In Harm's Way
Popular History Accessible Primary Sources
🇺🇸 American
The sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the five days her crew spent in shark-infested waters.
The Verdict
The worst naval disaster in American history, told with the pace of a thriller and the weight of a tragedy. Doug Stanton reconstructs the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in the closing days of the war — torpedoed after secretly delivering components of the Hiroshima bomb — and the five days her crew spent in open water, dying of exposure, thirst, and sharks while the Navy failed to notice they were missing. It is harrowing and humane, and it restored the story, and the captain's contested reputation, to public memory.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- A gripping account of the Indianapolis disaster
- Readers who want survival narrative at its most extreme
- The human cost of a wartime failure
- Accessible, propulsive popular history
Look elsewhere if you want
- Naval-strategic analysis
- A detached, academic tone
- Readers sensitive to graphic ordeal
Why We Rated It 4.5
Historical Context
The cruiser USS Indianapolis, having delivered components of the atomic bomb to Tinian, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on 30 July 1945. Of roughly 1,200 aboard, around 900 survived the sinking, but only some 300 lived through nearly five days in the water before rescue. The book, published in 2001, also examines the court-martial of her captain, Charles McVay.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Henry Holt (2001)First edition.
Holt paperbackThe standard reading edition.
Read It Alongside
Ship of Ghosts James Hornfischer · 2006 · ★ 4.5
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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors James Hornfischer · 2004 · ★ 4.8
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The Fleet at Flood Tide James Hornfischer · 2016 · ★ 4.6
Popular History Collector's Corner
A recent title; inexpensive and easy to find. Check current listings. → Check listings on AbeBooks.
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0805073669
Read This Against
The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.
Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 Max Hastings · 2007 · British, Multi-Perspective
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is the USS Indianapolis sinking so infamous?
- It was the US Navy's worst single loss of life at sea, worsened by a days-long delay in realising the ship was missing, leaving survivors exposed to the elements and sharks.
- What happened to the captain?
- Captain McVay was court-martialled in a controversial proceeding; he was exonerated by Congress decades later, a story the book helped bring to wider attention.