission to deliver the bomb was so secret the vessels itinerary wasn't listed enroute or return.

The survivors were stumbled upon.

originally posted by: intrptr

Because their mission to deliver the bomb was so secret the vessels itinerary wasn't listed enroute or return.

That is false.

Large vessels were assumed to be able to reach their destinations, Indianapolis was even reported at Leyte which is further west of where she was sunk and removed from the tracking board at Commander Marianas. Even when she did not show up in port the Operations Officer didn't initiate and investigation. Three stations even received the distress calls but none were acted on. The myth that she was not found due to the secrecy of the mission is just that. Stop parroting what you heard in Jaws, that's a fictional film, not a documentary.

In the Headquarters of Commander Marianas on Guam and of the Commander Philippine Sea Frontier on Leyte, operations plotting boards were kept. On these boards was kept a graphic plot of the positions at sea of all vessels in which the headquarters concerned was interested. In the case of the Indianapolis, the departure of the vessel from Guam on July 28 was recorded on the plotting boards in each of these headquarters. This source is not Robert Shaw's character.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Asktheanimals

HUndreds of me were eaten by sharks while waiting for days to be rescued.
Horribly tragic story.

Pales in comparison to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And Hiroshima and Nagasaki pale in comparison to what an actual ground invasion of Japan would have looked like.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Stop parroting what you heard in Jaws, that's a fictional film, not a documentary.

I didn't report what I saw in Jaws, I read a book written by one of the survivors, probably before you were born.

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Asktheanimals

HUndreds of me were eaten by sharks while waiting for days to be rescued.
Horribly tragic story.

Pales in comparison to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And Hiroshima and Nagasaki pale in comparison to what an actual ground invasion of Japan would have looked like.

Japan was beaten, blockading the country and starving them out was all that was required. The bombs did not force a surrender either.

That show was carried by the Emperor on a radio broadcast. Even then tensions within the gubment to keep fighting were strong.

The people became convinced by three things, the radio broadcast by the Emperor, (the first time many Japanese ever heard his voice), "Suffering the insufferable, enduring the unendurable", the picture of McArthur published standing next to Hirohito, and the signing of the instrument of surrender. These three things in the public eye borough the war to a close.

Another proof the bomb drops were planned , the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were preserved so they could better measure the results. They were going to use them regardless.

originally posted by: intrptr
I didn't report what I saw in Jaws, I read a book written by one of the survivors, probably before you were born.

Whatever you say, Quint.

What was the name of the book? Or was it so long ago you conveniently forgot? Either way, it's wrong.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: intrptr
I didn't report what I saw in Jaws, I read a book written by one of the survivors, probably before you were born.

Whatever you say, Quint.

What was the name of the book? Or was it so long ago you conveniently forgot? Either way, it's wrong.

Convenience has nothing to do with my recall. The mission was top secret... so top secret they sailed alone, without escort even though the captain requested one. So secret the Navy failed (on purpose) to pass on information that subs were active in the area. So secret, the maydays weren't taken seriously because those monitoring ships traffic didn't know she was out there.

So secret no rescue mission was ever called and the few survivors were only stumbled upon after a week at sea, by accident.

The bombs themselves also fell in secret, the Japanese were left to figure it out for themselves.

This is called plausible deniability, at least as far as possible, at that time. The bombs were developed, built and tested in utmost secrecy, then delivered to their destination, detonated and covered up as long as possible.

Thats why the crew of the Indianapolis suffered like they did. The Indianapolis was sunk on July 30, the first bomb was dropped on August 6th.

You do the math.

a reply to: intrptr


Sorry, your claim that the mission was so secret that 'the vessels itinerary wasn't listed enroute or return' is false, the Indianapolis appeared on two tracking boards after they delivered the bomb parts.

ETA: I like how you didn't post what book it was.