Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis

[Sequoia]

Thanks to the DUer who mentioned this book about two weeks ago. I got one at the library and it is an amazing story.

The Japanese captain prayed to sink a ship, kaiten's cried when they couldn't commit suicide by ramming their little subs into the ship. Three fortune tellers wanred that evil would befall the ship. The ship was carrying parts of the atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima. Pre-Karama? What a tragic fate for those poor men.

http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JPXXQN1EL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

[Sadie4629]

1. Yes. But--

--how was Karl Rove involved?

[Sequoia]

3. Let me think....he was one of the sharks and came back as a guy.

[BOSSHOG]

2. Awesome book indeed

I often referenced it in Naval Leadership courses as an excellent example of how not to take care of your people, (referring to the chain of command, not the Ship's CO.)

[Sequoia]

5. You were in the Navy?

I was looking for more books about it and seems a kid name Hunter Scott wrote a book on it too after seeing "Jaws" and got the Navy to clean the record of Captain McVay. Too late for him since he took his own life in 1968. What's remarkable is when Scott went to the university library (Florida, heh, heh..no wonder)there was not one book about it so he did his own research and interviewed survivors. The media picked up on the story (1999 or so)and he was in the news for awhile which I somehow missed. He just graduated from Chapel Hill this past May and is in the Navy.

An interesting note, I read about the sinking of the Lusatania and that too was blamed on not zig zagging.

[BOSSHOG]

6. Another book about the sinking

ABANDON SHIP by Richard F. Newcomb published in 2000, and a more recent one I believe was titled IN HARM'S WAY, don't recall the author.

If ya want to read another great book about a Navy Disaster check out A GLIMPSE OF HELL by Charles Thompson about the Iowa Explosion.

[Sequoia]

7. Okay, thanks.

[Sabriel]

9. His book is titled Left for Dead

http://www.amazon.com/Left-Dead-Search-Justice-Indianapolis/dp/0385730918/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/105-0925476-5520436?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187136859&sr=8-3

Apparently, he became interested in its history from watching that scene in Jaws where Robert Shaw's character talks about being on the Indianapolis.

It's well written and researched.

[Parche]

4. Other Good Books

:hi:

[BOSSHOG]

8. Hey Parche, I discovered some more Submarine Fiction

SINK THE SHIGURE by R. Cameron Cooke. Its WWII fiction. A Skipper gets a new Sub after his "beloved" Seatrout is sunk by the Japanese Destroyer Shigure and he's after it with a vengeance. I got about five books ahead of that one but I'll get to it eventually

[Sequoia]

16. I just picked up Kurzman's "Left to Die..

Tragedy of the USS Juneau", and the one about the Immortal Chaplins. One guy at work said, "You mean there's a whole genre of books about sinking ships?"

What's amazing is how these guys who were in the water would start to think that they could swim underwater to get to the sunken ship and get a hamburger and Coke, and would think they see islands close by when in fact none of that was true. Why does the mind do that? Some drugs have that effect too.

[BOSSHOG]

17. There is a stained glass window

of the Chaplains at the Chapel onboard the Naval Base in Philadelphia. The base has been closed for several years, I don't know if the Chapel is still there but it would be nice if someone kept that window, it was quite beautiful. The Sullivan Brothers were on the Juneau, creating what had to be the worst casualty assistance calls ever. Ma'm all five of your sons were killed at sea.

[Sequoia]

18. Yes it would be.

Those guys who in the water from the Juneau would be in rafts and the sharks would just jump in and grab them. One horrid scene was when one of the guys sliced a shark as it swam by only to discover an arm of a guy he knew in its stomach. Feaked me out. The Navy just left those guys in the water for 6 days and only 10 of the about 140 who were in the water made it out. Hoover was held resonsible and relieved of command. (He was a trip, ran his home like a ship and didn't tell his kids until they were grown up that their mother was actually alive in a mental insitution for trying to kill him. Hell, he probably drove her mad bossing her around. Don't get a divorce, just commit her.)

As a small child I remember seeing the movie "The Fighting Sullivans", where the parents hung the flags with the 5 stars on the window and in the end showed the brothers with their arms around each other walking toward a rising sun signifying heaven. For years later that image stayed in my mind and through time I couldn't remember where I'd seen it until the movie was on again on AMC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighting_Sullivans

[Captain Hilts]

20. The parents of the Sullivans got a hand-written note from Eleanor Roosevelt. nt

[Captain Hilts]

19. I just finished Galatin's "Take Her Deep." I enjoyed it.

Reading "Clear the Bridge," and biographies of Slade Cutter and Gene Fluckey, and then "Take Her Deep," I realize skill helped, but luck helped even more. Wow!

[erpowers]

10. Read the Story

I read the story of the Indianapolis in another book about the ship. I became interested in the ship after the story about the student who proved that the Captian of the Indianapolis was not responsible for the ship being sunk and the loss of the saliors on board.

[BOSSHOG]

11. Incredible story

Its also good to read about the Indianapolis sinking when it is not the main subject of the book. I read a biography about Admiral Nimitz titled "Nimitz" its about 30 years old and goes over the Admirals awesome career which includes (during his career) the sinking and gives a good telling of the tale and the aftermath from a perspective other then the Ship itself.

Probably the best accounting of Naval History in WWII is The Two Ocean War by Admiral Samuel Eliot Morrison published in 1966. I found a first edition in excellent condition in an old bookstore in Arkansas about ten years ago.

[PhD]

12. Ever read Red Star Rogue?

Full title: Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

Sounds like an interesting thesis, but I'm trying to decide if it's worth my time to read.

[BOSSHOG]

13. It is an excellent read

Well written, almost scary story with a whole bunch of mystery still surrounding the event. A story of cold war desperation and Kremlin intrique. One could say we were very lucky way back in 1968. Give it a read, it'll be worth your time.

[PhD]

14. Sounds like an interesting book

but a bit sensationalist as well. Based on the reviews I've seen, I don't think I put much stock in what the authors claim. I've always been fascinated by the Jennifer Project though.

[BOSSHOG]

15. There might be those

who don't want there to be any stock in what the authors claim. And as I read the book I didn't detect any claims at all just the telling of a very believable scenario.