On July 30th 1945, the sinking of USS Indianapolis led to the greatest single loss of life at sea, from a single ship, in the history of the US Navy. The Indy was coming back from a top secret mission as it delivered nuclear parts of Little Boy wheb it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
Within 12 minutes, the massive cruiser sank. Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 900 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 316 survived. "And that first morning, we had sharks. The men were bobbing in the water, trying to pack together, and fins would appear around them, but inevitably, a man would get separated from the group and float off. And then you hear a blood-curdling scream. The body would go under, and then that life vest popped back up." - Corporal Edgar Harrell, USMC, survivor of the USS Indianapolis #ww2 #survivor #hardcore #stayzero