The USS Indianapolis, sank in 1945, after delivering its cargo to help end WWII..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35)
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class cruiser of the United States Navy. She holds a place in history due to the notorious circumstances of her sinking,
which was the deadliest single loss of life at sea in the history of the US Navy.After delivering critical parts for the first atomic bomb to the United States air base at Tinian on 26 July 1945, she was in the Philippine Sea when attacked at
0014 on 30 July 1945 by a Japanese submarine.
The ship sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crew aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining crew of about 900 faced exposure, dehydration and shark attacks as they waited for assistance while floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and almost no food or water. The ship was not listed overdue per the secrecy of its mission, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later only 321 men were still alive.[citation needed] Indianapolis was one of the last US Navy ships sunk by enemy action in World War II.
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My grandfather, Thomas Diamond Watchorn Boatswain's Mate, at the time, knew men on this ship, and only 1 out of the dozens he knew ever made it back...
It was told in the move Jaws, as Robert Shaw, plays Quint, one of the Indianapolis survivors in the movie,...
Captain McVay, was from the midwest and was briefly aboard the USS Hornet, and transferred with my Grandfather to the USS North Carolina. He liked Chesterfield cigarettes and black coffee, (go figure for a sailor),..
Anyway, its a bit of history I thought I would share. Reminding me, (anyway), that my day wasn't bad at all...
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