USS Indianapolis: The Atomic Mission, Four Days Adrift and a Captain Made the Scapegoat

Shortly after midnight on 30 July 1945, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis was sailing alone between Guam and Leyte. It had just completed a secret trip to Tinian, where it delivered components used in the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In the Philippine Sea, the Japanese submarine I-58 fired torpedoes. Two struck the starboard side. Indianapolis sank in about twelve minutes.

About 800 sailors and Marines entered the water. They had life jackets or floating nets, but not enough water, food or medical supplies. The ship could not send a usable distress signal because the explosion destroyed its power and communications. People on shore did not know its exact position. For four and a half days, survivors drifted through heat, wounds, dehydration and sharks. A patrol aircraft happened to see them on 2 August. Only 316 were alive.