Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent - Available

Indianapolis

The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man

by Lynn Vincent
Sara Vladic
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "GRIPPING...THIS YARN HAS IT ALL." —USA TODAY * "A WONDERFUL BOOK." —The Christian Science Monitor * "ENTHRALLING." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * "A MUST-READ." —Booklist (starred review)

A human drama unlike any other—the riveting and definitive full story of the worst sea disaster in United States naval history.
Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis is sailing alone in the Philippine Sea when she is sunk by two Japanese torpedoes. For the next five nights and four days, almost three hundred miles from the nearest land, nearly nine hundred men battle injuries, sharks, dehydration, insanity, and eventually each other. Only 316 will survive.

For the first time Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic tell the complete story of the ship, her crew, and their final mission to save one of their own in "a wonderful book...that features grievous mistakes, extraordinary courage, unimaginable horror, and a cover-up...as complete an account of this tragic tale as we are likely to have" (The Christian Science Monitor). It begins in 1932, when Indianapolis is christened and continues through World War II, when the ship embarks on her final world-changing mission: delivering the core of the atomic bomb to the Pacific for the strike on Hiroshima.

"Simply outstanding...Indianapolis is a must-read...a tour de force of true human drama" (Booklist, starred review) that goes beyond the men's rescue to chronicle the survivors' fifty-year fight for justice on behalf of their skipper, Captain Charles McVay III, who is wrongly court-martialed for the sinking. "Enthralling...A gripping study of the greatest sea disaster in the history of the US Navy and its aftermath" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Indianapolis stands as both groundbreaking naval history and spellbinding narrative—and brings the ship and her heroic crew back to full, vivid, unforgettable life. "Vincent and Vladic have delivered an account that stands out through its crisp writing and superb research...Indianapolis is sure to hold its own for a long time" (USA TODAY).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    July 10, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781508251651
      • File size: 537408 KB
      • Duration: 18:39:35

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The sinking of the USS INDIANAPOLIS during WWII and the survival of its 300-plus crew members in shark-infested water are so compelling that no false drama in the narration is needed. John Bedford Lloyd wisely lets the story carry the listener along. His tone is even but not without emotion, and the survivors' stories are harrowing and compelling. The author focuses on more than the sinking, though. He provides backstories of the ship, several of the crew, and the Japanese submarine commander who sank the Indy. The author carries the story past the war to describe the survivors' ultimately successful effort to clear the name of their skipper, who was court-martialed for the sinking. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 14, 2018
      Bestselling author and Navy veteran Vincent (Same Kind of Different as Me) and filmmaker and Indianapolis expert Vladic collaborate on a work that is simultaneously a gripping narrative, a convincing analysis, and a pitiless exposure of institutional mendacity. In 1945 the Indianapolis, alone, was torpedoed by one of the few Japanese submarines still operational and sank. Almost 900 men survived, but the ship had slipped off the Navy’s tracking system, and it took four days before they were spotted, too late for more than 600 men who died from thirst and exposure or were eaten by sharks. Vincent and Vladic juxtapose the crew’s harrowing ordeal with the Navy’s desperate efforts to discover what had gone wrong and cover it up. The designated culprit was the ship’s captain: court-martialed on skimpy evidence, found guilty of endangering the vessel, and eventually driven to suicide. A subsequent investigation led to his exoneration, but the systemic oversights and misjudgments that enabled this tragedy remained obscure until this investigation, which drew upon new sources clarifying how the file was amended. This exposé will be valuable for scholars and general readers alike. Agent: Rick Christian, Alive Communications.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check out what's being checked out right now This service is made possible by the local automated network, member libraries, and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.