The USS Indianapolis was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on November 15, 1932. The ship served with honor from Pearl Harbor through the last campaign of World War II, sinking in action two weeks before the end of the war. On July 30, 1945, while sailing from Guam to Leyte, the Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship capsized and sank in twelve minutes. Survivors were not rescued until they were spotted by a patrol aircraft on August 2. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once and the surrounding waters were thoroughly searched for survivors. Upon completion of the day and night search on August 8th, 316 men were rescued out of the crew of 1,199. Captain Charles Butler McVay III, who had commanded the Indianapolis since November 1944, survived the sinking and was with those rescued days later. In November 1945, he was court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag." Several things about the court-martial were controversial. There was evidence that the Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way, in that McVay's orders were to "zigzag at his discretion, weather permitting." Further, the commander of Japanese I-58 testified that zigzagging would have made no difference. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz remitted McVay's sentence and restored him to active duty. McVay retired in 1949. While many of Indianapolis's survivors said McVay was not to blame for the sinking the families of some of the men who died did. The guilt that was placed on his shoulders mounted until he committed suicide in 1968, using his Navy-issue revolver. McVay was discovered with a toy sailor in one hand on his front lawn. In October 2000, the United States Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed, a resolution that Captain McVay's record should state that "he is exonerated for the loss of Indianapolis." The resolution noted that although several hundred ships of the U.S. Navy were lost in combat in World War II, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed for the sinking of his ship.
commander of the USS Indianapolis
My uncle, Elwood (Abe) Stambaugh of Prescott, Kansas, served on the USS Indianapolis from 1945 until the ship was sunk on July 30, 1945. Uncle Abe was not aboard the ship when it went down. He was home on an emergency family leave. My Uncle Abe passed away on May 5, 2011, at the age of 92.
in San Francisco, California, April 1941
on his 90th birthday, July 23, 2008
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