30 July 1945: Sinking of USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
Following completion of her top secret mission to deliver components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to Tinian in a record-breaking transit, the heavy cruiser Indianapolis was steaming from Guam to Leyte when she encountered Japanese submarine I-58 on the night of 29–30 July.
In an ideal attack position just as the moon broke through the heavy cloud cover, I-58 hit Indianapolis with two of six torpedoes. Indianapolis went down in about 12 minutes. Although distress transmissions were made, none made it off the ship due to loss of power and damage.
Of 1,195 men aboard, only 316 survived. As many as 200 to 300 went down with the ship and another 600 to 700 perished in a horrific four-day-plus ordeal of scorching sun, hypothermia, deadly salt water–induced hallucinations, and shark attacks.
The survivors were first discovered by accident by a PV-1 Ventura on 2 August. This was followed by a risky open-ocean landing by a PBY Catalina flying boat.
The tragedy was compounded due to missed communications, faulty assumptions, and faulty operating procedures. No one ashore knew that Indianapolis was lost until destroyer escort Cecil J. Doyle (DE-368) arrived on scene at midnight, 2–3 August.
The magnitude and circumstances of the loss just days before the Japanese surrender resulted in intense criticism of the U.S. Navy that reverberated for decades.
Sinking of USS Indianapolis (CA-35) by US Navy Admiral Sam Cox
