In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
How does a U.S. battle cruiser, torpedoed by a Japanese sub in the Pacific, go completely undetected by the Navy for five days? How did the 900 survivors of the blast -- thrown into the water and left to fight off hypothermia, sharks, and mounting despair -- get through the ordeal? In the compelling pages of In Harm's Way, Doug Stanton draws on previously unknown information and has conducted extensive interviews with the survivors of the USS Indianapolis in order to bring this amazing WWII tale of courage and sacrifice to the reader.
Stanton begins by presenting a look at Indianapolis captain Charles McVay, the only captain of a sunken ship to be court-martialed for "negligence." Stanton presents McVay as a precise and thoughtful commander who cared deeply for his crew -- and who wound up emotionally devastated by the sinking and its aftermath.
Ship's doctor Lewis Haynes is also profiled. When the ship is hit, Haynes's life is saved by an officer who warns him of imminent danger -- before being incinerated before Haynes's eyes by the force of an explosive flash fire. When the crew then abandons ship and winds up in the Pacific, Haynes does all he can to attend to the wounded while (literally) trying to talk them out of suicide.
Meanwhile Giles McCoy, a young marine private eager for some military action, finds his military toughness tested when he finds himself trying to herd the crewmembers -- scattered and drifting randomly through the oil-slicked waters -- together into a cohesive group.
Stanton alternates between relating the experiences of these three key men and detailing the frustratingly complex behind-the-scenes bureaucracy of the Navy. The Navy, amazingly, allowed the cruiser, which had just delivered the integral components of the "Little Boy" atomic bomb to Tinian Island in the South Pacific, to cross the Pacific unescorted -- a decision practically unheard of in wartime. The position of the Indianapolis was unknown to the Navy because of a series of snafus that defy belief -- each naval division, basically, thought another knew where the ship was!
The centerpiece of the book -- one that will chill every reader to the bone -- is the nearly five-day ordeal experienced by the 300 men adrift in the ocean: no food, no water, some burned so badly that their flesh hung off their bodies, some blinded, all at the mercy of hundreds of hungry sharks! It's an ordeal that is simply unthinkable and unbelievable -- but it happened.
After the rescue of the survivors -- only 317 out of the original crew complement of 1,196 survived -- came the court-martial of McVay, a man already consumed with grief and loss. What was the primary charge? "Failure to abandon ship in a timely manner." Since the ship had been torpedoed and sunk in a matter of moments, this was a bitter pill indeed. But McVay -- who would eventually take his own life -- felt responsible for the ship and his men, so he didn't contest his punishment. Based on Stanton's spellbinding account, however, it seems that it was the Navy itself which should have been on trial. (Nicholas Sinisi)
Nicholas Sinisi is the Barnes & Noble.com History Editor.
ANNOTATION
Drawing on new material and extensive interviews with survivors, In Harm's Way relates the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis not as a history of war, but as a portrait of men battling the sea. Interweaving the stories of three survivors - Charles Butler McVay, the captain; Lewis Haynes, the ship's doctor; and Private Giles McCoy, a young marine - journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
On July 30, 1945, after completing a top secret mission to deliver parts of the atom bomb "Little Boy," which would be dropped on Hiroshima, the battle cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained, undetected by the navy, for nearly five days. Battered by a savage sea, they struggled to survive, fighting off hypothermia, sharks, physical and mental exhaustion, and, finally, hallucinatory dementia. By the time rescue -- which was purely accidental -- arrived, all but 321 men had lost their lives; 4 more would die in military hospitals shortly thereafter.
The captain's subsequent and highly unusual court-martial left many questions unanswered: How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? Why was the cruiser traveling unescorted in enemy waters? And perhaps most amazing of all, how did these 317 men manage to survive?
Drawing on new material and extensive interviews with survivors, In Harm's Way relates the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis not as a history of war, but as a portrait of men battling the sea. Interweaving the stories of three survivors -- Charles Butler McVay, the captain; Lewis Haynes, the ship's doctor; and Private Giles McCoy, a young marine -- journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless. The definitive account of a little-known chapter in World War II history, In Harm's Way is destined to become a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.
SYNOPSIS
A harrowing, adrenaline-charged account of America's worst naval disaster at sea -- and of the heroism of the men who, against all odds, survived.
On July 30, 1945, after completing a top secret mission to deliver parts of the atom bomb "Little Boy," whichwould be dropped on Hiroshima, the battle cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained, undetected by the navy, for nearly five days. Battered by a savage sea, they struggled to survive, fighting off hypothermia, sharks, physical and mental exhaustion, and, finally, hallucinatory dementia. By the time rescue -- which was purely accidental -- arrived, all but 321 men had lost their lives; 4 more would die in military hospitals shortly thereafter.
The captain's subsequent and highly unusual court-martial left many questions unanswered: How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? Why was the cruiser traveling unescorted in enemy waters? And perhaps most amazing of all, how did these 317 men manage to survive?
Drawing on new material and extensive interviews with survivors, In Harm's Way relates the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis not as a history of war, but as a portrait of men battling the sea. Interweaving the stories of three survivors -- Charles Butler McVay, the captain; Lewis Haynes, the ship's doctor; and PrivateGiles McCoy, a young marine -- journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless. The definitive account of a little-known chapter in World War II history, In Harm's Way is destined to become a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.
FROM THE CRITICS
Mark Bowden
. . . powerfully-written account of a nightmare at sea, one of the most poignant tragedies and injustices of World War II . . .
James Bradley
. . . has done . . . a service by bringing the incredible yet almost-forgotten story of the USS Indianapolis to heart-pounding life . . . �
Rick Atkinson
A haunting story of valor, iniquity, and young men in peril on the sea . . . infuriating, mesmerizing, and heartbreaking . . .
Stephen E. Ambrose
. . . writes carefully and judiciously, with . . . timing and an eye for the right detail . . . the most frightening book I've ever read.
Mark Bowden
. . . thoroughly researched, powerfully-written account of a nightmare at sea, one of the most poignant tragedies . . . of World War II . . .
Read all 15 "From The Critics" >
Home
