One of the most harrowing episodes in US Naval history unfolded in the Pacific Ocean in July 1945, when hundreds of sailors faced a relentless onslaught from sharks after their warship was sunk.
The Fateful Mission and a Sudden Attack
On July 26, 1945, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, known as "Indy," completed a top-secret delivery of components for the world's first operational atomic bomb to the island of Tinian. Unaware of the significance of their cargo, the ship and its crew of 1,195 were then sent towards Guam.
Just after midnight on July 30, disaster struck. While travelling at 17 knots, the Indianapolis was hit by two torpedoes fired from the Japanese submarine I-58. One struck the bow, the second hit near a powder magazine, causing catastrophic damage. The vessel split in two and sank in just 12 minutes, taking an estimated 300 men down with it.
Abandoned in a Shark-Infested Sea
Approximately 900 men survived the initial sinking, finding themselves adrift in the open ocean. Among them was 23-year-old naval officer Harlan Twible, who took command of a group of terrified, mostly teenage sailors. "I gave the order to abandon ship," Twible later recounted. "Nobody abandoned, then I yelled, 'Follow me!'"
Their ordeal had only just begun. As the sun rose, the survivors realised they were surrounded by oceanic whitetip sharks, drawn by the thrashing, the blood, and the dead. A horrific feeding frenzy commenced. "Everybody was scared to death," said Twible. The group's numbers began to dwindle rapidly.
Desperate Measures and a Grisly Toll
The sailors resorted to fighting the predators off with their bare hands. Twible organised "shark watches" and tried to keep men together, understanding there was safety in numbers. In a desperate and brutal act, he cut the bodies of the deceased from floating wreckage and pushed them away, hoping to distract the sharks and motivate the living to keep fighting.
For four days and five nights, the men battled dehydration, exposure, delirium, and the constant terror of shark attacks. Their plight went unnoticed by the US Navy. Finally, on the fourth day, a routine patrol aircraft spotted them. By the time rescue arrived, only 316 men remained alive from the original 900 who had escaped the sinking.
The sinking of the USS Indianapolis stands as the US Navy's single greatest loss of life at sea. For decades, Harlan Twible and other survivors carried the trauma of those days, a stark testament to the brutality of war and the unforgiving power of nature.
