JULY 30

On this date in 1945, an American Naval tragedy occurred.  The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese sub and eventually sank.  About 300 of the crew of 1200 drowned as the ship rolled onto its side; the others dropped into the sea and awaited rescue.  No one came for three and one half days. 

Why, you ask.  Well, the Indianapolis was on a secret mission.   She was a cruiser, the fastest we had at the time.  The Indy carried enriched uranium and parts from San Francisco to Tinian Island in the South Pacific. These were components of the A-bombs being assembled there which were dropped on Japan. The mission was so secret almost no one knew where the ship was.  She made her delivery and was on the way back to the Philippines when she was hit.  Radio contact was restricted to maintain secrecy.  The ship went down without it's distress calls being acknowledged.  Of the approximate 900 sailors thrown into the sea, only 316 were rescued and survived. This incident resulted into the single greatest loss of life in U.S. Naval history.   
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