| The world's first operational
atomic bomb was delivered by the USS Indianapolis to
the island of Tinian on July 26, 1945. The Indianapolis
was then directed to join the battleship USS Idaho at
Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. The Indianapolis departed
Guam unescorted.
At 12:14 a.m. on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis
was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine
Sea and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 men on board, approximately
300 went down with the ship. The remainder, about 900
men, were left floating in shark-infested waters with
no lifeboats and most with no food or water. The ship
was never missed, and by the time the survivors were
spotted by accident four days later only 316 men were
still alive.
The ship's captain, the late Charles Butler McVay
III, survived and was court-martialed and convicted
of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag"
despite overwhelming evidence that the Navy itself had
placed the ship in harm's way, despite testimony from
the Japanese submarine commander that zigzagging would
have made no difference, and despite that fact that,
although over 350 navy ships were lost in combat in
WWII, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed.
In October of 2000, following years of effort by the
survivors and their supporters, legislation was passed
in Washington and signed by President Clinton expressing
the sense of Congress, among other things, that Captain
McVay's record should now reflect that he is exonerated
for the loss of the Indianapolis and for the death of
her crew who were lost. |
In July of 2001, the Navy
Department announced that Captain McVay's record has
been amended to exonerate him for the loss of the Indianapolis
and the lives of those who perished as a result of her
sinking. The action was taken by Secretary of the Navy
Gordon R. England who was persuaded to do so by New
Hampshire Senator Bob Smith, a strong advocate of McVay's
innocence. The survivors are deeply grateful to Secretary
England and Senator Smith, without whom the injustice
to Captain McVay would never have been brought to the
attention of the media and the Congress.
Unfortunately, the conviction for hazarding his ship
by failing to zigzag remains on Captain McVay's record.
Never in the history of the U.S. military has the verdict
of a court-martial been overturned, and there is no
known process for doing so.
It can be stated unequivocally, however, that, if
the Indianapolis had arrived safely at Leyte without
incident, Captain McVay would never have been court-martialed.
Thus, by exonerating him for the loss of the ship and
the death of 880 of her crew members, the Navy Department
has at last conceded that he was innocent of any wrong-doing.
His exoneration is tantamount to an admission that he
should never have been court-martialed in the first
place.
The survivors are thankful that after 56 years the
good name of their captain has been cleared. |
