USS Indianapolis

The story behind the Indianapolis is a wonderful analogy of our enemy seeking to destroy us. I would like to respond to a post by blackbird regarding this issue.

It is not as great of coincidence as it might seem that these two vessels would meet in the "vast space of ocean in the South Pacific." Naval intelligence was aware of two Japanese submarines operating in the path of the USS Indianapolis, one of which was the I-58 which later sank her.

Captian Charles Butler McVay III requested and was denied a destroyer escort.

There were 1196 men on board. Approximately 880 made it into the water after the torpedos hit. During the 4 1/2 days in the water, on average, 1 man every 12 minutes succombed to the elements, to exhaustion, to injury, or to shark attack. In the end, 317 survivors were rescued.

Captian McVay survived and was court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag" despite overwhelming evidence that:

1.The Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way,
2. Despite testimony from the Japanese submarine commander that zigzagging would have made no difference,
3. 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 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. 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.

 

A bit more information about this travesty is:
Although naval authorities at Guam knew that on July 24, four days before the Indianapolis departed for Leyte, the destroyer escort USS Underhill had been sunk by a Japanese submarine within range of his path, McVay was not told.

Although no capital ship (unequipped with antisubmarine detection devices such as the Indianapolis) had made the transit between Guam and the Philippines without a destroyer escort throughout World War II, McVay's request for such an escort was denied.

Although the routing officer at Guam was aware of dangers in the ship's path, he said a destroyer escort for the Indianapolis was "not necessary" (and, unbelievably, testified at McVay's subsequent court-martial that the risk of submarine attack along the Indianapolis's route "was very slight").

Although McVay was told of "submarine sightings" along his path, none had been confirmed. Such sightings were commonplace throughout the war and were generally ignored by navy commanders unless confirmed.

Thus, the Indianapolis set sail for Leyte on July 26, 1945, sent into harm's way with its captain unaware of dangers which shore-based naval personnel knew were in his path.

Captain McVay's orders were to "zigzag at his discretion." Zigzagging is a naval maneuver used to avoid torpedo attack, generally considered most effective once the torpedoes have been launched. No Navy directives in force at that time or since recommended, much less ordered, zigzagging at night in poor visibility.

http://www.ussindianapolis.org/mcvay.htm

 

The application was that we have an enemy seeking to destroy us - I Peter 5:8

I. Things in your past will not stop this enemy
A. Past victories
B. Past honors
C. Past injuries

II. Plans for the future will not stop this enemy

I will have the text of this message on our church website before long.