Captain Charles B. McVay III, last Commanding Officer of USS Indianapolis (CA-35), tells War Correspondents about the sinking of his ship. Photographed on Guam in August 1945, following the rescue of her survivors. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives

Captain Charles Butler McVay III (July 30, 1898-November 6, 1968) was commander of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when it was lost at sea in 1945 and rescue efforts were delayed, resulting in a tragic and massive loss of life. Captain McVay was a career naval officer with an exemplary record before the Indianapolis incident. In the wake of the tragedy, he was unfairly blamed for the incident and after years of mental health problems, committed suicide a broken man. After years of efforts by survivors and others to clear his name, Captain McVay was finally exonerated by the the United States Congress posthumously in 2000. USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 55 days remaining. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

The Indianapolis incident was the U.S. Navy's greatest loss of life in single incident ever. The tragedy and the subsequent treatment of Captain McVay are two of the darker events in the history of the U.S. Navy. It took over 50 years and efforts of the survivors, the motivation and determination of a concerned 12 year old schoolboy, and the U.S. Congress to finally set the record straight. The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ...

see main article USS Indianapolis (CA-35) USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. ...

Education, career

Charles Butler McVay III was born on July 30, 1898 to a Navy family. His father, Charles Butler McVay Jr., had commanded the tender, Yankton during the cruise of the Great White Fleet (1907-1909). He was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War I. Later, in the earlier 1930s, he served as Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet. The Great White Fleet steaming in column; the USS Kansas at left. ... Admiral is a word from the Arabic term Amir-al-bahr (Lord of the bay). ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... The Asiatic Fleet was part of the US Navy. ...

Charles III was a 1920 graduate of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Before taking command of the Indianapolis in November 1944, Captain McVay was chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the combined chiefs of staff in Washington, D.C., the Allies' highest intelligence unit. Earlier in World War II, he won the Silver Star for displaying courage under fire. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Teamwork: Fourth Class Midshipmen lock arms and use ropes made from uniform items as they brace themselves climbing the Herndon Monument The United States Naval Academy, or USNA, is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. ... Nickname: Americas Sailing Capital , Naptown Location in Maryland Founded  -Incorporated 1649 1708  County Anne Arundel County Mayor Ellen O. Moyer (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 19. ... Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States of America. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... The Silver Star is a United States military award which is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States Armed Forces, is cited for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing...

Captain McVay led the ship through the invasion of Iwo Jima, then the bombardment of Okinawa in the spring of 1945, during which Indianapolis antiaircraft guns shot down seven enemy planes before the ship was struck by a kamikaze on March 31, inflicting heavy casualties, including 13 dead, and penetrating the ship's hull. McVay returned the ship safely to Mare Island in California for repairs. Landsat photo of Iwo Jima, circa 2000 Iwo Jima  listen? (Japanese 硫黄島 Iōtō, or Iōjima, meaning sulfur island) is a volcanic island in Japan, part of the Volcano Islands (also known as the Ogasawara Islands), approximately 650 miles (1046 km) south of Tokyo (24. ... This article is about the prefecture. ... A kamikaze, a Mitsubishi Zero in this case, about to hit the USS Missouri. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining, as the final day of March. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ...

A secret mission, and destruction

Later that year, Indianapolis received orders to carry parts and nuclear material to be used in the atomic bombs which were soon to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Tinian. After delivering her top secret cargo, the ship was en route to report for further duty off Okinawa. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Main keep of Hiroshima Castle The city of Hiroshima (広島市; -shi) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japans islands. ... Nagasaki at night, 2003 Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge) Nagasaki   listen? (長崎市; -shi, literally long peninsula) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture located on the south-western coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four mainland islands of Japan. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article is about the prefecture. ...

Early in the morning of July 30, 1945, she was attacked by Japanese submarine I-58, Commander Machitsura Hashimoto in command. Hit by two torpedoes, two heavy explosions occurred against the starboard side forward, and Indianapolis capsized and sank in twelve minutes. July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... A modern torpedo, historically called a self-propelled torpedo, is a self-propelled guided projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ...

Delayed rescue: 5 days of horror in the water

About 300 of the 1,196 men on board died in the attack. The rest of the crew, nearly 900 men, floated in the water without lifeboats until the rescue was completed five days later. For reasons which have never been explained, the ship was not reported "overdue" and the rescue only came after survivors were spotted by pilot Lieutenant Wilber (Chuck) Gwinn and copilot Lieutenant Warren Colwell on a routine patrol flight. They suffered from lack of food and water, but the worst hazard came from constant shark attacks. Only 316 men survived. The horrific tale was made famous by Quint's soliloquy in the movie Jaws. Orders Hexanchiformes Squaliformes Pristiophoriformes Squatiniformes Heterodontiformes Orectolobiformes Carcharhiniformes Lamniformes Sharks are a group (superorder Selachimorpha) of fish, with a full cartilaginous skeleton, a streamlined body plan with between 5 and 7 gill slits along the sides (most often) or side of the head (the first modified slit is behind the... Jaws (1975) is an American film, based upon a bestselling novel by Peter Benchley, which tells the story of a resort towns sheriff who tries to protect beachgoers from the predations of a huge great white shark by closing the beach, only to be overruled by the town council. ...

The seas had been moderate; the visibility, good; Indianapolis had been steaming at 17 knots (31 km/h). When the ship did not reach Leyte on the 31st, as scheduled, no report was made that she was overdue. This omission was officially recorded later as "due to a misunderstanding of the Movement Report System". It was not until 10:25 on August 2 that the survivors were sighted, mostly held afloat by life jackets, although there were a few rafts which had been cut loose before the ship went down. They were sighted by a plane on routine patrol; the pilot immediately dropped a life raft and a radio transmitter. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once. Leyte can refer to several things: Leyte, an island in the Phillipines, site of a major World War II battle Leyte Gulf, also in the Phillipines, and site of a WW II battle Leyte province, a province of the Phillipines, including most of Leyte island Southern Leyte, a province of...

Future U.S. Secretary of the Navy W. Graham Claytor Jr. was commander of the destroyer escort Cecil J. Doyle. After receiving the location from the seaplane, without orders, Captain Claytor took the initiative to speed to the are to check the reports of men floating in the water. As he approached at night, he turned searchlights on the water and straight up on low clouds, lighting up the night and exposing his ship to possible attack by Japanese submarines but rescuing almost 100 survivors of the sunken cruiser. Destroyers Madison and Ralph Talbot were ordered from Ulithi, and the destroyer escort Dufilho with attack transports Bassett and Ringness from the Philippine Frontier to the rescue scene, searching thoroughly for any survivors. Flag of the United States Secretary of the Navy. ... William Graham Claytor Jr. ... A Destroyer Escort (DE) is a small, fast warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships. ... U.S.S. (DE-368) was a United States Navy John C. Butler-class destroyer escort commissioned in 1944. ... External links History of Ralph Talbot Navy Photos of Ralph Talbot (DD-390) Report of Pearl Harbor Attack Categories: Bagley class destroyers | World War II ships ...

Upon completion of rescue operations, August 8, a radius of 100 miles (160 km) had been combed by day and by night. However, the effort was able to save only 316 of the crew of 1,199 men.

Controversy; a scapegoat

Although he was wounded, Captain McVay , commander of Indianapolis, survived and was among those rescued. He repeatedly asked the Navy why it took five days to rescue his men, and he never received an answer. The Navy long claimed that SOS messages were never received because the ship was operating under a policy of radio silence; declassified records now show that the Navy lied. At least three SOS messages were received separately, but none were acted upon because one commander was drunk, another had ordered his men not to disturb him and a third thought it was a Japanese prank. [1]

There was much controversy over the incident. In November 1945, McVay was court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag." Several circumstances of the court-martial were controversial: there was overwhelming evidence that the United States Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way; the commander of I-58, Mochitsura Hashimoto, testified that zigzagging would have made no difference [2]; and although 700 ships of the U.S. Navy were lost in combat in World War II, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed. A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe...

It was widely felt that he had been a scapegoat for the Navy. Despite the fact McVay was promoted to rear admiral when he retired in 1949, the conviction effectively ended McVay's career in the Navy, and he was hounded and blamed the rest of his life by grief-stricken relatives of the dead crewmen and he committed suicide by shooting himself with his Navy pistol in 1968. [3] The scapegoat was a goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in Judaism during the times of the Temple in Jerusalem. ...

Exoneration: a 50-year effort

Indianapolis survivors organized, and many spent years attempting to clear their skipper's name. Many people, from son Charles McVay IV to author Dan Kurzman, who chronicled the Indianapolis tragedy in Fatal Voyage, to members of Congress long believed Capt. McVay was unfairly convicted. Paul Murphy, president of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization, said: "Capt. McVay's court-martial was simply to divert attention from the terrible loss of life caused by procedural mistakes which never alerted anyone that we were missing." The Indianapolis skyline Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana. ...

Finally, just over fifty years after the tragedy, a schoolboy in Pensacola, Florida, Hunter Scott (12 years old at the time), was instrumental in raising awareness of the miscarriage of justice carried out at the captain's court-martial. As part of a school history project, the young man interviewed nearly 150 survivors of the Indianapolis sinking and reviewed 800 documents. His testimony before the US Congress brought national attention to the longstanding injustice. Source: Detroit News, April 23, 1998 This article is about the inland city of Pensacola. ... Hunter Alan Scott (born June 9, 1985) is currently studying journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Naval ROTC scholarship. ... April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

In October of 2000 the United States Congress passed a resolution that Captain McVay's record should reflect that "he is exonerated for the loss of the USS Indianapolis." President Clinton also signed the resolution. [4] This article is about the year 2000. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... William Jefferson Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. ...

"I would not have hesitated to serve under him again. His treatment by the Navy was unforgivable and shameful."

From statement submitted at September 1999 Senate hearing by Florian Stamm, one of the USS Indianapolis survivors

The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ...

See also

• USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
• W. Graham Claytor Jr.
• List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II for other Navy ships lost in WWII.

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. ... William Graham Claytor Jr. ... List of U.S. Navy ships lost during World War II, from 7 December 1941 to 1 October 1945, sorted by type and name. ...

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
• Doug Stanton, In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors ISBN 0805073663

The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS for short) is the primary reference work for the basic facts about every ship ever used by the United States Navy. ...

External links

• USS Indianapolis — Still at sea
• Photographs of Indianapolis
• http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2565.html