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USS Indianapolis wreckage found 72 years after sinking.

J

Joezie

Member
DHmy2pTXkAAmbGX.jpg

https://twitter.com/USNavy/status/898946259288981505/photo/1
https://twitter.com/USNavy/status/898946845925412865/photo/1


For those unfamiliar with the story, the Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine just a few days after delivering atomic bomb materials to the island of Tinian. Slightly inaccurate monologue but popularized in Jaws by Robert Shaw, the ship sank in 12 minutes, killing about 300 of its 1100-1200 sized crew. 900 survivors went into the water and only 317 survived. The sailors killed by a combination of Dehydration, salt poisoning, hypernatremia, Exposure to the elements, shark attacks and various murders/suicides induced by states of delirium.

https://www.stripes.com/news/navy/w...dianapolis-discovered-navy-announces-1.483641

"The largest casualty at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy was the sinking of the USS Indianapolis," noted survivor Edgar Harrell, who published an account of the harrowing episode in "Out of the Depths."

A team of civilian researchers led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen announced that they had found the wreck resting on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean, according to a Navy news release.
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While others have searched for Indianapolis in the past, the Navy release said Allen used a 250-foot R/V Petrel with state-of-the-art subsea equipment capable of diving to more than 19,600 feet.
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http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=102031

A team of civilian researchers led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen has announced they have found the wreck of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA 35), which was lost July 30, 1945.

This is a significant discovery considering the depth of the water in which the ship was lost - more than 18,000 feet. Around 800 of the ship's 1,196 Sailors and Marines survived the sinking, but after four to five days in the water - suffering exposure, dehydration, drowning, and shark attacks - only 316 survived.

The wreck was located by the expedition crew of Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel, which is owned by Allen, 5,500 meters below the surface, resting on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean.
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Vigilant Walrus

Vigilant Walrus

Member
Joezie said:
For those unfamiliar with the story, the Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine just a few days after delivering atomic bomb materials to the island of Tinian. Slightly inaccurate monologue but popularized in Jaws by Robert Shaw, the ship sank in 12 minutes, killing about 300 of its 1100-1200 sized crew. 900 survivors went into the water and only 317 survived. The sailors killed by a combination of Dehydration, salt poisoning, hypernatremia, Exposure to the elements, shark attacks and various murders/suicides induced by states of delirium.
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Jesus.


Did this ship had any prior notable battles in WW2?
 
J

Joezie

Member
Vigilant Walrus said:
Jesus.


Did this ship had any prior notable battles in WW2?
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Off my memory, she participated in the New Guinea Campaign, helped repel Japanese advances on the Aleutian islands in Alaska, fought near the Philippines, she was at Tinian, Saipan, Peleliu, in the Doolittle Raids and at least nearby Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
 
C

captjohnboyd

Member
Story has always fascinated me beginning with jaws. I've heard people say that it was likely oceanic white tips that did all the damage to the sailors
 
Captain Zyrain

Captain Zyrain

Member
Wow.. I just went down a Wikipedia rabbit whole about this ship a week or two ago. I can't remember why either.. How random.

I do remember the last info being someone thought everyone had been looking too far South and someone was going to be looking in a new place.

From what I read they still have survivor gatherings from the ship, I wonder how those guys feel about it being found.
 
S

sangreal

Member
Dubbedinenglish said:
Hopefully they can keep it safe from scavenging, deserves to be memorialized.
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Morat said:
I would assume it is protected as a war grave? Anyway, interesting story, thanks for sharing.
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From one of the articles OP posted:
The Navy said the exact location of the ship will remain confidential and restricted.
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Captain Zyrain said:
From what I read they still have survivor gatherings from the ship, I wonder how those guys feel about it being found.
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they just had one a couple of weeks ago

which led to this: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/...if-uss-indianapolis-tweet-offended/528680001/
 
N

nampad

Member
Watched the Nic Cage movie.
Kind of surprised they only found the ship just now because I would have guessed that the position of the wreck was roughly known.
 
D

DarkJediKnight

Member
I'm confused. Can someone explain why It's now found and not after it sank?

Wasn't the sinking location known?

The shocking thing to me is not that they found it but that it was missing all along.
 
D

DarkJediKnight

Member
pestul said:
Holy christ @ that tweet. What an inconsiderate asshole. Twitter was a mistake.
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Twitter is not a mistake! It shows what assholes are thinking real time. There is no misunderstanding! None. As someone who's father served in the military and watched his best friend die a horrible, painful death in his arms...


It sickens me when asshole like this make a comment like: "found it during shark week"

Fuck you dickhead!! The sailors who died there dont deserved to be mentioned by a prick like you
 
A

antonz

Member
DarkJediKnight said:
I'm confused. Can someone explain why It's now found and not after it sank?

Wasn't the sinking location known?

The shocking thing to me is not that they found it but that it was missing all along.
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The Ship was sent out originally carrying atomic bomb for delivery to Tinian and as such was sent with no escorts or anything for maximum secrecy. After delivery the ship requested escorts but the Navy refused and it set out to a new location
It was sunk by a submarine and the Naval base where it was supposed to arrive at never bothered to check if it had arrived. On Arrival day they just assumed it arrived. days passed and they finally figured out hey the Indianapolis never showed up.

By that time crew etc. is in the ocean for 3 days so current could take them away from the wreckage etc by large distances. On top of that the Navy fucked up royally in how they handled the ship so they were very eager to bury the story as much as they could. They blamed the ships Captain for the Navys mistakes and court martialed him. Families of sailors who died would then write him accusing him of murdering their kids or receive calls saying the same thing. After his wife died he took out his service pistol and killed himself.
 
M

MJPIA

Member
Indianapolis is in very good shape which I guess is due to the depth she's at and the salinity.
http://imgur.com/a/3rCSp
o4MfnFE.jpg

QlBkJA0.jpg
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You can still read everything stamped in the anchor.

And even though there has been a large amount of illegal salvaging of sunken ships that are also war graves lately she should be too deep for those salvagers to get even if they did know where she is.
 
B

BriGuy

Member
Those sailors experienced what is probably my worst nightmare. I couldn't imagine the uncertainty, fear and hopelessness they must have gone through.
 
B

B.K.

Member
Send James Cameron down there in a sub and let him make a documentary about the ship and it's sinking.
 
M

MJPIA

Member
Dr.Horrible said:
I tried watching this last night actually. As expected, it's a mess. I had a few beverages prior, so perhaps a rewatch is in order to see if it was even somewhat factually correct.
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Well Portland class cruisers never had 16"/50 guns and 5"/38 secondaries so if you're looking for factually correct this movie isn't the place to go so I don't think its worth wasting time rewatching either.
v0gUyjV.png
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1920px-USS_Indianapolis_%28CA-35%29_off_the_Mare_Island_Naval_Shipyard_on_10_July_1945_%2819-N-86911%29.jpg
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A

antonz

Member
Movie itself was fairly accurate historically. They did do a poor job with the CG of the ship. They filmed onboard the USS Alabama a South Dakota Class Battleship. I guess someone decided the CG ship had to lineup with the actual ship they were on in a bad decision
 
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