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USS Indianapolis had just completed a very secret mission to deliver components of the atomic bomb to
Tinian. The navy did not know the ship had sunk for 4 days.
Researchers find wreckage of lost WWII warship USS Indianapolis
Naval researchers announced Saturday that they have found the wreckage of the lost World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, 72 years after the vessel sank in minutes after it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
The ship was found almost 3 1/2 miles below the surface of the Philippine Sea, said a tweet from Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen, who led a team of civilian researchers that made the discovery. Historians and architects from the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, District of Columbia, had joined forces with Allen last year to revisit the tragedy.
The ship sank in 15 minutes on July 30, 1945, in the war's final days, and it took the Navy four days to realize that the vessel was missing.
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Rest in peace to the Officers and Crew of the Indy.
Fine sailors and good men all.
They served their country faithfully, and many have no grave but the sea.
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That the NAVY did NOT know it was missing for 4 days was also a real tragedy. At the time they did NOT stay in communication with ships that large as they were expected to reach their destination. ALSO apparently distress signals were sent out and for a number of reasons they were ignored causing some of the people who made it off the ship to perish at sea.