All the Drowned Sailors

On July 30, 1945, at 12:05 am, four days after the U.S.S. Indianapolis, flagship of the massive Pacific Fifth Fleet, delivered the components of the Hiroshima bomb to Tinian, she set sail directly into the path of four Japanese submarines we knew were there. She was torpedoed and sank within 15 minutes. Of the 1,196 men on board, 800 safely abandoned her. Of these 800 men in the water, only 316 survived the sharks, and worse. What really happened? Who was to blame? The Navy court-martialed the wrong man (who later committed suicide) and began a massive coverup that lasted for over 30 years until author Raymond B. Lech obtained previously unavailable files that reveal startling evidence that captains, commodores, and admirals were all involved in a conspiracy to conceal their massive blunders.