Mission of the shark U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS CA35 1/200

[knuckledragger]

Ahoy

Here is a build I just finished on it is scrach built useing paper and cardstock. I built the model useing Edward wiswesser plans the original plan was in the scale of 1:32 proved to be to small for my work. I scaled the plans up myself up to a larger scale 1/200. I obtained these plans through Abe Taubman plan service. The Indianapolis was concidered the worst Naval disaster in history, her story is told here she disembarked from San Fransisco to tinion to deliver the parts of the bomb that was to be dropped on Hiroshima. On here way back she was not listed when to return to the port of call at that time for security all combatened ships were not to report. Shortly before midnight a Jap sub slammed two fish into her starboard side causeing her to sink within 15 minutes, 300 hundred sailors went down with the ship. the rest were in the drink. after spending 5 horrid days treading water and fighting off shark attacks only 300 men were survived, The sharks took the rest the ship wasn,t even listed over due within that time. A Lockheed PBO Ventura bomber spotted the floaters in the ocean and called for a PBY Catalina to pick up survivers. Captain charles Mcvey under went a court marshall and was charged for not zig zagging He was a scapegoat for the navy 23 years later in 1968 Cpatain Mcvey took his life they found him in his home with toy sailor figerine clinched in his hand. Here is my Indianapolis.

Boats

Edited January 20, 2012 by LSP_Kevin
Fixed image links

[Shawn M]

nice work!

I always think of that scene from Jaws.

[BradG]

nice work!

I always think of that scene from Jaws.

 

Here's to swimmin' with bow legged women.

[Bigasshammm]

I have a friend at work who's grandfather was one of the survivors of the Indy. They went to the Anniversary a few years ago.

 

Can't even imagine what that was like.

[Aptivaboy]

McVey was definitely made a scapegoat, the only captain in US naval history to be court martialed for losing his ship in combat. One of the things that apparently sent him over the edge was that years after the sinking, he continued receiving hate mail from the family members of the sailors who perished aboard the Indy or in the water. One of the last letters (it was found with or near him when he died), said something along the lines of, "You killed my son," or words to that effect. My memory is a tad hazy. It also didn't help that Admiral King hated McVey's father, who had dressed him down while as a young officer; King held grudges and may have ordered the scapegoating of McVey to cover up inadequacies in the high command. Modern research has shown that the Indy did send a distress call, one of the things McVey was faulted for not doing,. It was picked up by units in the Philippines, but nothing was done about it - bureaucratic inertia, everyone thought that everyone else was handling it.

 

One other possibility - Hashimoto may have used Kaitans and not the typical Long Lance. he denied it, but the massiveness of the explosions may have indicated Kaitan use, and some sources indicate that I-58 was carrying them. Ned Beach certainly thought that Kaitans were used, and that Hashimoto may have claimed to have fired conventional torpedoes to claim credit for the sinking personally. As Beach said, you use your best, most powerful weapon available. In the end, it may not have mattered if the Indy was zig zagging or not.