Survivors gather to mark tragedy of ship's sinking

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Survivors of one of the final Naval tragedies of World War II gathered this weekend to honor hundreds of crewmates from the USS Indianapolis who were killed when their ship was torpedoed, leaving hundreds of sailors adrift on the Pacific Ocean amid circling sharks.

Just days after delivering key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima, the cruiser was struck by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea on July 30, 1945.

More than four days later, barely a quarter of the crew of 1,197 came out of the water with enough strength to survive.

"Time makes us forget," said George Horvath of Glendale, Ariz. "We all hope our place in history will be kept. A lot of people died for these stories to be preserved."

About 60 survivors held a reunion during the weekend, honoring their fallen shipmates with a service Sunday at a memorial in downtown Indianapolis. Secretary of the Navy Gordon England laid a wreath there Saturday.

Of the 317 survivors of the sinking, just 93 are still alive.

"By the grace of God, we've survived," Horvath said. He recalled his prayer as he clung to survival gear waiting to be plucked from the water by rescuers: "There was a shark down there, big teeth. I said 'God, no, not now, not now.'"

The ship had sped 5,000 miles across the Pacific in 10 days to deliver the atomic bomb components to Tinian Island on July 26, 1945.

Its mission was so secret -- the crew did not know the cargo -- that the Indianapolis sailed alone, not escorted by ships better equipped to detect and fight Japanese submarines.

"Unfortunately, we didn't know the Navy wasn't looking for us," said Paul Murphy, 81, chairman of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization.

Blast injuries, shark attacks, drowning, dehydration and delirium killed many of the seamen before the crew of an anti-submarine plane accidentally spotted them on Aug. 2 and radioed for help.

Lyle Pasket of Egan, Minn., who was two weeks shy of his 18th birthday, said he remained conscious for two days, determined to spare his mother a birthday telegram informing her of his death.

"My feeling was, 'I'm going to live,'" he recalled. He passed out on the third day, but woke up a couple of hours before rescuers arrived.

"Prayers were a lot of it," Pasket said, recalling how sharks picked off survivors who drifted away from the safety of a group. "They didn't like Polish meat, or I prayed too hard. I say my prayers every night yet -- but that was a promise I made. And I'm not a religious man."

Reports of the Indianapolis' sinking were buried behind the news of the Japanese surrender.

The commander of the Indianapolis, Capt. Charles McVay III, was court-martialed for not sailing a zigzag course to evade submarines. His men believe he was made a scapegoat. In 2000, 32 years after McVay committed suicide, Congress passed an act clearing his name.