Lost at Sea

In July 1945 the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis completed a secret mission delivering components connected with the atomic bomb to Tinian. On its subsequent voyage the ship was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-58, commanded by Mochitsura Hashimoto, and sank within minutes. Hundreds of survivors entered the sea without enough boats, food or water and remained there for days before they were accidentally discovered.

Boyle reconstructs the sinking, the prolonged ordeal of the survivors and the failures that delayed rescue. He also follows the controversial court-martial of Captain Charles B. McVay III, whose conviction became the focus of a long campaign by survivors and supporters seeking to clear his name. The book treats Indianapolis as both a naval disaster and a case study in institutional responsibility.