Historian Gibbons will explain how the attack personally affected his family through the horrific loss of his uncle who died in the tragedy in his early 20's.
In 1945 the greatest single loss of life took place in the history of the United States Navy with the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The ship had just delivered parts of the US Little Boy Atomic Bomb and was on training duty when it was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58. Approximately 300 US crewman?s lives were lost with the ship in 12 minutes. Of the starting 1 196 crewman aboard the USS Indianapolis 900 survived after the attack but were faced with four horrific days in the shark infested waters facing dehydration saltwater poisoning minimal food and water and shark attacks. When the crewman were found four days later only a final 317 had survived. Historian Jim Gibbons will discuss the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and its effect on history. Gibbons will also explain how the attack personally affected his family through the horrific loss of his uncle who died in the tragedy in his early 20's.