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USS Indianapolis

Cruiser 1,196 sailors aboard Delivered world’s first operational atomic bomb to Tinian Island on July 26, 1945 Ordered to join the Battleship USS Idaho at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines Unescorted Struck by two Japanese torpedoes at 12:14 am on July 30, 1945 About 900 men made it into the water in the twelve minutes before the ship sank

Delayed Rescue Shark attacks Almost five days before rescue Top secret mission Distress signals were used by Japanese to trap U.S. ships 317 Survivors Worst Naval disaster of the war

Controversial Facts Captains request for a destroyer escort was denied. Ship lacked anti- submarine detection equipment. Captain McVay was not told that shortly before his departure from Guam a Japanese submarine within range of his path had sunk a destroyer escort, the USS Underhill Shortly after the Indianapolis was sunk, naval intelligence decoded a message from the Japanese sub to its HQ in Japan that it had sunk an American battleship along the route of the Indianapolis. The message was ignored. Naval authorities say the Indianapolis sunk too quickly to send out a distress signal. Crew members of three separate ships received a distress signal from the Indianapolis. Confusion on the part of the Navy communications and a faulty directive caused the failure of the Indianapolis to arrive on schedule to go unnoticed.