From Tinian, the Indianapolis went to Guam and then was ordered to the Philippines.. The captain asked that escort ships be sent in case of encounter with Japanese submarines, but the request was denied. Mr. Harrell made a big point of the fact that the Indy was sent directly into "Harm's Way" without escort.
Three days out, Mr. Harrell had just gotten off his watch at midnight. The temperature was still at 110 degrees and the Indianapolis had no air conditioning. Fortunately, the captain had allowed off-duty sailors to sleep on the deck. Harrell returned to his quarters and got a blanket and went topside, all the way forward.
The night before, he had slept on top of gun turret #1 at the front of the ship. There was a life raft on top of that turret. This night, he slept on the deck.
This night, the Japanese submarine I-58 was in the area. It had two Kaiten suicide submarines aboard, but, after he saw a large ship, Cmdr. Horshimoto decided not to use them. Two of his torpedoes struck the Indianapolis. The first torpedo literally took the ship's bow off. Harrell said it simply was no longer there.
The second torpedo struck directly below the Marine compartment, causing the magazine for No. 2 turret to explode. Harrell could clearly hear the sound of bulkheads breaking on the ship.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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