This Day In History - World War II July 29, 1945 Japanese sink the USS Indianapolis

http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6534 ^

[mainepatsfan]

1945 : Japanese sink the USS Indianapolis

On this day in 1945, Japanese warships sink the American cruiser Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen in the worst loss in the history of the U.S. navy.

As a prelude to a proposed invasion of the Japanese mainland, scheduled for November 1, U.S. forces bombed the Japanese home islands from sea and air, as well as blowing Japanese warships out of the water. The end was near for Imperial Japan, but it was determined to go down fighting. Just before midnight of the 29th, the Indianapolis, an American cruiser that was the flagship of the Fifth Fleet, was on its way, unescorted, to Guam, then Okinawa. It never made it. It was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Interestingly, the sub was commanded by a lieutenant who had also participated in the Pearl Harbor invasion.

There were 1,196 crewmen onboard the Indianapolis; over 350 died upon impact of the torpedo or went down with the ship. More than 800 fell into the Pacific. Of those, approximately 50 died that first night in the water from injuries suffered in the torpedo explosion; the remaining seamen were left to flounder in the Pacific, fend off sharks, drink sea water (which drove some insane), and wait to be rescued. Because there was no time for a distress signal before the Indianapolis went down, it was 84 hours before help arrived. This was despite the fact that American naval headquarters had intercepted a message on July 30 from the Japanese sub commander responsible for sinking the Indianapolis, describing the type of ship sunk and its location. (The Americans assumed it was an exaggerated boast and didn't bother to follow up.) Only 318 survived; the rest were eaten by sharks or drowned. The Indianapolis's commander, Captain Charles McVay, was the only officer ever to be court-martialed for the loss of a ship during wartime in the history of the U.S. Navy.

Had the attack happened only three days earlier, the Indianapolis would have been sunk carrying special cargo-the atom bomb, which it delivered to Tinian Island, northeast of Guam, for scientists to assemble.

[saganite]

Thanks. Good post. I’ll be interested to see the History Channel take on it if they even bother to cover the aftermath.

[mainepatsfan]

Submarines trying to catch a fast surface ship is like Randy Moss being covered by a dozen grandmothers.

LOL! Great analogy!

[BGHater]

Nice post. While we are at it lets remember the USS Juneau (CL-52).

Similar to the USS Indianapolis, but only 10 survived.

[mainepatsfan]

Indeed. The ship the Fighting Sullivans were aboard.

[indcons]

Military history ping

The Discovery Channel discusses this bit of history today in a program titled "Ocean of Fear" (part of their "shark week" series).

Last Voyage of the USS Indianapolis

[RoadTest]

GO PATS!!!

[Stallone]

Attention Freepers - help get the word out!

Did you know America WARNED the Japanese civilians they were going to ATTACK the major cities that included HIROSHIMA and NAGASAKI for over 1 week BEFORE the attack?

" LeMay bombing leaflet, which was delivered to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and 33 other Japanese cities on 1 August 1945. By 9 August, more than 5 million leaflets about the atom bomb had been released over major Japanese cities. "

I had NO idea that the U.S. provided ample warning to the Japanese civilian population to evacuate a list of cities, and that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were marked for destruction.

This was no sneak attack, and hardly the heartless act the leftists would have you believe!

Remember this proudly when you confront a leftist weasel about America's first use of the nuclear bomb - we gave the Japanese enemy notice by leaflet and radio station for days beforehand to evacuate!

None of our would-be enemies would be so charitable, but you will NEVER hear this from the treasonous dinosaur media.

Here's more on the leaflet warning the Japanese citizenry:

Front side of OWI notice #2106, dubbed the “LeMay bombing leaflet,” which was delivered to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and 33 other Japanese cities on 1 August 1945.

Office of War Information [OWI] presses were turning out leaflets that revealed the special nature of Hiroshima’s destruction and predicted similar fates for more Japanese cities in the absence of immediate acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam agreement.

The Japanese text on the reverse side of the leaflet carried the following warning:

“Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or friend.

In the next few days, some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs. These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories which produce military goods.

We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique which they are using to prolong this useless war. But, unfortunately, bombs have no eyes.

So, in accordance with America's humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives.

America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique which has enslaved the Japanese people. The peace which America will bring will free the people from the oppression of the military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan. You can restore peace by demanding new and good leaders who will end the war.

We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked but some or all of them will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately.”

(See Richard S. R. Hubert, “The OWI Saipan Operation,” Official Report to US Information Service, Washington, DC 1946.)

By 9 August, more than 5 million leaflets about the atom bomb had been released over major Japanese cities.

The OWI radio station beamed a similar message to Japan every 15 minutes.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Click for more.

[Stallone]

Tip of the hat to Freeper oh8eleven for bringing this to my attention.

[norwaypinesavage]

"You won’t find many veterans of the Pacific war who do."

Unfortunately, you won’t find many veterans of the Pacific war left any more at all. Most of the anti-nuke crowd weren't there.

[BlazingArizona]

Wasn’t the Indianapolis running straight, no zig zagging, when she was torpedoed?

Yes, and it was also easily visible by moonlight.

[Tallguy]

Submarines trying to catch a fast surface ship is like Randy Moss being covered by a dozen grandmothers.

Interesting analogy...

A lot of the confusion had to do with the ship crossing fleet boundaries. Indianapolis was flagship of the Fifth Fleet, but she was moving into waters controlled by the Seventh Fleet. Nobody at the Seventh Fleet really did anything about it for days after she was 'overdue'. I don't think the nature of her mission had anything to do with it since the Bomb was already delivered to Tinian.

[Candor7]

I think the recently published book,"FLYBOYS," is decent treatment of the war with Japan,written by the same author as " Flags of Our Fathers," James Bradley. Both America and Japan perpetrated atrocities against civilians. The fire bombings of major cities in Japan killed far more civilians than Hiroshima and Nagasaki ever did. The Japanese abandoned troop supply in the Pacific, resulting in cannibalism of, Chinese, American POWs and their own men.

Whoever said war is hell, perpetrates a salient truth.There was no pure side to the war between Japan and America, and if you think either was, you are a dreamer.

I happen to admire modern Japan and her people, who were largely hoodwinked by a military movement of spiritist, banzai, A-holes, prior to WWII.That's why the Japanese people are so anti-military today. Now they need to have an offensive capacity in their military to help the USA contain China. Lets hope they get over it. And we need to as well.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Remainder of the movie quote:

“Very first light, chief, sharks came cruising, so we formed ourselves into tight groups… you know, kind of like old squares in a battle like you see in a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo, and the idea was, shark comes to the nearest man and then you start pounding and hollering and screaming. Sometimes the shark goes, sometimes he wouldn’t go away… I don’t know how many sharks. Maybe a thousand, I don’t know how many men, they averaged six an hour…
Noon the fifth day, Mr Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low… and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down, starts to pick us up…
So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out and the sharks took the rest, June 29th 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.””

[Coldwater Creek]

On this day in 1941 I was born!

[TalBlack]

“to this day, I cannot fathom how some people still question the morality of our dropping the Bomb on Japan”

This has been explained many times over the years: They enjoy all the benefits of the dropping of the bomb (existance, Democracy, those sorts of things) while at the same enjoying the sense that they are morally superior to you and I.

[ANGGAPO]

Sorry pal, I was on Okinawa for the attack on Japan that never came. Love that bomb.

[ANGGAPO]

Whoever said war is hell, perpetrates a salient truth.There was no pure side to the war between Japan and America, and if you think either was, you are a dreamer.

If ever there was a just war fought, the war with Japan was. The Japanese had killed thousands in China by the time of Pearl Harbor. Their intent was to own the western Pacific, including Australia. They gave no quarter, and they received none from us.

[Stallone]

Say it loudly - “America warned Japanese Civililans to evacuate Hiroshima and Nagasaki days before the bombs were dropped.”

Nothing else is required.

No guilt, no excuses. NONE.

And tell the Libs who would condemn America and try to shame her on this anniversary, to shove it.