THE SINKING OF THE USS INDIANOPOLIS

The sinking of the USS Indianopolis



The sinking of the USS Indianapolis

Introduction

In Harm's Way is very difficult to put down. Told mainly from the survivors' viewpoint, and with an emphasis on the days after the Indianapolis was torpedoed but prior to the rescue, some readers may find things disturbing, to say the least. There are certainly less morbid and less graphic accounts available. Some recommend Abandon Ship! Instead of Stanton's book, but for an updated look at the tragedy and recollections from numerous survivors, this is probably the best place to look. Not having personally read Abandon Ship. (Boyd, 1976) Though, I'm not in a position to compare and contrast the two. You'll recall the Robert Shaw character telling about being adrift in the waters of the Pacific as sharks circled and attacked the helpless men. This story has such a compelling fascination that it has spawned a series of books, documentaries and even a TV movie. Doug Stanton's new account can take its place with the very best of them. Drawing heavily on interviews with survivors and on Captain Charles Butler McVay's account of the sinking and the ensuing ordeal, Stanton presents the story with an immediacy and intimacy that makes it all the more terrible.

The sinking of the USS Indianapolis

The men of the Indianapolis were the victims of an entire series of oversights and foul ups, few of their own making. First, the ship had just delivered components of the Little Boy atomic bomb (which was dropped on Hiroshima), and so had been traveling in great secrecy. Then when they set out from Guam to join up with Task Force 95 at Okinawa, they sailed alone and were not warned about known Japanese submarine activity, for security reasons. Thus, when the submarine I-58, ...