Читать книгу The Worst World Disasters of All Time - Kevin Baker - Страница 10

USS Indianapolis.

Date: 30^th July 1945.

Location: Philippine Sea.

Disaster Type: Multiple shark attacks, drowning, dehydration and saltwater poisoning.

Fatalities: 879

In 1945, on the 30th of July, the USS Indianapolis was out taking part in Pacific fleet operations, helping in the war effort. The day was calm and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But that day would turn out to become one of the worst naval tragedies for the U.S. during World War II, and one of the worst shark attack events ever.

Just a few days earlier, this very ship was the one that delivered the atomic bomb to Tinian Island, but now in the early morning, the enemy spotted the ship, and launched torpedoes at it. Within minutes it became clear that the vessel would not survive. The alarm sounded, and everyone rushed outside and down into the waters. From the initial hit, around 900 crew members made it off the ship alive, escaping the inferno that raged inside. Unfortunately for them, this would turn out to be only the start of their troubles.

The core issue was that when the ship was hit, all of its communication systems went out, preventing it from sending out a distress call. No one knew what had happened besides the crew, and the sailors were out at sea in the middle of nowhere, and the wait would have to be long and painful. It took over four days for the first rescue ship to get there, but by the early morning hours of the first day sharks were already on the scene. The bloodbath started as soon as the sun rose up past the horizon on the 30th, and out of the 900 people floating there, only 317 were rescued alive.

The story is told most accurately by the account of Woody Eugene James, a sailor who survived that day; one of 317 survivors from the 1,196 crew members that were on board. According to Eugene's story, on the first day most people were in groups, hanging on to lifeboats, floating debris, and anything that they could find. They did head counts, and in his particular group, there were around 150 men. The waters were not too freezing, and the sea was calm, so at first there was no real panic. While there had been no message sent out, they were expected in the Philippines, so other ships would be bound to look for them at some point.

When the sharks were first spotted, it took a while before any attacked. The sharks clearly investigated their prey for a while. But by the time the attacks started, there were hundreds of them, all eager for human flesh. There were constant screams, and while the sharks started to attack during the day, they did not stop at night. People were hungry and thirsty, and fights broke out between the survivors.

On the fourth day when a plane noticed them, at first it flew by, but then it came back, and the men knew it had spotted them. It landed in the water and picked up some survivors, and later that night ships arrived to pick up the rest.