After delivering a mysterious package that changed the course of history, the sailors experienced a true nightmare

Harry S. Truman, then president of the United States, wanted at all costs to put an end to the war that had been raging for too many years. Violence has not been used sparingly for a long time. Since 1942 the nuclear bomb has been designed, assembled and finally built by the Americans. On July 16, 1945 the test was successful and he did not remain in the shadows. The US will use it to bring Japan to its knees.

USS Indianapolis, the key ship

Charles Butler McVay is its commander. The USS Indianapolis is not in its infancy. Placed in the water in 1931 by American forces, she is the symbol of numerous victories in the Pacific War.

1,197 crew members receive a mission: to sail to Tinian, an American military base located in the Pacific Ocean, to deliver a cargo. Its contents? A secret. The captain and his sailors have no idea what the charge is on board. What they know is that this is a service of the utmost importance. Their departure is also secret. Officially this boat never left America.

The ship is armed to attack enemy aircraft and boats, but remains a formidable adversary: ​​submarines. Normally, to block this type of attack, it is necessary for an escort to accompany the ship in order to locate it and destroy it with grenades before falling victim. But absolutely not. The mission is top secret. Why would a team cover the back of a ship that never left port? It is without this protection that the crew heads for Japan.

Along the way, some attacks are successfully countered. On July 26, 1945, the USS Indianapolis reached its target and dropped the mysterious package. In reality, it is Little Boy and Fat Man who are then left safely. These abstract and amusing nicknames respectively designate the components of the bombs destined to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The American mission is a success and the sailors return. Unknowingly, they have taken on a role that will change history forever.

The Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 ©Bridgeman Images/Belga

The shipwreck

The crew resumes their journey home. McVay assures the Navy that there is no recent Japanese military activity in the waters they cross. He is given the all-clear and, relieved, heads for America. But four nights after their departure, the calm is broken.

A Japanese I-58 submarine, led by Commander Hashimoto, detects the American ship and attacks it with torpedoes in the open Philippine Sea. Two of them hit the ship on the starboard side. Panic prevails and Commander McVay orders the boat to be abandoned. In just 12 minutes, the ship sank, taking the lives of nearly 300 people in the depths of the Pacific. Some will say that the messages for help during the sinking were not heard by the Navy, the latter fearing that it was a trap set by the enemy, others will argue that the US military never received them. No help was sent to the survivors.

The curtain of hell closes on the remaining 900 sailors. They are immersed in a pool of fuel, clinging to their breath to survive. Some rafts and life jackets allow them to float to the surface. The scenario of the following days was terrible: sunstroke and dehydration drove them to madness. Salt water peels your skin and attacks your vision. But their opponent has taken on a new face. The water is home to numerous oceanic whitetip sharks, which attack first the corpses, then the survivors. The sailors live in constant fear of being devoured for four days.

This image, released in 2017, shows a bell in the wreck of the USS Indianapolis. ©AFP or licensors

An unexpected rescue

On August 2, an American bomber flew over the area and penetrated the veil of their hallucinations. “We all started waving our hands. He began to spin and passed over our heads several times. We knew he had seen us,” says one survivor. The men on board the aircraft alerted the emergency services and a major operation was carried out to rescue the men in the water.

316 people were rescued. 881 died there. This shipwreck was the deadliest in the United States Navy.

The ideal culprit

For the first time in history, the commander of a sunken ship is summoned to court-martial. McVay is charged with two counts: failing to give the order to abandon ship in time and endangering his vessel by not zigzagging. According to the prosecution, if the captain had made the journey in a zigzag, the torpedoes could have been avoided.

In support of this accusation, the American court martial called into question an unexpected witness to say the least: Commander Hashimoto. The same one who torpedoed the American ship. In this courtroom, McVay finds himself face to face with his team’s executioner. Hashimoto comes face to face with the man who allowed the nuclear bomb to come to his country.

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Drama at court. The Japanese captain testifies in favor of McVay. According to him, the commander is in no way guilty of what he is accused of. The Japanese submarine was very close and fired 6 torpedoes. The enemy professional certifies that his target had no chance of escape.

After this intense trial, the verdict falls before the eyes of the survivors. Despite the testimony of the Japanese commander, Captain McVay was found guilty of the second charge.

From that moment on, the American captain’s life was reduced to an immensity of regrets. He was removed from office and the letters of accusation from the deceased’s family fueled the torment of his guilt. The commander committed suicide on November 6, 1968 in front of his house.

“I think he was used as a scapegoat. There were too many losses, someone had to take the blame. It wasn’t his fault,” confides a surviving sailor. The captain’s men have the deep feeling of owing him their lives and fight to do him justice: “We fought against the navy, against the Pentagon, against Washington. Against everyone who wanted to listen to us. We knew it was an injustice,” says another sailor. In October 2000, President Bill Clinton rehabilitated McVay. A post-mortem success, which will never be able to alleviate the trauma of the captain who committed suicide. The USS Indianapolis mission has claimed another victim, this time on land.

A link in a large chain

On 6 and 9 August 1945 the nuclear bomb made its tragic entry into the world of war. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed on these two dates respectively. Five days later, on August 14, the war ended.

2024-01-21 10:50:00
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