On July 30, 1946, the USS Indianapolis was sunk after delivering the Hiroshima bomb on a super secret mission. So secret, it was 3 days before it was even noticed.
When it was hit, 900 of the 1196 men went into the water. Less than 300 came out when they were sighted by accident and rescued after those horrible 3 days. If you recall the movie Jaws, Quint told the story of what happened to the men. Although some died from the torpedo blast, most drowned or were taken by sharks. I always thought as a kid that being eaten was the worst way to go, but I was thinking Lion at the time.
I watched a show on the History Channel about this fateful voyage. Most of the men didn’t even know that they were delivering the “bumb” as Quint called it.
Here’s the description from the movie that tells the gruesome details:
Hooper: You were on the Indianapolis?
Brody: What happened?
Quint: Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte… just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn’t see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that when you’re in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn’t know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named “The Battle of Waterloo” and the idea was: shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin’ and hollerin’ and screamin’ and sometimes the shark go away… but sometimes he wouldn’t go away. Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark… he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be living… until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin’ and the hollerin’, they all come in and they… rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don’t know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain’s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he’d been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us… he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened… waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, July the 30th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.
Shortly after this, the bomb was dropped and the war in the pacific theater was over. God bless those men who made the ultimate sacrifice for peace and freedom.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 at 2:30 pm and is filed under history, military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
pride and aknowledgement of sacrifice is good, important even, but John you don’t even spare a thought here for the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed by the bomb you mention. the ultimate sacrifice for peace and freedom - that was the price paid by the civilians, as well.
I know that’s not the point of the story but I am increasingly sickened by our individual and cultural willingness to ignore civilian casualties.
Anyone that went through what the men on the Indianapolis went through certainly deserve our sympathy. I happen to think the war was over anyway, even if the boat was sunk *before* it delivered the bomb, but that’s a different question.
Being a martial artist, I am studying the history of the Japanese and their culture.
Surrender was forbidden to the Japanese. They had the warrier spirit of the Samurai which led them to know that they would win, or die. That is why they had kamikazi’s and all were willing to commit seppuku, the reason that almost no prisoners were taken. The greatest honor was to give your life for the emperor, so the war wouldn’t be over until the last soldier had given his very all, and all were soldiers in the emperor’s Army, remember he was considered a diety back then.
I agree that civilian causalties are tragic, even one. I’m glad I wasn’t alive to make that decision, but we are a culture that values living, where then (and now in our current conflicts) the opposition considers dying for their cause to be the ultimate honor and the way into heaven. That changes the rules of engagement. History documents that the Japanese kept coming on the attack, even with swords when the ammunition ran out rather than surrender.
Historians also estimate that 2 million were saved by ending the war early as the next battle was to be the invasion of Japan, where even more would have died if the war hadn’t ended, on both sides. The battle plan was prepared and was only days from beginning when they finally surrendered. The war’s result may have been fate accompli, but it was not over until the spirit to fight was removed.
It’s a lose/lose scenareo, people die either way.
War is not pretty, fun or any other word except hell, as are the consequences of war.
I forgot two words….Pearl Harbor.
[...] First, the US troops had to take Tinian Island, at a cost of many lives on both sides. The bomb had to be delivered by the USS Indianapolis, at the cost of many US lives. Then, he had to execute the plan which would have him live the rest of his life with the death of 80,000 Japanese, and the fact that he saved the lives of 2 million soldiers on both sides because the dropping of “little boy” forced the unconditional surrender of the Imperial Japanese. The Japanese were willing to fight to the bitter end as evidenced by their defense of Okinawa documented by Tammy Bruce: [...]
[...] First, the US troops had to take Tinian Island, at a cost of many lives on both sides. The bomb had to be delivered by the USS Indianapolis, at the cost of many US lives. Then, he had to execute the plan which would have him live the rest of his life with the death of 80,000 Japanese, and the fact that he saved the lives of 2 million soldiers on both sides because the dropping of “little boy” forced the unconditional surrender of the Imperial Japanese. The Japanese were willing to fight to the bitter end as evidenced by their defense of Okinawa documented by Tammy Bruce: [...]
I have been looking for a movie based on this, I know there’s one out there. That aside, this is a very good read, thank you.
In addition to said above.
Pearl Harbor was a military object, unlike Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I think one of main thoughts which occupied minds of politicians, soldiers, pilots etc., was something like “Let’s these revenge these japanese monkeys for the Pearl Harbor!”. Well, they did it. It’s the main reason of “national pride” of U.S. for atomic bombings of civilian towns.
And yet another thing. It’s very complex question, how to admire, to respect or to scorn people like quint for us, living 60 years after that war and that raids. But I think that Quint/s death in the jaws of Shark, and the way it was pictured, have used to be some kind of avenge for Indianapolis and the bomb, by Spielberg’s intention.
And yet another thing which confirms that, in my opnion . “Quint” means “fifth” as a fifth victim of the killer-shark in th movie. First four were killed in the coast. So, Quint’s fate is predestined in the names meaning,just after their sailing off the Amity Island.
that is like so sad what happened