In July 1945,the US Navy was virtually master of the Pacific,as the Americans got closer to the Japanese home islands.
The Imperial Japanese Navy,had largely ceased to be an effective fighting force,which would have disastrous consequences for one American military vessel in particular:The USS Indianapolis.
I first heard of this ship,whilst watching the late actor:Robert Shaw,who played a character called Quint.
In fact,Quint was a real life survivor from the ship,and became a shark hunter,as this event is remebered as the worst shark attack on Man.
On the 30 July 1945,the USS Indianapolis was making her way to Leyte in the Philippines,after successfully completing a mission,where she delivered parts of the atomic bomb,soon to be dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The ship was sailing on her own and without escort,as the ship's captain:Charles McVay had been mistakenly told the waters were safe.In fact,Captain McVay had rightfully asked for an escort,but was denied.
The USS Indianapolis was then spotted by an enemy submarine:the Japanese I-58.
The submarine launched six torpedoes,and two of them found their mark.
The result was devastating for the Indianapolis and her crew,as the second torpedo had hit the ship's magazine (the fatal hit) and the whole ship was an enormous mass of flame and explosions.
The Indianapolis sank in twelve minutes,and about 880 crew managed to successfully abandon ship.
However,not all the surviving crew were in good shape.Many were burnt horribly and wounded.Some were callously overthrown by some of their shipmates,desperate to get on one of the ship's life rafts.Who knows how many were murdered in this way,but there was worst to come:Sharks.
For four days and five nights,the survivors of the Indianapolis,had to endure a nightmare,battling thirst,crazed shipmates after drinking sea water,and shark attacks.
I enjoyed watching a really good,yet still harrowing documentary on this true story.
They said the sharks just went for the dead,but this wasn't totally accurate.The sharks did go for some of the men,killing a lot of them.Very few survived the attacks.
Finally,the survivors had a piece of good fortune,when an airplane spotted the oil slick from the sunk Indianapolis,and flew down for a closer inspection.It was then,that the crew of the plane saw the men in the water.
Rescue was quickly organised,and the remaining crew were picked up.
Even so,there was a terrible price to pay.From 880 who jumped into the sea,just above 300 managed to hold on and be successfully rescued.
It was actually,quite a remarkable survival at sea story,showing human determination and faith in never giving up.
On returning to the States and after the war,the US Navy shamefully court-martialled Captain McVay,blaming him for the loss of his ship.He was found guilty,despite the support of his surviving crew and even the Japanese submarine commander who sank his ship,tried to defend the captain.Commander Hashimoto of the I-58,had told the court that there was nothing Captain McVay could do to avoid his threat.
Despite Commander Hashimoto's best efforts,the verdict was already a foregone conclusion.This led to so much suffering for Captain McVay,as he recieved a lot of hate mail from the grieving relatives of the lost.
It all ended in tragedy for him,as he suffered the loss of his wife and commited suicide.A terrible and shameful injustice on the man.
Quite recently,the late Captain McVay was exonerated of all the charges,but the US Navy and those that made him suffer,should hang their heads in shame.
Such is the horror of war...
