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A review of Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic - 8/26/24 by
Lee Bradley

This is historical nonfiction and is the definitive work on the sinking
of the Indianapolis. I learned a lot when I read this and highly
recommend the book.

The book is divided into 5 parts: The Kamikaze, The Mission, The Deep,
Trial and Scandal, An Innocent Man.

The man who is ultimately found innocent is Charles McVay, the Captain
of the Indianapolis. His ship was torpedoed on July 30, 1945. WWII was
nearing its end. VE Day was May 8, 1945 and Japan was about to be
invaded. The Indianapolis was tasked to deliver the atom bomb to Tinian,
an island in the Mariana Islands, north of Guam. Mochitsura Hashimoto,
Commander of the Japanese submarine I-58, spotted the Indianapolis
shortly after the delivery and fired multiple torpedoes at it. It sank
within minutes. Some 300 men went down with the ship. 900 went in the
water.

For the next 4½ days and nights the men endured shark filled water,
hunger, and what increasingly looked like a hopeless situation. Why
weren't rescue planes or boats coming? SOS calls had been issued
multiple times despite the compromised condition of the radio equipment.

The authors' research reveals multiple failures to report the delay of
the ship's arrival to port. A court marshal of Captain McVay found him
guilty of the loss of the ship and some 600 men. The main argument was
he should have zigzagged while heading to his destination instead of
following a straight path. But this argument was suspect and ultimately
the commander of the sub that sank McVay's ship argued that he could
have succeeded under either a zigzag or straight line course.

Much, much later, the survivors and several dedicated people, including
an 8th grader, Hunter Scott, convinced several senators to review the
case and ultimately a resolution to exonerate McVay was passed. Spoiler:
this exoneration was posthumous. McVay committed suicide outside his
home in Litchfield, CT.

The story of the Indianapolis has been hidden from the public for years.
Hunter first heard of it when he watched the movie Jaws where the
tragedy is mentioned briefly. His father was a history professor and
helped him do the research for a school project.

At the end of the book we learn Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen piloted
his submersible to the area where the ship went down and located it!