The tragic deaths of the crew of the USS Indianapolis
USS Indianapolis Naval History and Heritage Command / Wikimedia Commons
By Joseph A. Williams/Dec. 14, 2020 12:01 pm EST
Stephen Spielberg's classic film, Jaws, is perfect in building tension. The shark, which you don't meet until one hour and 21 minutes into the movie, is a malevolent and mysterious force — its absence makes it more terrifying. The tension reaches a height when Robert Shaw's character, Quint, spellbinds audiences with a dark monologue of his travails in shark-infested waters after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945. His description of how his friend was bitten in half by a shark bite chills the heart.
Shaw's speech was based on a true story that was far more ghastly and grim than summer box office fare. The USS Indianapolis was arguably the worst, and definitely the most, terrifying disaster in American naval history. The 879 crew members who perished represent the greatest loss of life in a United States Navy vessel. What makes the disaster even more grievous is the manner of their deaths and the ultimate tragedy of the ship's skipper, Charles B. McVay, III.
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