Search - In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors

"In Harm's Way" is THE MOST detailed account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. But the story does not end at the rescue. It gives the later in life accounts of the survivors. For anyone into History, this is a MUST read!! I couldn't put it down, until I was finished!

I would suggest you not start this book until you have time to spare because you will not want to put it down. This is a story of a terrible tragedy, suffering, pain, and survival. It is also an account of a huge mistake by the U.S.Navy in its' handling of a great Naval Officer, Capt. Charles Butler McVay. I have the hardbound copy and would not part with it. This book is a must for your library. It is laced with heros, one of which was wrongly court martialed.

The story is riveting...because Stanton tells it simply, through the men who lived it. The writing conveys the terror of the shark attacks with piercing detail. Anyone interested in World War II history should read this book.
Very good!

Well written, harrowing tale of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the errors that led to a delay in the rescue. Particularly touching and appalling were the accounts of the sailors left floating in the ocean for days, fighting delirium, dehydration, sharks and each other.

This book is amazing. It captures the tragedy and pointlessness of the USS Indianapolis with extraordinary depth and feeling.

Great book for fans of Naval history. An account of how the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese sub while steaming alone and the hours the crew waited for rescue while sharks picked them off one by one.

Excellent book.

Awesome--not much more to say!

haven't read this

On the night of July 30, 1945, the Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese sub, sending 900 men into the black, churning waters of the Pacific. What happened next was a nightmarish battle for survival. Injured, adrift, clinging to each other and their waterlogged life rafts, the men watched in horror as their crewmates fell victim to catastrophic injuries, exposure, hallucinations and relentless shark attacks. Work of all, their last radio S.O.S. had been disregarded by the Navy as a prank. When help finally arrived an astonishing five days later, only 317 of the ship's crew were still alive. In Harm's Way recounts with frightening accuracy those five harrowing days at sea and gives readers a moving unforgettable account of the worst naval disaster at sea in U.S. history

Tale of the men of the USS Indianapolis, who where "forgotten" in the Pacific after their ship sank and spent 5 days awaiting rescue. This story is told very factually, including eyewitness accounts. Fiction couldn't be much more terrifying. Harrowing tale.


FROM THE PUBLISHER
On July 30, 1945, after completing a top secret mission to deliver parts of the atom bomb "Little Boy," which would be dropped on Hiroshima, the battle cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained, undetected by the navy, for nearly five days. Battered by a savage sea, they struggled to survive, fighting off hypothermia, sharks, physical and mental exhaustion, and, finally, hallucinatory dementia. By the time rescue -- which was purely accidental -- arrived, all but 321 men had lost their lives; 4 more would die in military hospitals shortly thereafter.

The captain's subsequent and highly unusual court-martial left many questions unanswered: How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? Why was the cruiser traveling unescorted in enemy waters? And perhaps most amazing of all, how did these 317 men manage to survive?

Drawing on new material and extensive interviews with survivors, In Harm's Way relates the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis not as a history of war, but as a portrait of men battling the sea. Interweaving the stories of three survivors -- Charles Butler McVay, the captain; Lewis Haynes, the ship's doctor; and Private Giles McCoy, a young marine -- journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless. The definitive account of a little-known chapter in World War II history, In Harm's Way is destined to become a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.