By Capt. Lewis Haynes.

Editor’s Note. July 30, 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of a harrowing event in naval history. On July 30, 1945, USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was returning from a secret mission (transporting the atomic bomb) to Tinian Island when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank into the Philippine Sea. The survivors remained at sea for four days maneuvering through a gauntlet of sharks, intense heat, starvation and dehydration. Of the ship’s original contingent of 1,196 crewmembers only 316 would survive this ordeal. Among these was the ship’s medical officer, Lt. Lewis Haynes. Years later, then retired Capt. Lewis Haynes (1912-2001), sat down with the BUMED History Office and shared his memories of surviving the Indianapolis tragedy. The following is an excerpt from this session.

Subjects: Navy Medicine Live Blog; World War II; World War 2; oral history; USS Indianapolis (CA-35); sharks; shipwreck