"Ill Met By Moonlight": The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis

Abstract

During the final days of World War II, a Japanese submarine torpedoed the USS Indianapolis. Although some 900 of the nearly 1,200 sailors escaped the ship, only 317 survived the four days of exposure and shark attacks. The circumstances of the tragedy began with a binocular sighting in the moonlight. The celestial scene will repeat on July 29th.