USS Indianapolis
The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 November 1932. The ship served with honor from Pearl Harbor through the last campaign of World War II, sinking in action two weeks before the end of the war. On 30 July 1945, while sailing from Guam to Leyte, Indianapolis was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-58. The ship capsized and sank in twelve minutes. Survivors were spotted by a patrol aircraft on 2 August. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once, and the surrounding waters were thoroughly searched for survivors. Upon completion of the day and night search on 8 August, 316 men were rescued out of the crew of 1,199.
We believe we were hit by two torpedoes, one around frame 8 or 10, because the bow was blown off forward around ten. Another one [torpedo] around frame fifty. We believe that they were large torpedoes, that they were running close to the surface, because none of us believe the magazines blew up, that is the only way we can account for the flashes of flame through the ship.
He was able to aft on the starboard side, although badly injured, he didn't get to the main engine room, No. 2 engine room, where he found No. 2 engine had lost vacuum and that was shut down. He did talk to somebody in No. 1 engine room. They told him that apparently the main steamline going through the port side of the forward engine room had been knocked loose. They had no steam and asked for instructions.
All power all lights were lost forward. The fact that the [torpedo] hits were there, at least we think they were up forward, are borne out by the fact we have almost no Marines who were reported in that section of the ship. We have not a single steward's mate and their compartment was up there and we have very few officers that were in their rooms at the time of the explosion. So we believe all of those people were killed almost instantly.
It's inconceivable that you can't get a message off or that we didn't get a message off. However, we do know that we were in the water about 107 hours, therefore, next time we think that we would like to have a positive means, in case we went down, of somebody saying, "They're gone", somebody with us and tell the outside world about it.
The American Turtle was ready for her initial mission on September 6, 1776, just after midnight in the New York Harbor. The operator, Ezra Lee, failed in his attempt to sink the HMS Eagle because he failed to secure the screw of the gunpowder magazine to the ship. The Turtle made two more attempts to sink enemy ships but they both failed. The end of the American Turtle is unknown. Some think she was accidentally sunk, dismantled, or destroyed. The Turtle was the very first submarine to be used in the...
On the morning of August 29, 1988, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was returning to her homeport in Norfolk after conducting a six-month deployment in the Mediterranean Sea. She had performed extremely well in exercises and was set to receive the Battle “E.” The carrier had recently taken on approximately 500 Tigers in Bermuda, joining their parents for the final leg of the voyage. Also, the Secretary of the Navy was aboard that morning, and had been present on the bridge prior to his departure at 0807. 14 minutes later, at 0821 according to the deck log, the Eisenhower struck the Spanish bulk carrier Urduliz, which was anchored in a designated anchorage area, “A,” in berth “Z.”
The USS Indianapolis was a heavy cruiser. She did not have heavy armor which made her vulnerable to torpedo attacks. She had been ordered to sail on July 16, 1945, to deliver a bomb that would end the war. Unfortunately, it sank before it arrived.
notified of the possible sinking. Ten ships heard the call but were too far to respond in time.
In the late 1800’s the American people and their government became more willing to risk war in defense of American interests overseas, support for building a large modern navy began to grow. Supporters argued that if the United States did not build up its navy and acquire bases overseas, it would be shut out of foreign markets by Europeans. Captain Alfred T. Mahan observed that building a modern navy meant that the U.S. had to acquire territory for naval bases overseas. This would enable them to operate a navy far from home. A country needed bases and coaling stations in distant regions, which was exactly what they did by having Havana, Cuba be one of its ports. Another factor that was part of the Navy’s modernization was the USS Maine, which was probably the most famous ship of its era. The USS Maine was one of the Navy’s first armored battle ships. It was one of the first U.S. naval vessels with electrical lighting. It had a top speed of 17 knots and a crew of 392 officers and enlisted men. On the evening of February 15, 1898 the USS Maine exploded. Of the 345 officers and sailors aboard the Maine, 266 died. There were many ideas of how this explosion occurred, namely: the ship’s ammunition supplies blew up, a fire accidentally ignited the ammunition, and that a mine detonated near the ship set off the ammunition. At the time Cuba was a Spanish colony, but it was in the midst of a revolution. The Cuban people were fighting for independence from Spain. During this Cuban revolt against Spain and the American battleship Maine dropped anchor in the Havana harbor to protect American interests in Cuba. Many Americans regarded the Spanish as tyrants and supported the Cubans in their struggle. This immediately made Americans jump to the Conclusion that Spain blew up the Maine. American’s felt that since they were allies with Cuba that Spain was trying to harm America, as to not interfere with Cuba’s revolt against them. Within a matter of weeks, Spain and the U.
On an ordinary day, October 12, 2000, in the port of Aden, Yemen, a small boat pulled aside the USS Cole. The unimportant boat looked unthreatening until a suicide attack occurred. The bombing was devastating, leaving a gigantic hole in the ship, killing 17 American sailors and injuring 39. The attackers were known enemies from Al- Qaeda, which had committed attacks against other countries. The attack on the USS Cole was one of the events that triggered the war on terror, which is still going on today. The U.S. had not concerned itself with Al-Qaeda until this vicious attack. The attack on the USS Cole began a war between terrorists and the U.S; the U.S now knows how dangerous Al-Qaeda is especially after the attack of 9/11. The Cole attack woke the United States and made it aware of Al-Qaeda as a real threat.
Captain Charles Sigsbee of the USS Maine, a battleship of the United State's Atlantic Fleet, was writing a letter to his wife about his hopefulness for the success of his mission in this foreign possession (Chidsey 54). Then it happened. Just as he sealed the envelope a small explosion shook the ship followed by a mammoth detonation that rocked her and the surrounding areas (Chidsey 57). Sigsbee ran for his life, collected what he could of his detachment and the rest of the crew, and moved to organize the ensuing chaos. The ship couldn't have been saved. Sigsbee was the last off as per naval tradition. He looked back as the ruined mass settled on the harbor floor (Chidsey 57). The call for war had arrived; now those who controlled the flow of information, the media, to have their way with it.
I was walking thinking about what I was gonna eat for breakfast when a large dark shadow flies over the ship. Before I can comprehend was going on, a explosion hit the USS Arizona directly behind us. I see many bombs hitting the Arizona and it suddenly becomes engulfed in flames. The ship burns and finally sinks to the floor of the ocean. The men on my ship sat there and tried to understand what had happened. I knew something was not right and I was very scared. I hear Admiral Kimmel, who is in charge of the base, send out a dispatch. He said, “AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” I became full of fear. Then, comes flying in a bomb directly hitting Turret III, and I thought my life was coming to an
Crewmembers aboard the ships were lost without any idea of what was going on at first. “It was the morning of December 7, 1941 around 8 A.M. and I was asleep in my bunk when the first bomb wave started. At first, I thought the navy was having a maneuver, but then I looked out my window and saw the Japanese planes with the red ball painted on their wings. (Harrington) Throughout the attacks Sailors and Airman, from the entire island of Hawaii, immediately was on alert. As the bombs, bullets, and torpedoes began to drop impacting vessels in the harbor, Soldiers of the American armed forces began to battle back. As the vessels and aircrafts began to fight, the Japanese began to fight harder. It was eminent that Japanese fighter pilots had no plan on returning from this mission, for the aircrafts soon began to shoot from the sky and set their point of impact on vessels. Along with numerous 550-pound general-purpose bombs, one of the most detrimental acts during this time was to our battle ships by the Japanese, was the 1,800-pound weapon that dropped from the clouds directly hitting one of the now famous American ships below, the USS Arizona. It slammed brutally through the deck and landed in the ammunition magazine were the ammunition is stored. The Battle ship soon exploded with a ferocious fireball and soon sank to bottom of the harbor. Over one thousand Sailors lost their lives as they too met their downfall at the bottom of the harbor with their ship, in the Pacific Ocean. Throughout the attacks, 18 American ships had taken damage and almost 300 aircrafts suffered major impact. The most devastating statistic accounted for is the number of fallen service members that had perished or received injuries during this attack. Nearly 2,500 service members lost their lives and another 1,000 injured during this time. Of all the ships that took damage all but two
Because he suffered extensive burns in the action, McMahon was unable to swim. The machinist mate first class was kept afloat for about four hours by Kennedy, who swam three miles to a small island with McMahon’s life jacket between his teeth. My stepfather often told m...
When the Manie sank there where 2 separate explosions ammunition continuted to explode for hours after the blast. Some people say that the Maine was torpedoed or blown up with under water explosives by the Spanish Navy, others say that the 896 ton capacity coal bunker exploded but most people at the time said that the ship was torpedoed and blamed Spain for the sinking of the ship. After the disaster an official court of inquiry was held to determine the cause of the blast. The Navy said that the ship was sunk by a water mine, but stated that it could not fix responsibility on any single person or persons.
The ship was pushing the limits of its engines as it hurtled out of the
During the summer of 1946, a joint task force was given the mission to test the effects of nuclear radiation on ships, equipment and material. Formed in the winter of 1946, Joint Task Force 1 was made up of Navy, Army and civilian personnel (“Operation Crossroads, 1946”). The test was done using two atomic bombs, ABLE and BAKER. The target, was a fleet of 71 to 90 ships, depending on the source, and was made up of older U.S. ships and captured German and Japanese ships the first detonation in the series was named ABLE. ABLE was a 23 kt air burst that would fall short and to the left of its target resulting in only 5 ships being destroyed (“Operation Crossroads”). Experts determined the radiation was low enough to only require a couple of days before a crew could board the vessels and do their research. The BAKER detonation would be a similar weapon with only slight modifications to allow it to be suspended underwater. Anchored to the LSM-60, a landing ship, the BAKER detonation would test the effec...
For starters, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was a real ship. In fact, it was the first naval ship to deliver a fully operational atomic bomb from Guam. after the delivery on July 30th, 1945, at 12:14 am the Indy was hit by two out of the six torpedoes fired from a Japanese submarine. With 1,196 crewmen on board the Indy, 900 managed escape into the water, by the sun rise of the first day of being stranded shark attacks began and for five days men were picked off by the beasts and by 11:00am on the fifth day out of the 900 remaining men who escaped the attack only 317 men would survive to be saved. The author used these events in the book as this takes place when Patrick watched as the torpedoes made huge gaping holes in the hull of the Indy.
On May the 7th 1915 the Lusitania sank, taking with it the lives of one thousand, two hundred and one people including ninety-one children and thirty-one infants. Despite the fact that it was the largest and fastest ship at that time, the German torpedo still found its mark off the South Coast of Ireland while the ship was travelling between the United States and England. The failure to prevent the tragedy despite the warnings given, the actions (or lack thereof) of the Admiralty and the neglect in ensuring that the lifeboat system and the ship itself would offer maximum protection; puts the primary blame unto the British Admiralty and the Cunard Company.