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===McVay's record cleared===
In 1996, sixth-grade student [[Hunter Scott]] began his research on the sinking of ''Indianapolis'' for a class history project. Scott's effort led to an increase in national publicity,<ref>{{cite news |last= Lizette |first= Alvarez |date= 1 May 1998 |title= A Boy's School Project Aims to Revise History |newspaper= The New York Times |page= 18 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/01/us/a-boy-s-school-project-aims-to-revise-history.html |access-date= 25 July 2021}}</ref> which got the attention of retired Congressional lobbyist Michael Monroney, who had been scheduled to be assigned to ''Indianapolis'' before she shipped out on her final voyage. Around the same time, [[William Toti|Captain William J. Toti, USN]], final commanding officer of the fast attack nuclear submarine {{USS|Indianapolis|SSN-697}} received an appeal from several ''Indianapolis'' survivors to assist with the exoneration effort. Toti then demonstrated through analysis that the tactic of zigzagging would not have spared the ''Indianapolis'' from at least one torpedo hit by the ''I-58''.<ref name="Toti">{{cite journal |last=Toti |first=Cmdr. William |title= The Sinking of the Indy and the Responsibility of Command |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute |journal=Proceedings |date=October 1999 |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1999/october/sinking-indy-responsibility-command |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Monroney brought the matter to the attention of his son-in-law, who was on the staff of [[Bob Smith (New Hampshire politician)|Senator Bob Smith]] (R, NH) and was able to get the issue in front of Smith. Smith convinced [[John Warner|Senator John Warner]] (R, VA) to hold hearings on the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Armed Services Committee]] on 14 September 1999, in which several ''Indianapolis'' survivors testified. Also called to testify in the hearings were [[Vice Chief of Naval Operations]] [[Donald L. Pilling|Admiral Donald Pilling]], Director of [[Naval History and Heritage Command|Naval History Center]] Dr. William Dudley, and the [[Judge Advocate General of the Navy]] [[John Hutson|Rear Admiral John Hutson]]. The hearings were reported to sway Senator Warner into allowing a "[[Non-binding resolution#United States|Sense of Congress]]" resolution clearing Captain McVay's name to be passed to full Congress for a vote. In October 2000, the [[United States Congress]] passed a resolution that Captain McVay's record should state that "he is [[exoneration|exonerated]] for the loss of ''Indianapolis''". President [[Bill Clinton]] also signed the resolution.<ref name="exoneration">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ussindianapolis.org/resolution.htm|title=Seeking Justice: Victory in Congress|work=ussindianapolis.org|access-date=4 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029041423/http://www.ussindianapolis.org/resolution.htm|archive-date=29 October 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> The resolution noted that, although several hundred ships of the U.S. Navy were lost in combat during World War II, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed for the loss of his ship due to enemy action in combat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ussindianapolis.org/language.htm|title=Legislation exonerating Captain McVay|work=ussindianapolis.org|access-date=4 September 2010|archive-date=20 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220002737/http://www.ussindianapolis.org/language.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In July 2001, United States Secretary of the Navy [[Gordon R. England|Gordon England]] directed Captain Toti to enter the Congressional language into McVay's official Navy service record, clearing him of all wrongdoing.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Joseph|title=Leadership Embodied|year=2005|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1591148609|pages=112–117|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qiU7V8maI2oC&q=MacVay&pg=PA112}}</ref><ref name="AP20010713">{{cite news|last=Magin|first=Janis|title=Navy exonerates WWII captain|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5k0iAAAAIBAJ&pg=3676,966443|access-date=31 July 2011|newspaper=The Argus-Press|date=13 July 2001}}</ref>
==Commanders==
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