This Day in Aviation History: The USS Indianapolis

Happy “hump day” for those still working full time.  Today’s “this day in aviation history” is about a heavy cruiser, the USS Indianapolis.  “What,”  you may ask, “does a heavy cruiser have to do with aviation?”  “Well,” my answer would be, “the USS Indianapolis and aviation are inextricably linked both from the mission the ship had just successfully completed (delivering key components of the first atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan by a B-29 Super Fortress, the Enola Gay), and it was aviation that ultimately located and was responsible for the rescue of the surviving ship’s crewmen in one of WWII history’s most tragic and compelling ship sinkings, 80 years ago today.  And the surviving crewmen from that tragic sinking certainly got over their own miraculous “hump” by surviving four days…more days without fresh water than they should have survived…as well as surviving sharks, drowning, and their injuries.  It is one of history’s most compelling survival and “never give up” stories.  

Downloaded today from: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-30/uss-indianapolis-bombed.

The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis survivors being cared for.  PhotoQuest/Getty Images.

“On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sinks within minutes in shark-infested waters. Only 316 of the 1,196 men on board survived. However, the Indianapolis had already completed its major mission: the delivery of key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped a week later at Hiroshima to Tinian Island in the South Pacific.

“The Indianapolis made its delivery to Tinian Island on July 26, 1945. The mission was top secret and the ship’s crew was unaware of its cargo. After leaving Tinian, the Indianapolis sailed to the U.S. military’s Pacific headquarters at Guam and was given orders to meet the battleship USS Idaho at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan.

“Shortly after midnight on July 30, halfway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, a Japanese sub blasted the Indianapolis, sparking an explosion that split the ship and caused it to sink in approximately 12 minutes, with about 300 men trapped inside. Another 900 went into the water, where many died from drowning, shark attacks, dehydration or injuries from the explosion. Help did not arrive until four days later, on August 2, when an anti-submarine plane on routine patrol happened upon the men and radioed for assistance.

The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) underway at sea on 27 September 1939.  US Navy photo/public domain.

“On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, inflicting nearly 130,000 casualties and destroying more than 60 percent of the city. On August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, where casualties were estimated at over 66,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. government kept quiet about the Indianapolis tragedy until August 15 in order to guarantee that the news would be overshadowed by President Harry Truman’s announcement that Japan had surrendered.

A Lockheed PV-1 Ventura patrol bomber model like the one that discovered the surviving USS Indianapolis crew.  US Navy/public domain.

“In the aftermath of the events involving the Indianapolis, the ship’s commander, Captain Charles McVay, was court-martialed in November 1945 for failing to sail a zigzag course that would have helped the ship to evade enemy submarines in the area. McVay, the only Navy captain court-martialed for losing a ship during the war, died by suicide in 1968. Many of his surviving crewmen believed the military had made him a scapegoat. In 2000, 55 years after the Indianapolis went down, Congress cleared McVay’s name.”

Onward and upward!

Sources:  History.com, US Navy, PhotoQuest/Getty Images