"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
Radioman 2nd Arthur Cecil Trotter. Lost at sea in sinking of USS Indianapolis. My father's cousin.
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
"Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We’d just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes.
Didn’t see the first shark for about a half-hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that in the water, Chief? You can tell by lookin’ from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn’t know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’ by, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. It was sorta like you see in the calendars, you know the infantry squares in the old calendars like the Battle of Waterloo and the idea was the shark come to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin’ and hollerin’ and sometimes that shark he go away… but sometimes he wouldn’t go away.
Sometimes that shark looks right at ya. Right into your eyes. And the thing about a shark is he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn’t even seem to be livin’… ’til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all your poundin’ and your hollerin’ those sharks come in and… they rip you to pieces.
You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don’t know how many sharks there were, maybe a thousand. I do know how many men, they averaged six an hour. Thursday mornin’, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boson’s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water, he was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he’d been bitten in half below the waist.
At noon on the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura swung in low and he spotted us, a young pilot, lot younger than Mr. Hooper here, anyway he spotted us and a few hours later a big ol’ fat PBY come down and started to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945.
Anyway, we delivered the bomb.”
What kind of car is that? What does it matter? When I drive it, I'm Steve McQueen
#4375404 - 08/19/1709:50 PMRe: USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Located
[Re: 462cid]
What we didn’t know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent.
Yeah, definitely fictional. First of all, the secret mission had been completed. Secondly even if it had not been yet completed mission secrecy would be no reason to not send a distress signal once the ship was sinking.
And finally, a distress call was sent:
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
What we didn’t know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent.
Yeah, definitely fictional. First of all, the secret mission had been completed. Secondly even if it had not been yet completed mission secrecy would be no reason to not send a distress signal once the ship was sinking.
And finally, a distress call was sent:
Only meant to highlight the sacrifice of the men aboard the ship.
The account was made up by actor Robert Shaw, from the movie Jaws. I didn't write it; I understand what happened. It's just a powerful mental image.
What kind of car is that? What does it matter? When I drive it, I'm Steve McQueen
It's my understanding that the location will be kept secret. It's a shame that has to be the case.
There's a documentary called "Return to the USS Atlanta: Defender of Guadalcanal" that some of you may have scene, with footage of a crew diving on the wreck on the bottom of Ironbottom Sound interspersed with interviews of survivors. The wreck was treated with the highest level of respect as it deserves, and the whole thing was very touching.
Phil
“The biggest problem people have is they don’t think they’re supposed to have problems.” - Hayes Barnard
#4375436 - 08/20/1703:20 AMRe: USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Located
[Re: NH2112]
It's my understanding that the location will be kept secret. It's a shame that has to be the case.
There's a documentary called "Return to the USS Atlanta: Defender of Guadalcanal" that some of you may have scene, with footage of a crew diving on the wreck on the bottom of Ironbottom Sound interspersed with interviews of survivors. The wreck was treated with the highest level of respect as it deserves, and the whole thing was very touching.
I have heard the same thing but I doubt it will remain secret for very long. Imo there are already enough clues in the article for someone else with enough money to go searching for the location. It's depth should keep it fairly safe from salvage operations though. It is close to a mile deeper than the Titanic.
Titanic - 12,500 feet deep Indianapolis - 18,000 feet deep
Shocked at how well preserved she appears to be in the photos. The first picture I saw when this was announced earlier today was of the white storage box with USS Indianapolis clearly printed on it's side, I was sure it was a fake it was so clear looking.
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 19,581Raw Kryptonite
Beat the Kobayashi Maru
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I thought it was remarkably well preserved too. The number was very clear, a bell looked untouched, lots of items just seemed like it was just recently sunk. Gotta admit, Jaws popped into mind immediately for me too. That's a good side effect of a good movie--how many people are aware of what happened to those poor men thanks to the movie that otherwise wouldn't have known?
Gotta admit, Jaws popped into mind immediately for me too. That's a good side effect of a good movie--how many people are aware of what happened to those poor men thanks to the movie that otherwise wouldn't have known?
I had known that I was named for my father's cousin who died in WWII for as longs I can remember, but for some reason I had never asked any details. Then "Jaws" came out and the Indianapolis stories were in all the newspapers, and one day my father was reading one and he says "That was Cecil's ship", and I've been studying all I could find about her ever since.
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz