USS Indianapolis

USS Indianapolis linked the final preparation of the atomic bomb Little Boy with one of the Pacific war’s deadliest shipwrecks. On July 26, 1945, the cruiser delivered the bomb’s U-235 portion to Tinian; on the night of July 29, a Japanese submarine torpedoed it, and the ship sank within minutes. Its story turns on a stark reversal: a vessel carrying material for a weapon nearing use became the site of a catastrophe that cost hundreds of its own crew their lives.

Delivery to Tinian

On July 26, USS Indianapolis delivered the U-235 portion of Little Boy to the island of Tinian. That same evening, Harry S. Truman and James F. Byrnes decided to release the Potsdam Declaration, setting out terms for Japan’s surrender. The cruiser’s delivery placed it within the chain of events leading to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, though the account identifies the cargo specifically as the bomb’s U-235 portion.

Torpedoing and Loss of Life

On the night of July 29, a Japanese submarine torpedoed USS Indianapolis. The cruiser sank in minutes. Hundreds of crew members went down with the ship; hundreds more were left drifting at sea for days, and many were eaten by sharks. By the time rescue ships arrived, 800 lives had been lost.

Significance

The two appearances of USS Indianapolis place the same vessel on opposite sides of a wartime threshold: first as the carrier of material for Little Boy, then as the object of a sudden, devastating attack. The account does not treat the delivery as a sign of safety or control. Instead, the ship’s rapid sinking and the prolonged exposure of survivors at sea show how the war’s immense strategic undertakings coexisted with immediate, bodily vulnerability.