USS Indianapolis CA-35

Borrowing a page from United States Navy Veteran, Ultradog, I'm posting about the USS Indianapolis, a Portland Class heavy cruiser that was torpedoed and sunk on this day in 1945. She was on her way from Guam to Leyte after making a high speed run from San Francisco to Pearl, a record that stands to this day, and further to Tinian to deliver parts and about half of the world's supply of Uranium-235 that would be used to assemble Little Boy, the atomic bomb that would be detonated over Hiroshima a few days later.

To this day, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and subsequent loss of life of the sinking survivors before they were rescued four days later, remains the single largest loss of life at sea of the United States Navy.

It's a tragic story of bureaucratic SNAFUS that resulted in most of the lives lost.

Dean

Sorry. I meant to add the Wiki link below.

Dean
USS Indianapolis

DEAN,Thanks for posting a reminder of such a horrible event in our history.Thank you Green Pulley Veteran USN

I used to work with a fellow who was a survivor of the sinking of the light cruiser, USS Juneau. He was in the water for something like 12 hours before he was picked up.

He said, "Hell, I was a dumb 17 year old kid. I didn't have sense enough to be scared, I thought it was a big adventure".

I read a book on this incident. You weren't joking about the incompetence of the US Navy. They court martialed the Captain blaming him for the incident. A Jap sub just happened to surface just as the Indianapolis was passing right in front of it, he couldn't miss. The Japanese sub Captain even testified for the Indy Captain, to no avail. The Navy needed a scapegoat other than themselves.

Most have heard this scene already:
Narrative from Jaws..

Thanks for posting this Dean.
And a sad and final ending to it all was the suicide of Captain McVay some years after the war.

They came after him claiming he should have been zig zagging except for the small item he didn't have enough fuel to zig zag or run at high speed. The Indianapolis was being transferred between commands and the competing commands had a habit of sending ships with minimal fuel - making refueling an issue for the new command.


Over 350 Navy warships had been lost in combat during World War II, but none of their captains had been court-martialed. Both Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance for whom the Indianapolis served as Fifth Fleet flagship opposed court-martialing Captain McVay, and never had an officer been court-martialed over the objection of his superiors, much less such prominent flag officers.


Which is amazing when John F Kennedy wasn't court martialed for the loss of PT109, and his court martial was demanded by no less the Gen MacArthur and Adm Halsey(?) - even his own brother asked him where he was when a Japanese destroyer (that the PT boat was looking for) ran over them. The Japanese destroyer captain sighted them from over a mile away - PT109 never saw the destroyer until it was literally on top of them (along with claiming the destroyer was moving at 40 knots - something the Japanese captain scoffed at).

I'd be interested in knowing the name of that survivor. There were only 10. Our former neighbor was a 17 year old on the Juneau and he survived. He moved in next to my parents in the 50's and lived there for +- 30 years.

A disgraceful moment in our history . They railroaded that guy big time.

Joseph Kennedy was a major supporter of FDR and a major contributor.

Of course JFK should have been court marshaled but it's good to have friends in high places.

Dean

Was a tragedy. I did a lot of research into the sinking of the Indianapolis a number of years ago and IMO I think this is what happened.

1. The A bomb was so secret that the Indy was rushed through a turnaround to get her back to sea. Sailors aboard a ship at sea in those days couldn't communicate and tell people where they had been, what they had done or what they saw.

2. As someone else stated was shorted on fuel needed to run unescorted at full speed and zig zag. That was in part as stated to conserve fuel from the old command. Another part of it was they wanted that ship at sea now! So they were not given time to put on any more fuel.

3. Because of the super secret mission and the desire to have her at sea the harbor master who should have briefed the CPT as to known threats was rushed and failed to mention report of the Japanese sub in that area.

4. So secret was the mission that no one who would have reported the ship missing knew where she was or when she was supposed to be at the new command.


AS far as the court martial, a commander who put his ship in needless risk that resulted in the loss of said ship could (still can) be court martialed. The loss of the Indy and so many lives, that close to the end of the war was the reason for the court martial. What's sad is that very shortly after the sinking the whole world knew about the A bomb. They could have kept the ship in port until after the bomb was dropped because then the secret would have been out. So really the loss can be laid at the feet of Truman and the senior brass in DC. Had they left the Indy at Tinian until after the bomb was dropped things may have been different. IMO the court martial of CPT McVay was to divert attention away from the people who made the decisions that put the Indy at risk.

Rick

I had a family member who lost his life in the incident. Supposedly because of his station at the time of the torpedo hit, he was likely killed instantly and didn't make it to the water. A second family member made Normandy but was killed a few days after. Some gave all.

Donald "Dubby" Boone. As far as I know, he's still living.

Last I saw of him over 12 years ago, his eyesight was failing, although he was in reasonably good health otherwise. He always did look young for his age. When he was around 70, someone commented that he was "70 going on 55". With reddish/blond hair, it was hard to see any gray in it.

Something is off. The 10 survivors were: Lester Zook, Wyart Butterfield, Victor Fitzgerald, Arthur Friend, Henry Gardner, Patrick Hartney, Allen Heyn, Frank Holmgren, George Mantere and Charles Wang. All were in the water for 7 days before rescue. Frank Holmgren was the last to pass in 2009. There wasn't even a Donald Boone on the crew list. You might want to read the book "Left to Die" by Dan Kurzman.

(quoted from post at 17:48:17 07/31/17) Something is off. The 10 survivors were: Lester Zook, Wyart Butterfield, Victor Fitzgerald, Arthur Friend, Henry Gardner, Patrick Hartney, Allen Heyn, Frank Holmgren, George Mantere and Charles Wang. All were in the water for 7 days before rescue. Frank Holmgren was the last to pass in 2009. There wasn't even a Donald Boone on the crew list. You might want to read the book "Left to Die" by Dan Kurzman.

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There were 317 survivors, not 10. Maybe you saw something of last known living survivors of the USS Indianapolis sinking????

Rick

On the other hand the crew list doesn't contain the name Donald Boone, in fact no one listed was named Boone. Old time stolen valor? Or is the list I found wrong?

Rick