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"Stellar... Fascinating... A gut wrenching story of everyday heroes." -- The New York Post "Gripping... Compelling." -- Chicago Tribune "Powerful... One of the most poignant tragedies and injustices of World War II." -- Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down "Infuriating, mesmerizing, and heartbreaking... Impossible to put down." -- Rick Atkinson, author of The Long Gray Line and Crusade "The most frightening book I've ever read." -- Stephen E. Ambrose, author of Nothing Like It in the Wind On July 30, 1945, after completing a top secret mission to deliver parts of the atom bomb "Little Boy," which would be dropped on Hiroshima, the battle cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained, undetected by the navy, for nearly five days. Battered by a savage sea, they struggled to survive, fighting off hypothermia, sharks, physical and mental exhaustion, and, finally, hallucinatory dementia. By the time rescue -- which was purely accidental -- arrived, all but 321 men had lost their lives; 4 more would die in military hospitals shortly thereafter. The captain's subsequent and highly un usual court-martial left many questions unanswered: How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? Why was the cruiser traveling unescorted in enemy waters? And perhaps most amazing of all, how did these 317 men manage to survive? |
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