Still Hasn’t Reached Port: USS Indianapolis
Saturday marked the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. It took 73 years to find the ill-fated luxury liner, but there are many sunken ships that are still unaccounted for. Most notably is the USS Indianapolis, immortalized by the 1975 movie “Jaws.”
The USS Indianapolis played a pivotal role in World War II by delivering Little Boy, the nuclear bomb that would later be dropped on Hiroshima. On July 30th, 1945, the cruiser was struck by Japanese torpedoes and sunk somewhere between Guam and the Philippines. Of her crew of 1,196, some 300 went down with the ship, while another 579 died in the water in the days that passed between her sinking and the Navy’s discovery of it. Many were eaten by sharks.
Despite numerous serious attempts, none have been able to locate the Indianapolis. The USS Indianapolis is a war hero. It’s time to find her and bring her home.
Here’s Robert Shaw as Quint in the 1975 Spielberg masterpiece ‘Jaws’ recounting the USS Indianapolis’ final days at sea. To this day, no matter how many times I watch Quint’s speech, it still gives me the shivers.