WRECK OF THE USS INDIANA POLIS FOUND 72 YEARS AFTER SINKING.
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FOUND AFTER 72 YEARS
Civilian researchers say they have located the wreck of the USS Indianapolis, the Second World War heavy cruiser that played a critical role in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima before being struck by Japanese torpedoes.
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SANK IN 12 MINUTES
The Indianapolis, with 1,196 sailors and Marines on board, was sailing the Philippine Sea between Guam and Leyte Gulf when two torpedoes struck just after midnight on July 30, 1945. It sank in 12 minutes, killing about 300. Survivors were left in the water, most of them with only life-jackets. There was no time to send a distress signal, and four days passed before a bomber on routine patrol happened to spot the survivors. By the time rescuers arrived, a combination of exposure, dehydration, drowning and constant shark attacks had left only onefourth of the ship’s original number alive. The cruiser’s captain, Charles Butler McVay III, was among those who survived, but he was eventually court-martialed and convicted of losing control of the vessel. Years later, McVay was posthumously exonerated by Congress and President Bill Clinton.
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SHIP BECAME A LEGEND
The Indianapolis had just completed a top secret mission to deliver components of the atomic bomb “Little Boy” to the island of Tinian. The bomb was later dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Over the years numerous books recounted the ship’s disaster and its role in the Hiroshima bombing. Documentaries and movies, most recently USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016) starring Nicolas Cage, have recounted the crew’s horror-filled days at sea. The Indianapolis sinking also was a plot point in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Jaws (1975), with the fictitious survivor Capt. Quint recounting the terror he felt waiting to be rescued.
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KEY CLUE FOUND IN 2016
The shipwreck’s location had eluded researchers for decades. The key came in 2016 when Richard Hulver, a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command, determined a new search area. Hulver’s research identified a naval landing craft that had recorded a sighting of the Indianapolis the day before it sank. The research team developed a new search area, although it was still 600 square miles of open ocean. The U.S. navy said the 13-person expedition team on the Research Vessel Petrel was surveying the Indianapolis site.
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‘WAR GRAVE’ WILL NOT BE DISTURBED
The expedition crew of Research Vessel Petrel, which is owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, says it located the wreckage of the Indianapolis on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean, more than 18,000 feet below the surface. “To be able to honour the brave men of the USS Indianapolis and their families through the discovery of a ship that played such a significant role in ending World War II is truly humbling,” Allen said. The ship is an official war grave, which means it is protected by law from disturbances. Naval archeologists will prepare to tour the site and see what data they can retrieve. No recovery efforts are planned.