The Tragic Fate of the U.S.S. Indianapolis: The U.S. Navy's Worst Disaster at Sea Review

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The Tragic Fate of the U.S.S. Indianapolis: The U.S. Navy's Worst Disaster at Sea ReviewThe first history of the sinking of the USS INDIANAPOLIS to have access to governmental papers and records on the tragedy (an earlier book, Richard F. Newcomb's ABANDON SHIP!, relied primarily on the sailors' often contradictory first-hand accounts of what little they observed), this book paints a vivid portrait of the horror of the disaster, as well as the Naval blunders that led to it, and the fifty-year cover-up that followed.
In the final days of World War II, the USS INDIANAPOLIS was sunk en route back to the United States, having delivered components for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima. Of the 1200 men on board, 400 were killed in the torpedoing. The remaining 800 would float in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific for four days without the US Navy being aware they were missing. When the men were at last spotted by accident and rescued, only 300 were still alive. A Naval court-martial would declare the INDIANAPOLIS' Captain Charles Butler McVay culpable for the loss of his ship.
Although Lech's primary thesis -- that Captain McVay was innocent -- has become outdated by the course of history (the US Congress posthumously exonerated McVay in October 2000, nearly 20 years after the publication of this book and over 30 years after McVay's suicide -- a history briefly laid out in the latest Afterword to Newcomb's book and in the more recent IN HARM'S WAY by Doug Stanton), there is still plenty to find here. Lech carefully dissects the chain of accidents and circumstances leading up to the sinking. He has a talent for bringing the key figures to life and for vividly describing the horrors they witnessed. Within his larger portrait of a naval blunder, Lech reveals some incredible anecdotes and side stories, most notably the story of the Japanese Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, who found himself in the unusual position of being a witness in the trial of a captain whose ship he had sunk after the war in which they both fought was over.
At the end of his story, Mr. Lech aids those hoping to delve further into the incident by providing over 60 pages of Appendices, including the full text of several Naval dispatches and of Hashimoto's testimony, as well as a 15-page bibliography including a complete list by number of the Naval dispatches he consulted in his research.
Whether for the history buff or the serious scholar, Lech's well-researched, thorough, vivid history of the tragedy is a great starting place for research into one of the most compelling stories of the World War II Pacific theater, and is highly recommended.The Tragic Fate of the U.S.S. Indianapolis: The U.S. Navy's Worst Disaster at Sea Overview

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