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07/30/2003 Archived Entry: "USS Indianapolis"

"VESSEL WENT DOWN IN 12 MINUTES. DIDN'T SEE THE FIRST SHARK FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR.": (Via Brothers Judd Blog) Those are, of course, words from Quint (Robert Shaw) from the movie "Jaws" in describing how the U.S.S. Indianapolis went down on July 30, 1945 after delivering the atom bomb and the horrific fate that awaited the men who entered the water. Of the 1 114 men onboard, 900 survived the sinking. A few days later only 321 were pulled from the water. Sharks and exposure took the rest. Today is the anniversary of that tragic event.

One of the finest books to cover the story is Doug Stanton's In Harm's Way which we reviewed back in April 2001. The rumour is that Mel Gibson bought the rights to the book and will make a movie about it.