Historical person
Charles B. McVay III
1898–1968
Charles B. McVay III was a United States Navy officer who commanded the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis during the final year of the Second World War. After completing a secret high-speed mission to Tinian, the ship was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-58 on 30 July 1945 and sank rapidly.
McVay survived the sinking but was later court-martialled, principally over the allegation that he had failed to zigzag. Survivors and supporters campaigned for decades to clear him, arguing that the proceedings ignored failures in routing and rescue and the testimony of Japanese commander Mochitsura Hashimoto.
David Boyle’s Lost at Sea 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.
Non Fiction
Non Fiction featuring Charles B. McVay III (1 book)
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.