Indianapolis

by Lynn Vincent

  entered Indianapolis’s departure on their plotting board: CONEY, 491. Naquin testimony.

  responsibility for her progress passed to Captain Oliver Naquin: CONEY, 506. Naquin testimony.

  had seen more action than most: “Remembering the USS Squalus 75 Years Later.” Naval History Blog. May 22, 2014.

  navigator on the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans: Ibid.

  Face-to-face with the elusive enemy: Account of I-58 firing kaiten on a three-masted ship is based on SUNK, 217.

  Chapter 10

  Jordan Sheperd peered off the starboard beam: Deck Logs, USS Albert T. Harris, 24 July–29 July 1945. National Archives, College Park, Maryland. (HARRIS DECK.)

  She was the merchant ship SS Wild Hunter: Ibid.

  This sighting, however, was very much real: Report of Voyage, SS Wild Hunter, Long Beach, California, to Manila, Philippines. Report submitted 31 July 1945 by Lieutenant Bruce K. Maxwell, Commanding Officer. National Archives. College Park, Maryland. (WILD HUNTER.)

  sighted a periscope: Ibid.

  Wild Hunter transmitted two messages, six minutes apart: Ibid.

  Granum’s office then dispatched Harris: Memorandum: From Officer in Charge to Commander Marianas. Subject: Radio Transmissions 28 and 29 July 1945 Concerning Enemy Submarines. 28 November 1945. Indiana Historical Society. USS Indianapolis Collection. (RADIO.)

  sweeping searchlight sonar across suspect bearings: Action Report, USS Albert T. Harris, 30 July 1945, Record Group 38, Box 800, National Archives, College Park, Maryland. (HARRIS ACTION.)

  earning the weapon a nickname, “the hedgehog”: Destroyer Escort Sailors Association. “Hedgehog.” Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. January 24, 2016. Accessed December 1, 2017.

  Sonarman Second Class Lefebvre: HARRIS ACTION. Attack No. 1.

  “Bearing width 10° indicated midget submarine”: HARRIS ACTION. The identity of this submarine is unknown. An examination of records of kaiten-carrying IJN subs shows that I-58 was the only such vessel in the southern Philippine Sea on 28 July 1945. According to ULTRA intercepts, I-58 was assigned to patrol the area five hundred miles north of an unrecovered grid. ULTRA analysts speculated that the area was “[Palau?],” which is borne out by I-58’s presence there, both in Hashimoto’s own account and in the sinking of Indianapolis. However, Hashimoto did not report being repeatedly attacked by a destroyer escort. In addition, according to Hashimoto’s court-martial testimony, once he intercepted Route Peddie, he traveled west, never east, which he would have had to do in order to intercept Indianapolis. Another Tamon group sub, I-53, which sank Underhill on July 24, 1945, did report being repeatedly attacked by a destroyer escort firing hedgehogs. The only known record of that attack is on 30 July, however, and the authors were unable to obtain primary sources to confirm the date and I-53’s location. Whatever the identity of Harris’s target, it was a confirmed submarine in the path of Indianapolis, and was attacked by Harris and Greene a total of seventeen times. In later analysis of Harris’s action, Philippine Sea Frontier Commander Vice Admiral James Kauffman, a submarine expert, would say that Harris should have dropped depth charges as soon as the target’s ten-degree bearing width indicated it was a midget sub.

  Dr. Earl Henry decided to split his time: Henry, Earl O., Sr., letters to his wife, Jane Henry, May 22, 1944–July 27, 1945.

  Finally! In two gorgeous photographs: Ibid.

  “All prematures look like the wrath of God”: Ibid.

  the Allies could concentrate on pounding Japan alone: Ibid.

  fired the hedgehog, a twenty-four-missile salvo: HARRIS DECK, Attack No. 2.

  McNulty thought they’d hit the sub: Ibid.

  Each time the hedgehog fired: Ibid.

  King knew he had a sub: War Diary, Philippine Sea Frontier, July 1–31, 1945, National Archives, accessed online at Fold3.com, July 15, 2016.

  backed down his posture: HARRIS DECK.

  Chapter 11

  “HARRIS DE FOURFOURSEVEN INVESTIGATING”: RADIO.

  concerned Granum’s boss, Commodore Gillette, greatly: CONEY. Gillette testimony, 552. According to Gillette, the Wild Hunter hunter-killer operation led by USS Harris was under the immediate direction of Captain Granum.

  Wild Hunter in the wee hours of July 29: RADIO.

  “guarding the FOX” was a twenty-four-hour: “Radio Room.” Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. USS Slater DE 766. Accessed July 3, 2016.

  FOX broadcasts were receive-only and uninterruptible: Ibid.

  Lieutenant Carl Rau relieved Sheperd as officer of the deck: HARRIS DECK.

  Then, at 8:26 p.m.: “Screw beats!”: HARRIS DECK.

  McNulty logged the type of sonar echo: Submarine: HARRIS ACTION, Attack No. 7.

  the ship passed directly over the submarine: Ibid.

  At 9:50 p.m., the hedgehog crew fired a full salvo: Ibid.

  King ordered the gun crew to troubleshoot the weapon: HARRIS DECK.

  Chapter 12

  Sam Lopez began the day: LEGACY: Sam Lopez interviews.

  “highly probable,” and noted that Harris had attacked: War Diary, Philippine Sea Frontier, July 1–31, 1945, National Archives, accessed online at Fold3.com, July 15, 2016.

  dispatching the destroyer transport USS Greene: Deck Logs, USS Greene, 27 July–30 July 1945. National Archives, College Park, Maryland. (GREENE LOG.)

  commenced a depth-charge run on various headings: GREENE LOG.

  Harris’s crew watched as water plumes: HARRIS DECK.

  Commander Marianas and CincPac Advance received traffic: RADIO.

  his staff at Guam took no action except to move Indy westward: CONEY. Naquin testimony, 491, 493.

  struggling to acquire grid positions: ULTRA 2. Card dated 29 July 1945: “All positions are unrecovered. We are trying to do something with them.”

  all Japanese sub operations had localized in home waters: 7th FLEET.

  Japan had added two subs, I-363 and I-366: ULTRA 2. Card dated 29 July 1945.

  That would put him at the dead center of Route Peddie: SUNK, 218.

  the chunky silhouette of a friendly ship: Hulver, Richard, Ph.D. “Final Contact: USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Passes USS LST-779, 29 July 1945.” Naval History and Heritage Command.

  She was the first LST to reach Iwo Jima: Ibid.

  Dinner was steak and strawberries: FATAL, 52.

  The commander usually ate dessert first: Interview with Paul Everts, grandson of Commander Joseph Flynn and Flynn’s wife, Anna. Interviewed by Lynn Vincent, Spring 2017.

  “A Jap sub has been spotted along our route”: CONEY, 306 (McVay). BUMED, 20. Dr. Haynes testified and later wrote that Commander Janney learned of the submarine threat area via the TBS, Talk Between Ships. That may be true. However, it is more likely that he learned of it via the communications office. A message had already made its way to the message board on the bridge, and all such messages were routed through Janney, who would then plot the coordinates of any threat on a chart so that duty officers and the skipper could determine appropriate action.

  made his way toward the bridge: CONEY. McVay testimony. See also, “Record of Proceedings of a General Court-Martial Convened at The Navy Yard, Washington, D. C., By Order of the Secretary of the Navy.” 21 December 1945. National Archives, College Park, Maryland. 34. (COURT-MARTIAL.)

  careful not to cut any corners: COURT-MARTIAL. McKissick testimony, 38.

  His eye fell on the dispatch Janney had spoken of: COURT-MARTIAL, 34.

  Over the past dozen hours, an equal number of messages: RADIO.

  one or more of the FOX schedules: Ibid.

  the closest it would come to Indianapolis: COURT-MARTIAL. McKissick testimony, 37.

  he could secure from zigzagging: CONEY, 167. McKissick testimony.

  the helmsman began steering a straight course: COURT-MARTIAL. Ibid. In his court-martial testimony, McKissick could not recall whether he or the oncoming OOD, Commander Lipski, ordered a return to base course. Lipski did not survive.

 
; left orders to be roused at 10:30 p.m.: SUNK, 218.

  A perfect plague, Hashimoto thought: SUNK, 219.

  any man who caught and killed one: Yamada, Goro. “Sinking the Indianapolis: A Japanese Perspective.” Interview of Mr. Yamada by historian Dan King. July 30, 1994.

  Chapter 13

  “Got a submarine report”: CONEY. Sturtevant testimony, 461.

  He clamped on the headphones: CONEY, 466. Sturtevant testimony.

  considered the shacks greatly improved: CONEY, 461. Sturtevant testimony.

  Driscoll seemed bland about the message: Ibid.

  a naval attaché in Helsinki before the war: Nathan Gorenstien, “Naval Ceremony recalls sad loss for local family.” Print. Undated. Publication name obscured.

  Janney . . . appeared briefly on the bridge: COURT-MARTIAL, 48.

  Harpo Celaya curled around a woolen blanket: Account of Celaya and Thorpe on deck before the torpedo strike is based on: LEGACY: Celaya interviews; HARPO, 36; and CELAYA Interview, Florence, Arizona, August 2015.

  McVay reviewed the plot and night orders with Janney: COURT-MARTIAL, 311.

  “I want to have a little bit of gravy up my sleeve”: CONEY, 325. McVay testimony.

  Allard couldn’t tell his strikers apart: COURT-MARTIAL. Allard testimony, 190.

  Lookout stations were fully manned: Testimony of Charles McVay, COI, 6.

  Having given his stateroom to Captain Edwin Crouch: MCVAY NARRATIVE, 3.

  roused Hashimoto at 10:30 p.m.: SUNK, 219.

  Hashimoto decided to surface and look for enemy ships: Ibid.

  “Bearing red nine-zero degrees, a possible enemy ship”: SUNK, 220.

  “All tubes to the ready”: Ibid.

  Chapter 14

  Edgar Harrell got off watch a little before midnight: DEPTHS, 65.

  Santos Pena stretched out on top of a ready-box: LEGACY: Santos Pena interviews.

  Hashimoto still could not determine her class: SUNK, 221–22.

  “Why can’t we be launched?”: SUNK, 223.

  an exhilarating thought formed in his mind: We’ve got her: SUNK, 222.

  Woolston had the 8 p.m. to midnight watch: Account of Woolston’s postwatch activities is based on LEGACY: Woolston interviews as well as telephone, personal, and email interviews conducted between 2012 and 2017.

  sonarman thought he heard the clinking of dishes: YAMADA.

  At two-second intervals, six torpedoes ejected: SUNK, 224.

  Chapter 15

  violent explosion ejected McVay: MCVAY NARRATIVE.

  first explosion knocked Pena: “Record of Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry Convened at Headquarters, Commander Marianas, Guam, by Order of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas,” August 13, 1945. Holdings of Naval History and Heritage Command, obtained by the authors on October 24, 2017. (COI.)

  it looked to him as if Indianapolis’s entire bow was gone: In the decades after the sinking, witness testimony would vary on whether the bow had been blown off, and if so, at what point on the ship. Santos Pena was the eyewitness closest to the bow. His testimony in the Guam Court of Inquiry in August 1945 was corroborated by the discovery of Indy’s wreckage on August 19, 2017. However, Troy Nunley’s later recollection that the bow was still hanging by thin threads of steel would also match the discovery. Hashimoto’s first torpedo sheered away the bow at the frame 12 watertight partition, but the wreckage showed that it likely hung on to the ship underwater for some unknown length of time. The frames were about four feet apart. The very end of the ship extended to the bowsprit another sixteen to eighteen feet past the waterline. Therefore, the length of bow lost was about sixty-six feet from the bowsprit aft to frame 12 at the top deck, and about forty-eight feet from the waterline and below, aft to frame 12.

  Glenn Morgan felt the deck: Morgan, Glenn Grover. “Torpedoed” Memoir. 1993. 43 pages. Handwritten by G. Morgan. (TORPEDOED.)

  Hershberger woke up in midair: Hershberger, Clarence L. “The USS Indianapolis Tragedy” Memoir. 1994. Self-published.

  staggered into the smoke-clogged passageway: “Oral History with Capt. (ret.) Lewis Haynes, MD, USN,” U.S. Navy Medical Department Oral History Program, June 5, 12, 22, 1995. (BUMED.)

  Whirling caterpillars of flame: Interview with John Woolston, Legacy on-camera interview. (LEGACY.) Survivor interviews conducted by Sara Vladic, 2005–16.

  scene of destruction unfolding quickly before him: SUNK, 224.

  LeFrancis gazed down from the cockpit: “Witness to the sinking of USS Indianapolis,” Pappy Boyington Veterans Museum, August 6, 2016. YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKqJdONo9Jc.

  Ripped away between frames 12 and 13: Assisted by mechanical engineer Benjamin Huntley, the authors examined stills and video footage of the wreck of Indianapolis, discovered by RV Petrel on August 19, 2017, and compared them with a blueprint of the ship.

  Chapter 16

  “Do you have any reports?”: MCVAY NARRATIVE, 2.

  Witzig saw all hell breaking loose: Narrative of Robert Witzig, 317, 495–98. Interview with Robert Witzig, LEGACY.

  he saw burned men: DEPTHS, 82.

  “Get the commander a life jacket”: Ibid. 74.

  McGinnis heard the keening: Narrative of Paul McGinnis, 317, 305.

  profound hush that followed: Authors’ interviews, 2005–17, with multiple survivors.

  Cox jumped to comply: Interview with L. D. Cox, LEGACY. Narrative of L. D. Cox, 317, 113.

  “Do you wish to abandon ship?”: Testimony of Charles McVay, COI, 3–4.

  imprisoning the men in absolute darkness: The account of events in the engine rooms are based on the testimony of survivors William Nightingale, COI, 31–35, and Norman Roberts. (Narrative of Norman Roberts, 317, 429–34.)

  Miner burst through the light-lock: Narrative of Jack Miner, 317, 333. COI. 19. Investigation of Sinking of USS Indianapolis. By order of the Chief of Naval Operations, 6 December 1945, 274. (CONEY.)

  “We’re in bad shape”: Testimony of Fred Hart, CONEY, 363.

  Chapter 17

  Radio 1 was wrecked: The account of Radio 1 is based on the following sources: Testimony of J. J. Moran, COI, 24; Testimony of Loren McHenry, COI, 29; Testimony of Elwyn Sturtevant, COI, 29–30. CONEY, 461–72; Miner, COI, 19–20.

  find a wrench and open the ports: John Woolston, AUTHORS, 2017.

  badly injured Marines were stumbling: Nightingale testimony, COI, 33–51; Roberts, 317, 429–34.

  throttleman yelled down the ladder well: Nightingale testimony, COI, 33–51.

  they had waited too long: Roberts, ONLY 317, 429–34.

  “We need kapoks,” Morgan said: TORPEDOED.

  suicide pilots were pleading: SUNK, 224.

  Chapter 18

  They crowded behind the ladder: Roberts, 317, 429–34.

  Kirkland turned to look: Helm, Thomas. Ordeal by Sea: The Tragedy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1963, 62–63.

  “You better go, kid!”: Narrative of Harold Bray, 317, 69–72.

  He shoved a life jacket: Narrative of Paul Murphy, 317, 360–63.

  “They’re crazy!”: LEGACY Interview with Sam Lopez.

  let the jackets propel them up: Roberts, 317, 429–34.

  Redmayne, the engineering officer: Testimony of Richard Redmayne, COI, 57–60.

  Janney then appeared on the bridge: MCVAY NARRATIVE, 3.

  Flynn arrived on the bridge: Testimony of C. McVay, COI, 4.

  “Pass the word to abandon ship”: MCVAY NARRATIVE, 2.

  “XRAY VICTOR MIKE LOVE”: Testimony of J. J. Moran, COI, 24–26.

  Hart clambered over a gun mount: Testimony of Fred Hart, CONEY, 363.

  Chapter 19

  Cox didn’t want to go down with him: Narrative of L. D. Cox, 317, 113.

  “I’m going down to Radio 1”: Testimony of McVay, CONEY, 320.

  Redmayne made a decision: Testimony of Richard Redmayne, COI, 58.

  remain in the afte
r-engine room: Ibid.

  Miner saw the needle: Narrative of Jack Miner, 317, 333.

  “Don’t do it! Don’t jump!”: LEGACY interview with George Horvath.

  McVay put his foot on the first ladder rung: MCVAY NARRATIVE, 3.

  Morgan marveled at the young lieutenant’s: TORPEDOED.

  Woolston and the steward splashed: Narrative of John Woolston, 317, 500.

  Chapter 20

  he remembered Jeremiah: Narrative of Edgar Harrell, 317, 190.

  Driscoll shouted, “Clear out!”: Testimony of J. J. Moran, CONEY, 486.

  “I’ll see you later, sir!”: Glenn Morgan’s account of abandoning ship is based on his short memoir, TORPEDOED.

  a great pressure released: Ibid.

  to the sailors in Radio 2, “abandon ship”: Narrative of Jack Miner, 317, 333.

  “Where the hell do you think”: HARPO. 37. Narrative of Santos Pena, 317, 403.

  row of welder’s oxygen cylinders: Testimony of Richard Redmayne, COI, 58.

  McVay leapt to the fo’c’sle deck: MCVAY NARRATIVE, 3–4.

  BOOK 3: THE DEEP

  Because the narrative of the men’s experiences in the water prior to rescue are anecdotal in nature and based on their first-person accounts, we have elected to group the sourcing information below rather than lengthen these notes exponentially by citing the same sources each time we returned to an individual or group. The accounts of the various survivor groups in the water, as well as the water accounts of individual survivors and Indy crew members lost at sea, are based on the following sources (see Bibliography for full citations).

  Interviews

  • “Legacy On-Camera Interviews with Survivors, Survivors Families, and Families of Men Lost at Sea,” 2005–2016, conducted by Sara Vladic. (LEGACY.) Includes interviews with 108 survivors of the sinking of USS Indianapolis conducted over more than a decade. Total of 170 hours of footage. (See Bibliography for a list of all individuals interviewed.)

  • Adolfo Celaya. Interviewed by Lynn Vincent in Florence, Arizona. August 2015.

  • Viola Outland, wife of survivor Felton Outland; Felton Outland, Jr., and Theresa Outland, survivor Outland’s son and daughter. Interviewed by Lynn Vincent on 24 January 2016.

  • Cleatus Lebow, Indianapolis survivor. Telephone interview by Lynn Vincent, October 2017.