Hunter's
Point Naval Shipyard |
In his 2001 book
"In Harm's Way," author Doug Stanton details the sinking of the USS Indianapolis
during the final weeks of World War II. Stanton says the ship left Hunter's
Point Naval Shipyard on July 16, 1945, secretly loaded with
the atomic
bomb. Ten days later the bomb was delivered to Tinian Island, north
of Guam, southwest of Saipan. On July 30, while enroute from Guam to Leyte,
the USS Indianapolis was struck by two Japanese torpedoes. It sank in a
matter of minutes, killing 880 of 1,196 American sailors aboard. On August
6, the bomb was dropped from the B-29 Enola Gay on the Japanese city of
Hiroshima, killing 45,000 people right away and 20,000 more from illness
and injury over the following months. Three days after the attack on Hiroshima
the U.S. nuked Nagasaki as well, killing tens of thousands more. President
Harry S. Truman declared victory on August 14. Japan's grip on the Pacific
was over.
More
about the USS Indianapolis |
