World War II Vet Recounts Sinking of USS Indianapolis-- Part 2

Along with the huge boxes (the bombs) another container, four-times larger than a cigar box was kept on the floor in the captain's cabin. It had the components for the atom bomb. The Indianapolis delivered the cargo at Tinian and returned to the Philipines. //// Shortly after midnight July 30, 1945, the ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank in less than 15 minutes. At least 300 of the crew went down with the ship. //// Some 880 went into the water. Five days later, that number was down to 317. //// Sadly, the Indianapolis had been on a top-secret mission delivering the atom bombs, so its disappearance was not known for quite a few days, accounting for the long time before the survivors were found. //// --GreGen