USS INDIANAPOLIS departed San Francisco on the 16 July 1945 for a high speed run to Hawaii and then onto Tinian Island. The ship was commanded by Captain Charles McVay III. On board were key components for the atomic bomb. These components were delivered to Tinian Island on 26 July. They were then loaded onto the super fortress ENOLA GAY for the flight to Hiroshima.
The return voyage was to be by Guam to Leyte. The ship was sunk by torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-58 halfway between Guam and Leyte. The ship lost all power, turned over and sank in 12 minutes. There were 900 survivors out of the 1,200 crew. However, the Navy lost the ship from its plotting boards, so no rescue was mounted. On the day 4 in the water the survivors were spotted by planes. After the 4 days in the water there were only 316 survivors out of the 900. Many had been taken by sharks.
Captain McVay was court martialled for the loss of his ship. The captain of I-58 was brought to the USA by the prosecution to testify against McVay. The submarine captain testified that he was in such a good position to attack that zigzagging would have not have made any difference.
Finally in 2000 McVay was exonerated by Congress and signed by Bill Clinton. This would be little comfort to McVay who received lots of hate mail and committed suicide in 1968.
Come along to hear this amazing story of a travesty of justice to protect the reputations of some very important Navy people.
Noel Phelan's first career was as a science and mathematics teacher. He then moved into IT with IBM where he spent 25 years in various technical and management positions. He has been a volunteer guide at the Maritime Museum for several years and enjoys showing visitors over HMAS Vampire, HMAS Advance, HMAS Onslow and First Lady. Noel is also the team leader for the museum speakers.
The meeting will be held via Zoom from 7:00 am for 7:15 a.m. start. At about 7:30 a.m., Noel will talk for about 40 minutes, followed by questions. We finish promptly at 8:30 a.m.
Here are the Zoom meeting ID details:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 812 4288 0310 Passcode: 090845
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 812 4288 0310 Passcode: 090845