Monsters of the deep: The USS Indianapolis and the terror beneath the waves

For over 400 million years, sharks have been the monsters of the sea. With their torpedo-shaped bodies, coal-black eyes, and insatiable thirst for blood, each deliberate movement is a sinister dance that sends shivers down the spines of even the bravest men. The fleeting thought of this ancient predator lurking beneath the salty surface instills a primal fear that the line between hunter and prey is shallow.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there has been considerable research devoted to understanding what attracts sharks and causes deadly attacks:
In the final weeks of World War II, just past midnight on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was returning from delivering the first operational atomic bomb to a naval base in the Pacific. As the evening unfolded, sailors engaged in leisurely pastimes — playing cards, reading books, and some gathering for conversation with the ship’s priest, Father Thomas Conway, according to the Smithsonian Magazine. Little did they know that this seemingly calm night would soon transform into a nightmare when a Japanese torpedo struck the cruiser, igniting 3,500 gallons of fuel in a massive fireball.
Twelve minutes was all it took to sink the 610-foot ship, leaving 900 out of 1,196 men floating in the dark Pacific.
As the sun rose over the place where the ocean touched the sky on the morning of July 30, the survivors floated helplessly in the water. The sailors began forming groups — some small and others comprising hundreds of men — as they searched for the dead, taking life jackets for those who had none. Soon, the vast open water, sun exposure and dehydration would be the least of their worries.
The Smithsonian Magazine reported, “‘There was nothing I could do but give advice, bury the dead, save the life jackets and try to keep the men from drinking the salt water,’ Lewis Haynes, the ship’s chief medical officer, later recalled. “‘The real young ones — you take away their hope, you take away their water and food — they would drink salt water and then would go fast. … They would get diarrhea, then get more dehydrated, then become very maniacal.’”
Sharks were attracted through the vibration of the explosion, the thrashing and heavy amounts of blood in the water. It is believed the sailors fell prey to the oceanic whitetip and tiger sharks in some of the deepest waters in the Pacific, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.
At the time, 19-year-old seaman Loel Dean Cox was aboard the USS Indianapolis, a survivor of the tragic event who later shared his story with BBC News.
He said most of the sharks were feeding on the dead but began turning to the living as men thrashed and screamed in the water.
Men were bumped by dozens of fins circling in the water, and the best tactic they found was to stay in a tight group to avoid the sharks.
“In that clear water you could see the sharks circling. Then every now and then, like lightning, one would come straight up and take a sailor and take him straight down. One came up and took the sailor next to me. It was just somebody screaming, yelling or getting bit,” Cox told BBC News.
As the days went by, a rescue team seemed further out of reach. The rescue signal was sent to three different bases, yet officials disregarded the dispatch as a trick to lure a team into an ambush.
Men were hallucinating from drinking salt water and succumbing to the heat and thirst. After four days of helplessly bobbing in the water, a Navy seaplane, by sheer luck, spotted the stranded sailors. The pilot radioed for help, and despite orders, he landed in the infested waters to assist those at the greatest risk.
Finally, on Aug. 3, 1945, the remainder of the crew was rescued. Of the original 1,196 men, only 316 remained.
“Estimates of the number who died from shark attacks range from a few dozen to more than 150. Though the specter of sharks looms large in the warship’s story, the majority of the sailors died of exposure, lack of food and water, injuries from the explosion, exhaustion, and other causes. Today, the Indianapolis’ sinking is remembered as one of the deadliest naval disasters in American history,” per the Smithsonian Magazine.
To put this tragedy into perspective, it’s important to note that you’re far more likely to die from a lightning strike than a shark attack. In fact, the odds of being attacked and killed by a shark are only about 1 in 3.75 million, according to Business Insider.