Title: Indianapolis : The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S.Naval
History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an
Innocent Man
Author: Lynn Vincent & Sara Vladic
Genre: Nonfiction ( History)
Pages 592
Rating:
Description
A human drama unlike any other—the riveting and definitive full story of the worst sea disaster in United States naval history.
Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, days after delivering the components of the atomic bomb from California to the Pacific Islands in the most highly classified naval mission of the war, USS Indianapolis is sailing alone in the center of the Philippine Sea when she is struck by two Japanese torpedoes. The ship is instantly transformed into a fiery cauldron and sinks within minutes. Some 300 men go down with the ship. Nearly 900 make it into the water alive. For the next five nights and four days, almost three hundred miles from the nearest land, the men battle injuries, sharks, dehydration, insanity, and eventually each other. Only 316 will survive.
For the better part of a century, the story of USS Indianapolis has been understood as a sinking tale. The reality, however, is far more complicated—and compelling. Now, for the first time, thanks to a decade of original research and interviews with 107 survivors and eyewitnesses, Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic tell the complete story of the ship, her crew, and their final mission to save one of their own.
It begins in 1932, when Indianapolis is christened and launched as the ship of state for President Franklin Roosevelt. After Pearl Harbor, Indianapolis leads the charge to the Pacific Islands, notching an unbroken string of victories in an uncharted theater of war. Then, under orders from President Harry Truman, the ship takes aboard a superspy and embarks on her final world-changing mission: delivering the core of the atomic bomb to the Pacific for the strike on Hiroshima. Vincent and Vladic provide a visceral, moment-by-moment account of the disaster that unfolds days later after the Japanese torpedo attack, from the chaos on board the sinking ship to the first moments of shock as the crew plunge into the remote waters of the Philippine Sea, to the long days and nights during which terror and hunger morph into delusion and desperation, and the men must band together to survive.
Then, for the first time, the authors go beyond the men’s rescue to chronicle Indianapolis’s extraordinary final mission: the survivors’ fifty-year fight for justice on behalf of their skipper, Captain Charles McVay III, who is wrongly court-martialed for the sinking. What follows is a captivating courtroom drama that weaves through generations of American presidents, from Harry Truman to George W. Bush, and forever entwines the lives of three captains—McVay, whose life and career are never the same after the scandal; Mochitsura Hashimoto, the Japanese sub commander who sinks Indianapolis but later joins the battle to exonerate McVay; and William Toti, the captain of the modern-day submarine Indianapolis, who helps the survivors fight to vindicate their captain.
A sweeping saga of survival, sacrifice, justice, and love, Indianapolis stands as both groundbreaking naval history and spellbinding narrative—and brings the ship and her heroic crew back to full, vivid, unforgettable life. It is the definitive account of one of the most remarkable episodes in American history.
My thoughts
Would I recommend it? Yes
Would I read more by these two authors ? Yes
Going into this book I already knew a little bit about the story of the Indianapolis because I heard of it thanks to its mentioning in the movie Jaws and one other but I can't seem to remember the title of . So as soon as I as this was on NetGalley I know I wanted to read it but sadly it took me till now to pick it up to read and I'm so glad I did. Even though I love reading nonfiction this one scared me because I knew it was going to be a emotional type read and it was.But that's why I love reading nonfiction especially the ones that deal with the history and story of WW 2 and if its well written so much so that the authors bring the story the story to live and you see the story come to life before your very eyes so much so that you feel everything that they felt doing that time . And that's what these authors did ,they bright it to life and made the you feel for the ones that lost their lives and the ones that lived to tell the story. And that's other thing I loved abut this book so much is that not only does it describes the history of the Indianapolis’ war service, as well as the sinking and the five days of terror in the sea waiting for rescue, but continues with the survivors’ fight to clear their Captain’s name as well as his record.It also brings to life how a man who not only loved his ship but his man as well was wrongfully blamed for something that he didn't do. But its also the story that needs to be told and retold so that we don't forget the ship or the men who died fighting not only for their very lives but for something that they believed in . With that said I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read and review this book .
Author: Lynn Vincent & Sara Vladic
Genre: Nonfiction ( History)
Pages 592
Rating:
Description
A human drama unlike any other—the riveting and definitive full story of the worst sea disaster in United States naval history.
Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, days after delivering the components of the atomic bomb from California to the Pacific Islands in the most highly classified naval mission of the war, USS Indianapolis is sailing alone in the center of the Philippine Sea when she is struck by two Japanese torpedoes. The ship is instantly transformed into a fiery cauldron and sinks within minutes. Some 300 men go down with the ship. Nearly 900 make it into the water alive. For the next five nights and four days, almost three hundred miles from the nearest land, the men battle injuries, sharks, dehydration, insanity, and eventually each other. Only 316 will survive.
For the better part of a century, the story of USS Indianapolis has been understood as a sinking tale. The reality, however, is far more complicated—and compelling. Now, for the first time, thanks to a decade of original research and interviews with 107 survivors and eyewitnesses, Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic tell the complete story of the ship, her crew, and their final mission to save one of their own.
It begins in 1932, when Indianapolis is christened and launched as the ship of state for President Franklin Roosevelt. After Pearl Harbor, Indianapolis leads the charge to the Pacific Islands, notching an unbroken string of victories in an uncharted theater of war. Then, under orders from President Harry Truman, the ship takes aboard a superspy and embarks on her final world-changing mission: delivering the core of the atomic bomb to the Pacific for the strike on Hiroshima. Vincent and Vladic provide a visceral, moment-by-moment account of the disaster that unfolds days later after the Japanese torpedo attack, from the chaos on board the sinking ship to the first moments of shock as the crew plunge into the remote waters of the Philippine Sea, to the long days and nights during which terror and hunger morph into delusion and desperation, and the men must band together to survive.
Then, for the first time, the authors go beyond the men’s rescue to chronicle Indianapolis’s extraordinary final mission: the survivors’ fifty-year fight for justice on behalf of their skipper, Captain Charles McVay III, who is wrongly court-martialed for the sinking. What follows is a captivating courtroom drama that weaves through generations of American presidents, from Harry Truman to George W. Bush, and forever entwines the lives of three captains—McVay, whose life and career are never the same after the scandal; Mochitsura Hashimoto, the Japanese sub commander who sinks Indianapolis but later joins the battle to exonerate McVay; and William Toti, the captain of the modern-day submarine Indianapolis, who helps the survivors fight to vindicate their captain.
A sweeping saga of survival, sacrifice, justice, and love, Indianapolis stands as both groundbreaking naval history and spellbinding narrative—and brings the ship and her heroic crew back to full, vivid, unforgettable life. It is the definitive account of one of the most remarkable episodes in American history.
My thoughts
Would I recommend it? Yes
Would I read more by these two authors ? Yes
Going into this book I already knew a little bit about the story of the Indianapolis because I heard of it thanks to its mentioning in the movie Jaws and one other but I can't seem to remember the title of . So as soon as I as this was on NetGalley I know I wanted to read it but sadly it took me till now to pick it up to read and I'm so glad I did. Even though I love reading nonfiction this one scared me because I knew it was going to be a emotional type read and it was.But that's why I love reading nonfiction especially the ones that deal with the history and story of WW 2 and if its well written so much so that the authors bring the story the story to live and you see the story come to life before your very eyes so much so that you feel everything that they felt doing that time . And that's what these authors did ,they bright it to life and made the you feel for the ones that lost their lives and the ones that lived to tell the story. And that's other thing I loved abut this book so much is that not only does it describes the history of the Indianapolis’ war service, as well as the sinking and the five days of terror in the sea waiting for rescue, but continues with the survivors’ fight to clear their Captain’s name as well as his record.It also brings to life how a man who not only loved his ship but his man as well was wrongfully blamed for something that he didn't do. But its also the story that needs to be told and retold so that we don't forget the ship or the men who died fighting not only for their very lives but for something that they believed in . With that said I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read and review this book .
No comments:
Post a Comment