Assumptions Have Consequences

Recently, we looked briefly at the mistakes made by Naval officers leading to tragic results for members of the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis on July 30, 1945 and the days following.

Torpedoed and sunk, the Indy's surviving crew floated alone in the Pacific with its daytime temperatures reaching 100 degrees. The merciless sun beat them with it's intense blazing as they floated about 12 degrees north of the equator. The sun presented perhaps the least of their problems.

Somewhere around 900 men survived the sinking from a crew of 1196, though various injuries and burns hindered many. The sea quickly divided the survivors as groups drifted apart to a general area of about 12 miles.  Trouble soon began.

"By dusk on Monday, hundreds of sharks had encircled them. There were makos, tigers, white tips, and blues. Rising at the speed of man at a gentle run, the sharks ascended from the depths of the dark sea to the paler glow of approaching night overhead, toward a sky empty of stars. As the heat of day tempered into relative cool, the boys, lying in their life vests, began to feel things bumping them from below - nudges and kicks that they mistook for the touch of their comrades treading water. They nodded off and slept, if their wounds allowed them to rest. They woke often, with a start, staring into the dark, wondering, Who's there?"   (In Harm's Way; p.161)

Sharks, with wakes mistaken for those of PT boats, attacked again and again. Despite the thrashing and best efforts of the men, the sharks attacked. The dorsal fins tore the flesh, already damaged by exposure, burns, salt. Limbs were torn. Men were dragged, screaming into the distance and then disappearing below the surface - gone forever. The death toll rose at a rate of 50 men per day by shark attacks, eventually claiming an estimated 200 men.

But surprisingly another killer worked silently among the terrified survivors. Yes, thirst dried the men out - even surrounded by an unfathomable deep - because the poisonous salt water would first drive mad and then kill. The water itself, however, was a very warm steady 85 degrees. The men would bake during the daytime and then night would descend. By comparison, the cold was brutal. Hypothermia set in fast.

Despite the global position, the water was still a full 10 degrees lower than the human body temperature and life drained slowly from the desperate men even as they fought sharks, exposure, wounds, the sun and their own mental constitution.

The consequences of commanders poorly advised or even foolish decisions often bring dire consequences for those under their commands. This is a powerful story and well written.