Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis

Hunter Scott, an 11-year-old boy in Pensacola, Florida, was watching the movie Jaws, listening to Captain Quint tell the story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the end of World War II. “Eleven hundred men went into the water. Very first light, the sharks come cruising. . . .” Hunter had a simple question: Was this a true story?

The story of the USS Indianapolis, the worst naval disaster in American history, is indeed true. So is the story of the shameful court-martial of the ship’s captain, shameful because the loss of the ship was not his fault, and the Navy knew it. Hunter Scott became the catalyst for the survivors’ efforts to clear their captain’s name and set the record straight. This is the story of the ship, her brave sailors, their wronged captain, and a young man’s crusade to right an old injustice.