Overview

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 three hundred men were killed upon impact; close to nine hundred 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 arrived which was purely accidental all but 321 men had lost their lives; four more would die in military hospitals shortly thereafter. The captain s subsequent and highly unusual 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 survive? Interweaving the stories of three survivors the captain, the ship s doctor, and a young marine journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless. The definitive account of this harrowing chapter of World War II history, In Harm s Way is a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.

Full Product Details

9780792799269

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available