Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Submission Preview

Link to Story

Paul Allen Finds Lost World War II Cruiser USS Indianapolis

Accepted submission by Fnord666 at 2017-08-21 14:24:44
News

Seventy-two years after two torpedoes fired from a Japanese submarine sank cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35), the ship's wreckage was found resting on the seafloor on Saturday – more than 18,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean's surface.

Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist [paulallen.com], led a search team, assisted by historians from the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) in Washington, D.C., to accomplish what past searches had failed to do – find Indianapolis, considered the last great naval tragedy of World War II.

[...] On July 30, 1945, what turned out to be the final days of World War II, Indianapolis had just completed a secret mission to the island Tinian, delivering components of the atomic bomb "Little Boy" dropped on Hiroshima which would ultimately help end the war. The ship sunk in 12 minutes, before a distress signal could be sent or much of the life-saving equipment was deployed, according to a statement from the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C. Because of the secrecy surrounding the mission, the ship wasn't listed as overdue

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.

"I'm very happy that they found it. It's been a long 72 years coming," said a statement released by Indianapolis survivor Arthur Leenerman, 93 years-old from Mahomet, Ill. "I have wished for years that they would find it. The lost at sea families will feel pretty sad but I think finding the ship will also give them some closure. I'm glad that the search was successful. It will be interesting to see where it was found and how deep it was resting. "

The ship's story has become part folklore, thanks in large part to the chilling monologue in the 1975 film "Jaws" when fisherman Quint tells about being aboard Indianapolis when it was sunk.

Source: USNI News [usni.org]


Original Submission