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33 Litig. 51 (2006-2007)
Zigzag - The Loss of the USS Indianapolis

handle is hein.journals/laba33 and id is 53 raw text is: Legal Lore Zigzag-The Loss of the USS Indianapolis by Robert and Marilyn Aitken War never suffers a shortage of tragedy. The toll of lives taken by the sinking of the USS Indianapolis increased dramat- ically when the Navy failed to search for survivors. Then came the general court- martial of Captain Charles B. McVay III, filled with failure and loyalty, sur- prises and secrecy. At the end, there was only loss. On July 16, 1945, the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser Indianapolis left San Francisco with a secret cargo. Commanded by Captain McVay and with a crew of 1,196, the Indianapolis sped in record time to the Pacific island of Tinian. She arrived on July 26 and delivered a canister of ura- nium 235 and a large crate containing integral components of Little Boy the first atomic bomb. World War II would end less than a month later. S. Howarth, To Shining Sea (1999); D. Stanton, In Harm's Way (2001). By then, the Indianapolis had been destroyed by a Japanese submarine. Although almost 900 crew members sur- vived, only 316 were still alive after the rescue. In the worst sea disaster in the history of the U.S. Navy, according to Congress, the men spent four and one- half days adrift in the open sea, the remainder having perished from battle wounds, drowning, predatory shark attacks, and lack of food and potable water Rescue was delayed because the Navy did not know the ship was missing. Congressional Resolution (2000). The Indianapolis had won ten battle stars, but the cruiser, commissioned in 1932, was not considered safe by Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, who remarked that her metracentric height Robert Aitken, an associate editor of LmGATION, practices law in Palos Verdes Estates, California. Marilyn Aitken is a freelance writer. N Fall 2006 5 1 Volume 33 LmGATIC lum..r was less than one foot and if she ever took a clean torpedo, she would capsize in short order. After serving as Spruance's flagship in the Iwo Jima cam- paign, she was hit by a Kamikaze suicide plane in March 1945 during the battle for Okinawa, and underwent repairs in California. S.E. Morison, History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Victory in the Pacific (1960); B.M. Petty, Voices from the Pacific War (2004); Spruance, Letter to Morison (Dec. 25, 1959). Captain McVay, known as Charlie, was a handsome 1920 Naval Academy graduate and admiral's son. He became skipper of the Indianapolis in November 1944. McVay was considered an ami- able, popular and competent officer, and the Indianapolis had been a happy ship. Morison, supra. With the Tinian mission completed, the Indianapolis proceeded to Guam, where McVay received routing orders. On July 28, the ship started a 1,300-mile run on Code Route Peddie to Leyte. She was scheduled to arrive at 11:00 AM, July 31. The port director at Guam informed Rear Admiral Lynde D. McCormick that the Indianapolis was en route to train with his unit at Leyte Gulf before joining the massive fleet gathering for the inva- sion of Japan. The port director also notified the commander, Philippines Sea Frontier, and the port director at Tacloban in the Phillipines. The message to McCormick was gar- bled after it arrived at his flagship, so when another dispatch informed him when the Indianapolis would arrive, McCormick did not know why. Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf, in charge of the task force, knew why the ship was coming but never saw a second dispatch from CinCPAC (Commander in Chief, LM'GAT1O Number I

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