PHILIPPINE SEA, NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN—The Indianapolis Star reports that a group sponsored by the billionaire Paul Allen has succeeded in discovering the wreckage of USS Indianapolis, which sank following a Japanese torpedo attack on July 30, 1945. The 13-person team working from Allen's 250-foot research ship, R/V Petrel, said the wreckage was found at a depth of more than 18,000 feet. Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser carrying 1,197 sailors and Marines, was sailing back to the Philippines after delivering components for "Little Boy," the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan on August 6, 1945. While 900 crewmen appear to have made it through the initial sinking, only 316 survived to be rescued when help arrived five days later on Aug. 2, 1945. The find comes after a recent break in the search, in July of 2016, when the Naval History and Heritage Command Communication and Outreach Division reported that a sailor had confirmed that a tank landing ship, LST-779, had passed the Indianapolis 11 hours before the torpedo struck. That account was confirmed by deck logs and narrowed the search area to just 600 square miles of open sea. According to the report, Allen’s team is still surveying the site of the wreckage and plans to conduct a live tour of the wreckage in the next few weeks. The crew is also working with the Navy on plans to honor the remaining 22 USS Indianapolis crew members and families of crew members. To read more about underwater recovery efforts, go to "Naval Mystery Solved."
