Below more than 18,000 feet of water in the Philippine Sea, researchers have found the wreck of the USS Indianapolis. The Portland-class heavy cruiser was struck just after midnight on July 30, 1945 by Japanese torpedoes. The attack came as the ship was transiting between Guam and the Leyte Gulf. She had just delivered parts for the first atomic bomb to be used in combat to Tinian, an island that is part of the Northern Mariana Islands.
WTHR reports that the ship sank in only 12 minutes, and of the 1,196 crew aboard, only 316 were rescued. Most who survived the torpedo attack perished from dehydration and exposure, while others were attacked by sharks.
This video by news station WTHR has more:
The wreck was discovered by a team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Searching from Allen’s research vessel Petrel, the team found the resting place of the USS Indianapolis west of its original presumed position. The Petrel’s crew will spend the next several weeks surveying the wreck.
