USS Indianapolis (CA-35): Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

m

Line 207:

Captain [[Charles B. McVay III]], who had commanded ''Indianapolis'' since November 1944 through several battles, survived the sinking, though he was one of the last to abandon ship, and was among those rescued days later. In November 1945, he was [[court-martial]]ed on two charges: failing to order his men to abandon ship and hazarding the ship. Cleared of the charge of failing to order abandon ship, McVay was convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to [[zigzag]]". Several aspects of the court-martial were controversial. There was evidence that the Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way. McVay's orders were to "zigzag at his discretion, weather permitting"; however, McVay was not informed that a Japanese submarine was operating in the vicinity of his route from Guam to Leyte. Further, Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, commanding officer of ''I-58'', testified that zigzagging would have made no difference.<ref name="Hashimoto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ussindianapolis.org/hashimoto.htm|title=Mochitsura Hashimoto|work=ussindianapolis.org|access-date=4 September 2010|archive-date=11 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711210117/http://www.ussindianapolis.org/hashimoto.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Fleet admiral (United States)|Fleet Admiral]] [[Chester Nimitz]] remitted McVay's sentence and restored him to active duty. McVay retired in 1949 as a [[Rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]].<ref name="McVay">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ussindianapolis.org/mcvay.htm|title=Captain McVay|work=ussindianapolis.org|access-date=4 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204011556/http://ussindianapolis.org/mcvay.htm|archive-date=4 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

While many of ''Indianapolis''{{'s}} survivors said McVay was not to blame for the sinking, the families of some of the men who died thought otherwise: "Merry Christmas! Our family's holiday would be a lot merrier if you hadn't killed my son", read one piece of mail.<ref name="Suicide">{{Cite web|url=http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0401harmsway.htm|title=Review of ''In Harm's Way''|author=Steven Martinovich|date=16 April 2001|work=enterstageright.com|access-date=4 September 2010|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215222633/http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0401harmsway.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The guilt that was placed on his shoulders mounted until he [[Charles B. McVay III#Suicide|died bycommitted suicide]] in 1968, aged 70.<ref name="ctmag">{{cite news |last1=Catarevas |first1=Michael |title=Connecticut's Heroes Aboard the Doomed USS ''Indianapolis'' |url=http://www.connecticutmag.com/the-connecticut-story/connecticut-s-heroes-aboard-the-doomed-uss-indianapolis/article_22699165-1487-59b9-af8e-88c1ec791af0.html |access-date=29 June 2018 |work=Connecticut Magazine |date=4 November 2016}}</ref>

===McVay's record cleared===