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Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
Shortly after midnight on July 30, 1945, the Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea. The ship had just left the island of Tinian, delivering components of the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima. As the torpedoes hit, the Indianapolis erupted into a fiery coffin, sinking in less than fifteen minutes and leaving nine hundred crewmen fighting for life in shark-infested waters. They expected a swift, routine rescue, unaware that the Navy high command didn’t even realize that the Indianapolis was missing. Help would not arrive for another five days.
Drawn from definitive interviews with key figures, Fatal Voyage recounts the horrific events endured as the number of water-treading survivors dwindled to just 316. Each gruesome day brought more madness and slow death, from explosion-related injuries, dehydration, and, most terrifying of all, shark attacks. But the pain did not end when the men finally returned home: The Indianapolis’s commander, Captain Charles B. McVay III, was court-martialed for causing the clearly unavoidable disaster.
With a new afterword chronicling the fifty-five-year campaign by Indianapolis survivors and their supporters to win public vindication for Captain McVay, this classic is restored, along with memories of the Indianapolis crew.
Drawn from definitive interviews with key figures, Fatal Voyage recounts the horrific events endured as the number of water-treading survivors dwindled to just 316. Each gruesome day brought more madness and slow death, from explosion-related injuries, dehydration, and, most terrifying of all, shark attacks. But the pain did not end when the men finally returned home: The Indianapolis’s commander, Captain Charles B. McVay III, was court-martialed for causing the clearly unavoidable disaster.
With a new afterword chronicling the fifty-five-year campaign by Indianapolis survivors and their supporters to win public vindication for Captain McVay, this classic is restored, along with memories of the Indianapolis crew.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
93 people are currently reading
794 people want to read
About the author
Dan Kurzman
19 books12 followersDan Halperin Kurzman was an American journalist and writer of military history books. He studied at the University of California in Berkeley, served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946, and completed his studies at Berkeley with a Bachelor degree in political science. In the early 1950s, he worked in Europe and in Israel for American newspapers and news agencies and was then correspondent of the NBC News in Jerusalem.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 11, 2025
1,200 men on board
316 rescued
This is the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the worst US Naval disaster in history which took place only weeks before Japan surrendered in WWII. The ship had just delivered parts for the first atom bomb to the island of Tinian (although they were unaware of their cargo) and was turning toward Leyte in the Philippines. The Japanese submarine force was almost totally depleted and there was no danger apparently.The night was overcast and the Captain of the Indianapolis, Charles McVay, did not use the "zig zag" method usually employed if enemy submarines might be in the area. How wrong they were.
Submarine I-58, commanded by Captain Hashimoto was lurking in the waters and even though the Captain knew that japan had lost the war, he was determined to make a "kill" as a gift for his Emperor. That chance presented itself as the Indianapolis was spotted on the horizon.
The author goes into great detail about the sinking and the fate of the men who were left in the ocean to survive the best way they could...........and it is horrific. With only a few rafts, little drinkable water or food, many went mad, died of their injuries, hallucinated, or were devoured by the sharks that circled them. They spent five days in the water before help finally arrived and many of these survivors' mental health was destroyed forever by the experience.
Captain McVay had sent an SOS when the ship was hit but the snafus of the upper echelon were overlooked and they seemed to pay little attention to it. This led to a one-sided blaming situation which resulted in the unthinkable court-martial of the Captain who had survived.
An engrossing and disturbing book that is very tough to read. The author talked to many survivors and his source material is impeccable. I should say that this book is not for the faint of heart but it is an important look at a mistakes made and the Navy's mismanagement. Recommended.
316 rescued
This is the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the worst US Naval disaster in history which took place only weeks before Japan surrendered in WWII. The ship had just delivered parts for the first atom bomb to the island of Tinian (although they were unaware of their cargo) and was turning toward Leyte in the Philippines. The Japanese submarine force was almost totally depleted and there was no danger apparently.The night was overcast and the Captain of the Indianapolis, Charles McVay, did not use the "zig zag" method usually employed if enemy submarines might be in the area. How wrong they were.
Submarine I-58, commanded by Captain Hashimoto was lurking in the waters and even though the Captain knew that japan had lost the war, he was determined to make a "kill" as a gift for his Emperor. That chance presented itself as the Indianapolis was spotted on the horizon.
The author goes into great detail about the sinking and the fate of the men who were left in the ocean to survive the best way they could...........and it is horrific. With only a few rafts, little drinkable water or food, many went mad, died of their injuries, hallucinated, or were devoured by the sharks that circled them. They spent five days in the water before help finally arrived and many of these survivors' mental health was destroyed forever by the experience.
Captain McVay had sent an SOS when the ship was hit but the snafus of the upper echelon were overlooked and they seemed to pay little attention to it. This led to a one-sided blaming situation which resulted in the unthinkable court-martial of the Captain who had survived.
An engrossing and disturbing book that is very tough to read. The author talked to many survivors and his source material is impeccable. I should say that this book is not for the faint of heart but it is an important look at a mistakes made and the Navy's mismanagement. Recommended.
August 1, 2017
My favorite book - EVER! On a weekend Navy Reserve stint aboard a ship off of New Jersey, bored to tears, I wound up in the recreation room. While a sailor in a chair absentmindedly twirled his dixie cup as he stared unseeing at a blaring television I desperately perused the bookshelves crammed with read-to-death paperbacks: Westerns, detective stories, Stephen King, sea stories... And then I came across Fatal Voyage by Dan Kurzman. The only book plastered with rave reviews. A sea story but not of the usual variety, it seemed. It was a fat volume but since there wasn't anything else I sat down and started to read. I'm ADHD, not a fast reader, but I had a third of the book read before I got off the boat. I simply could not put it down. I took it with me when I left, finished it immediately, have re-read it twice since (probably will read it twice more), and have loaned it to countless people who never read BOOKS and who were as drawn-in as I.
Fatal Voyage is harrowing, heartbreaking and, ultimately, heroic - and it's all true. Remember that scene in JAWS where Brody, Hooper, and Quint are all sitting around drinking & telling stories while hunting for the killer shark? Then Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfus, stops dead, stunned, when Quint reveals he is one of the few surviving sailors off The USS Indianapolis? Then the camera moves in on Quint's face as he tells about all his brother sailors (our young boys) floating in the water after their ship sank, waiting days and days for help that never came, as sharks circled, picking them off one-by-one? Finally, Quint remarks sadly, "I'll never wear a life preserver"? THIS is THAT story.
Fatal Voyage is harrowing, heartbreaking and, ultimately, heroic - and it's all true. Remember that scene in JAWS where Brody, Hooper, and Quint are all sitting around drinking & telling stories while hunting for the killer shark? Then Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfus, stops dead, stunned, when Quint reveals he is one of the few surviving sailors off The USS Indianapolis? Then the camera moves in on Quint's face as he tells about all his brother sailors (our young boys) floating in the water after their ship sank, waiting days and days for help that never came, as sharks circled, picking them off one-by-one? Finally, Quint remarks sadly, "I'll never wear a life preserver"? THIS is THAT story.
May 26, 2010
Should be required reading for EVERYBODY. After reading this account you will never have another bad day at work. An amazing story.
July 26, 2009
Intense story about what our young men went through. What I learned: Freedom is definately not free.
February 12, 2023
A thrilling account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and its aftermath. I knew about the sinking from the famous Quint monologue in Jaws, but didn’t know many of the true details or anything about the incident’s legal fallout. It turns out the incident—in which the cruiser Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine, and wasn’t discovered until several days later, by which time more than 800 of its crew members (floating on life rafts, debris, or even just in the water) had died—was the only time a captain had been court-martialed for the sinking of his ship. Unfairly, the author clearly believes—it looks as though the navy wanted to paper over the broader failures that led to the ship sinking and the delay in finding it. The story is told in a novelistic style, with the sinking and its aftermath being especially dramatic and harrowing. The legal battle stuff afterward is a little drier, but overall this was a great read.
August 15, 2018
There have been a lot of books written about this tragic event. I like this telling that feels accurate and shares the story of an incident that never should have happened.
June 28, 2008
First rate research and retelling of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Great Uncle Captain McVay became the first captain to be charged with negligence resulting in the loss of the ship and 2/3rds of the crew during wartime. Conviction later stricken thanks to work of survivor's support groups. Written in the style of a newspaper story rather than history book, but writer was a newspaper writer, so that would seem to make sense.
November 16, 2008
It's a book about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during WWII. I read it a long time ago. When we lived in Durham. It's really good, has pictures, and seems accurate--I haven't read anything else about this, so I have nothing to compare. It's a serious book and is sad in the end, but a great read for a history lover and for people who are interested in WWII.
December 8, 2010
I really enjoyed this book. Well written. It is amazing what these sailors went through. Not the best book to read while on first deployment with the US Navy, but a great book to read when on dry land.
Read
January 14, 2009Oh, so cool! Oh, so sad and true! "Show me the way to go home/ I'm tired and I wanna go to bed/ I had a little drink about an hour ago/ and it went right to my head..." Oh. Sorry. I was having a drink with Roy Scheider for a minute.
September 14, 2008
1500 men went into the water...
April 29, 2009
The Indianapolis is on a secret mission to deliver an atom bomb, so when it is sunk it is not reported missing for a few day. This while the survivors try to live in shark infested waters.
May 24, 2009
The best work of creative non-fiction I have ever read, even better than In Cold Blood. You will never look at a drink of water the same way again after reading this book!
September 7, 2009
Wow! What a disaster! Well written!
June 17, 2011
I knew one of the survivors...part of our history...good book.
January 28, 2019
Like many of us, I bet, I've seen "Jaws" so many times. And every time I watch it, the scene with Robert Shaw telling the harrowing story of the USS Indianapolis is damn bone-chilling. Gets me every time. So, when my book-club krewe recommended "Fatal Voyage," I jumped at the chance to read the account of what really happened. Now, to the book.
I liked it. Dan Kurzman, an award-winning reporter, an author of 16 books and a veteran foreign correspondent with the Washington Post, interviewed survivors and pored through records of the Navy to create a multi-layered book. Also, the back-and-forth narrative between the captain of the Indianapolis and the commander of the Japanese submarine hunting down the Indianapolis was incredibly compelling. Loved that structure. Now, to the quibbles.
Man, so many characters. I kept having to turn page to many pages previous to figure out, "OK, who is this?" Meanwhile, he didn't do too much into the "Oh shit Martha!" details of the shark attacks. In the few minutes on "Jaws," actor Robert Shaw kept you spellbound. But the book didn't, sharks attacked, ate and killed so many men. They bobbed in the water like tops for five days and four nights in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, and I didn't get the sheer terror of it all. It came off in the book as an afterthought.
When we guys gathered to talk about the book, as one of my friends said, "It's turgid!" I see where he'd get that. Kurzman could have dug deeper on getting to the psychological wounds inflicted on the survivors. Maybe, they weren't ready. But there could have been a way to dig deep into that. Would've loved that.
The bottom line, though, this was an admirable piece of work that came out in 1990. And through meticulous reporting, Kurzman showed how the Navy used the captain as a scapegoat and showed very well how he became a victim of what Kurzman called "not only of the Navy's worst sea disaster, but possibly its worst moral disaster as well."
That sentence came out at the very end, but in an old-school reporting way, Kurzman laid it out through the previous 285 pages and didn't surprise you when he wrote that. You felt, "Yeah, he's right."
I liked it. Dan Kurzman, an award-winning reporter, an author of 16 books and a veteran foreign correspondent with the Washington Post, interviewed survivors and pored through records of the Navy to create a multi-layered book. Also, the back-and-forth narrative between the captain of the Indianapolis and the commander of the Japanese submarine hunting down the Indianapolis was incredibly compelling. Loved that structure. Now, to the quibbles.
Man, so many characters. I kept having to turn page to many pages previous to figure out, "OK, who is this?" Meanwhile, he didn't do too much into the "Oh shit Martha!" details of the shark attacks. In the few minutes on "Jaws," actor Robert Shaw kept you spellbound. But the book didn't, sharks attacked, ate and killed so many men. They bobbed in the water like tops for five days and four nights in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, and I didn't get the sheer terror of it all. It came off in the book as an afterthought.
When we guys gathered to talk about the book, as one of my friends said, "It's turgid!" I see where he'd get that. Kurzman could have dug deeper on getting to the psychological wounds inflicted on the survivors. Maybe, they weren't ready. But there could have been a way to dig deep into that. Would've loved that.
The bottom line, though, this was an admirable piece of work that came out in 1990. And through meticulous reporting, Kurzman showed how the Navy used the captain as a scapegoat and showed very well how he became a victim of what Kurzman called "not only of the Navy's worst sea disaster, but possibly its worst moral disaster as well."
That sentence came out at the very end, but in an old-school reporting way, Kurzman laid it out through the previous 285 pages and didn't surprise you when he wrote that. You felt, "Yeah, he's right."
January 14, 2024
Written almost like a novel, without footnotes. We see the events through the eyes of various characters and often read their thoughts. (I assume Kurzman is basing this on intereviews and written testimony). Lots of emphasis on the Japanese Sub commander, Captain McVay, and a few other survivors. Ensign Blum for one. Why Kurzman chose him, is unclear.
Of the 280 pages about 100 pages deal with the aftermath, including McVay's Court martial and death. The first 95 pages are setup. They cover the initial voyage and sinking. The middle 85 pages deal with the time in the water and the rescue.
Kuzman was a reporter, not a historian. If you know nothing about the sinking, this isn't a bad book, but if you know the basic story, you might look elsewhere.
Of the 280 pages about 100 pages deal with the aftermath, including McVay's Court martial and death. The first 95 pages are setup. They cover the initial voyage and sinking. The middle 85 pages deal with the time in the water and the rescue.
Kuzman was a reporter, not a historian. If you know nothing about the sinking, this isn't a bad book, but if you know the basic story, you might look elsewhere.
January 28, 2019
This was a well done book. It captured the history, but in a novel-esqe way that kept the people at the center of the story. I was not familiar with the incident or the subsequent controversy, so it was very informative. It kept my interest until the end when it got to the "where are they now" section. That was a bit tedious, but brief. Even though it had an epilogue and afterward, it still did not really finish the story. I gave this four stars because it failed to present the reasoning or point of view of those in the Navy (and elsewhere) who opposed the exoneration of Cpt McVay. Surely not all of them were self-interested nitwits.
June 29, 2024
This was a real life documentation of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the horror of the crew members when no one came o rescue them. They were only found by accident after four days of bobbing in the sea with almost no water or food. The fact that the Navy used the captain as a scapegoat so that all of the blunders of higher brass would be shielded from seeing the light of day. Many hundreds of crew members died because of the Navy personnel’s incompetence. Finally the crew members were able to have the captain exonerated from blame, but it took 60 years and happened after the captain committed suicide.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2025
It was a tough read. Very detailed. i didn’t know anything about The Indianapolis other than what the character Quint talked about it in the movie “JAWS” (which actually got me interested in the subject). Kurzman paints the detailed sequence of events leading up to the sinking and the aftermath (both while the sailors are in the sea and what happens after they get out) that is heartbreaking and something I wasn’t expecting or prepared for. Excellent research vehicle of a story that needed to be told.
September 28, 2020
How dare anyone tarnish the good name of Captain Charles B. McVay III! This story is incredibly well researched and draws heavily on interviews with survivors. Kurzman has you there on the sinking ship with these men and in the water and all the hell that came afterwards. After reading this book, perspective is easy - no matter what you're facing just remember, "at least I'm not on the USS Indianapolis."
June 1, 2022
Five stars for the men lost on the USS Indianapolis.
Potential spoiler alert
I was unfamiliar with the heartbreaking story of the loss of the USS Indianapolis, the five days the crew that survived the sinking spent in the water, or the way the Navy apparently used Captain McVay as a scapegoat for the shortcomings of higher ranking officers. This story is tragic on many levels. Lest we forget.
Potential spoiler alert
I was unfamiliar with the heartbreaking story of the loss of the USS Indianapolis, the five days the crew that survived the sinking spent in the water, or the way the Navy apparently used Captain McVay as a scapegoat for the shortcomings of higher ranking officers. This story is tragic on many levels. Lest we forget.
August 6, 2025
Un libro sul peggiore disastro della Marina americana? Non solo. È un libro sulla manipolazione della verità per pararsi le spalle, per non fare “brutta figura”. Manipolazione che richiede delle vittime, manipolazione che non tiene conto che quelle vittime sono esseri umani. E sappiamo benissimo che addossare le proprie colpe agli altri è uno schema fin troppo collaudato. Molto ben scritto e veramente molto molto interessante.
March 2, 2024
This book provided detailed information about one of the Navy worst disasters and the subsequent charges that brought against the Captain of the Ship. The Indianapolis was sunk and her crew spent 4 days in the water before they Navy realized the ship had not arrived at its destination. Just 316 of the 1200-man crew were rescued from the shark invested waters.
June 29, 2019
Interesting read, but unfortunately I felt like I was reading a text book. I liked that it gave the perspective from the American point of view and the Japanese. I just couldn't get into it and found myself forcing myself to focus on the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2020
Amazing book, and more chilling because it's all true. I feel so awful that the captain was treated the way he was, but how could he go on knowing what happened to his men? All heroes in my opinion.
December 17, 2025
peb1948
Read this book years ago and enjoyed it then. Always enjoyed wwll books and history great read. Recommend this with Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic also Only 317 survived by the survivors
Read this book years ago and enjoyed it then. Always enjoyed wwll books and history great read. Recommend this with Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic also Only 317 survived by the survivors
July 10, 2017
Good, thorough discussion of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and how Navy brass did a great job protecting themselves at the expense of the sailors
August 20, 2017
Ada's book club choice as her husband's uncle was killed on it. Very interesting read, but a little dry for my taste. Overall glad I read it!
April 16, 2019
Good historical novel of the tragedy of the Indianapolis.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews