900 men went into the water

August 19, 2017 5:57 PM

The USS Indianapolis has been found, 18000 feet below the surface -- CNN story

Here's the boring facts. Here's the story people remember.

posted by vrakatar (30 comments total)

If all you know about the Indianapolis is from JAWS, the go get Doug Stanton's book "In Harm's Way" and read the incredible, pants-shitting-scary, heart-breaking story.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:03 PM on August 19, 2017 [8 favorites]

Is this post missing a link? There isn't anything here to support the "has been found" text in the post.
posted by anastasiav at 6:03 PM on August 19, 2017

The pictures are so clear and the ship is so....clean. But it's crazy deep there -- I hope that the scavenger salvors leave them undisturbed. For all the men lost after the sinking, that hull is the only gravesite they will ever have.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:05 PM on August 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

Yeah! I forgot the proof.
posted by vrakatar at 6:05 PM on August 19, 2017

Here's where I saw the pictures: https://www.reddit.com/r/WarshipPorn/comments/6uq4ip/paul_allens_team_found_uss_indianapolis_ca35/
posted by wenestvedt at 6:06 PM on August 19, 2017

Mod note: Added the CNN story to the main post
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 6:08 PM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

There's also a novel that is at least tangentially about the story, Failure to Zigzag.
posted by PandaMomentum at 6:12 PM on August 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

Here's Paul Allen's website with the news, and some pics.

Also check out his Twitter feed. It's pretty heartwarming to see people reply to pictures of the ship with thanks and mentioning their grandfathers served on it.
posted by zabuni at 6:24 PM on August 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

I hope that the scavenger salvors leave them undisturbed. For all the men lost after the sinking, that hull is the only gravesite they will ever have.

From Paul Allen's website:

The 16-person expedition team on the R/V Petrel will continue the process of surveying the full site as weather permits and will be conducting a live tour of the wreckage in the next few weeks. The USS Indianapolis remains the property of the U.S. Navy and its location will remain confidential and restricted by the Navy. The crew of the R/V Petrel has been collaborating with Navy authorities throughout its search operations and will continue to work on plans to honor the 22 crew members still alive today, as well as the families of all those who served on the highly decorated cruiser.

I don't think the Navy would take too kindly to people salvaging its property.
posted by zabuni at 6:28 PM on August 19, 2017 [8 favorites]

This has to be deeply moving for those 22 old survivors. It's kind of awe-inspiring.
posted by thelonius at 6:38 PM on August 19, 2017

There's a pretty good chance that some of the equipment on that ship would still be classified, too.
posted by tobascodagama at 6:39 PM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

*edit*

Oops didn't realize Quint's speech was already linked above in the post. Damn, that still gives me chills.
posted by Fizz at 6:42 PM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

What sort of equipment could be classified from 1945? Were there nuclear weapons aboard?
posted by Bee'sWing at 7:05 PM on August 19, 2017

Were there nuclear weapons aboard?

Not when it went down.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:10 PM on August 19, 2017 [7 favorites]

I don't think it was fissionable material, I think it was electronics or controls. Anyway, they delivered the bomb.
posted by vrakatar at 7:11 PM on August 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

lalex, I've not heard of this and now I'm hitting purchase on Amazon, cuz this looks amazing. So thank you for the share.
posted by Fizz at 7:53 PM on August 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

I don't think the Navy would take too kindly to people salvaging its property.

Oh, agreed. And the location is secret and it's like three miles down.

Still, shitty people gonna...shitty, I guess.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:36 PM on August 19, 2017

If all you know about the Indianapolis is from JAWS, the go get Doug Stanton's book "In Harm's Way" and read the incredible, pants-shitting-scary, heart-breaking story.

21st Century Problems. I *think* I have a copy of this on a shelf somewhere, I could spend hours looking through all the stuff and boxes OR spend $10 on a kindle version.
posted by mikelieman at 9:54 PM on August 19, 2017

A bookshelf wouldn't be a problem. It's the dozen or so bookcases with books in stacks and layers. That was BEFORE the daughters were toddlers and a lot of them were packed away to make room for their stuff.
posted by mikelieman at 12:14 AM on August 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

After reading the first link I was motivated to look up what the biggest maritime disasters were in other countries and while doing so noticed that Wikipedia lists the Corregidor sinking as the worst maritime disaster for the US in WW2, with a slightly higher loss of life than the Indianapolis. The US also lost over a thousand people on the General Slocum, a ferry that burned in NY state in 1904.

What's pretty depressing is how many naval disasters there are where way more than a thousand people died. I was quite taken aback by how many times multiple thousands have gone down in civilian and military disasters/actions.
posted by biffa at 12:51 AM on August 20, 2017

I wonder if the next generation of tycoons goes looking for MH370 like this. I hope to live to see those images.
posted by Laotic at 2:47 AM on August 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

I mean, both sides attacked boats, though
posted by middleclasstool at 6:56 AM on August 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

.
posted by FritoKAL at 9:36 AM on August 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

I did a post about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis previously with a bit of background.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:56 AM on August 20, 2017 [2 favorites]

Another vote for "In Harm's Way" - chilling and horrific.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:01 AM on August 20, 2017

A decade or more ago, self plus spouse holed up in front of the TV for beer, take-away, and Discovery Channel's "Great disasters at sea" evening. (Note: I'm British, this was in the UK.)

Anyway, the high point of the evening was a two hour documentary on the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, complete with gruesome interviews of survivors describing what it had been like in the water with the sharks and the madness and the dying.

And every fifteen minutes throughout it, there was an ad break that opened and closed with the same block-booked segments from the same deep-pockets customer: "Recruiting the best — become a sailor, join the Royal Navy!"

(I am not making this up, honest.)
posted by cstross at 11:36 AM on August 20, 2017 [15 favorites]

Jeez, Shaw's monologue from Jaws still gives me chills...
posted by darkstar at 8:02 PM on August 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

Pretty sure the scene was in the book as well. Benchley did plenty of research for his book, and the Indianapolis story is a primary source.

Robert Shaw was a megabadass actor, by golly.
posted by vrakatar at 8:35 PM on August 20, 2017 [2 favorites]

According to this article, it wasn't in the book. An uncredited screenwriter came up with the idea, John Milius turned it into a ten page monologue that was unfilmable, and Shaw himself, who was a playwright, shaped it into the final version.
posted by tavella at 5:33 AM on August 21, 2017 [8 favorites]

Mega. Bad. Ass.
posted by darkstar at 7:20 AM on August 21, 2017 [1 favorite]