The Indianapolis set sail in 1945 with 1,196 men on board. Only 317 would survive.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

John Faherty

The Arizona Republic

George Horvath, 86, of Phoenix, was on the USS Indianapolis when it was sunk in 1945 by a Japanese submarine. After days in shark-infested water, rescuers pulled survivors out of the Philippine Sea.

Santos Peña was a 19-year-old man from Arizona standing watch on the bow of the USS Indianapolis when the torpedo hit. He knew right away the ship was doomed.

It was just after midnight on July 30, 1945, when the vessel was hit by two torpedoes fired from a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes.

There were 1,196 men on board. Approximately 300 men went down with the ship and 900 went into the water.

For five days they bobbed in the sea, some dying of dehydration or drowning. Screams on the first night revealed another, more immediate problem: sharks.

When the men of the Indianapolis were finally rescued, only 317 remained alive.

Peña survived the ordeal and got a tattoo of the USS Indianapolis on his right forearm so he would never forget. Then he returned to Arizona and didn't talk about what happened for 30 years.

Veterans Day honors all who served honorably in the military, like the men who survived the sinking of the Indianapolis. Two of those men live in Arizona.

George Horvath is 86 years old. He drives a 1961 Chevy Impala and has been married to his wife, Alice Mae, for 65 years.

The couple have two children and a wonderful life. But after all these years, he cannot talk about the five days he spent in the water when he was 24 without long pauses and tear-filled eyes.

"There isn't hardly a day goes by that I don't think about it," Horvath said from his home in Phoenix. "Why did I survive and so many perish? Why me?"

After the war, Peña, now 81, returned to his home in Tucson. He has been married to his wife, Erlinda, for 58 years. They raised four children next door to the home he grew up in.

But thoughts of the Indianapolis are always with him, too.

Peña remembers praying and thinking of his family back home during those five days. He also remembers the sharks.

"We saw a lot of sharks."

After all these years he, too, wonders why he survived.

"It's very hard. I get very emotional. It was a miracle. I don't know why I survived, but I did. I just thank God."

The USS Indianapolis was a Portland-class heavy cruiser, which meant it was capable of high speed, had long range and carried enough big guns to defend itself at sea.

That made it the perfect ship for an exceptionally important and very secret mission in the summer of 1945.

Secretive mission

After taking part in the Battle of Okinawa, the Indianapolis went back to a naval yard in California for repairs.

It was there where it took on a mysterious payload and was ordered to speed to an airstrip on the small island of Tinian in the Pacific Ocean south of Japan.

The crew did not know that the payload consisted of the components that were put together as a bomb known as Little Boy. Little Boy was then loaded onto the Enola Gay and dropped on Hiroshima, the first time an atomic bomb was used in warfare.

"We had no idea what we were bringing over there. I can tell you there was a Marine guard around that bomb at all times," Horvath said.

After the delivery, the Indianapolis went to Guam and then headed toward Leyte in the Philippine Sea. It was on this leg of the trip where it was sunk.

No rescue mission

As bad luck would have it, the secrecy shrouding the initial mission meant no search-and-rescue effort would be launched.

Peña, Horvath and all the men who went into the water when the Indianapolis went down were certain they would be picked up quickly.

"I had no idea how long we would be in the water. But I sure didn't think it would be that long," Peña said this week from his living room.

At the time, Navy ships were equipped with a floater net, which is a combination of ropes and flotation devices bound together.

Floater nets prevent drowning, but they provide no protection from the elements.

Making matters worse, as the Indianapolis sank, oil filled the water.

"You got that fuel on you and it was in your hair and your eyes and your ears. It wasn't good," Horvath said.

It was on the second full day that the sharks became even more aggressive.

On the USS Indianapolis Web site, www.ussindianapolis .org, survivor Woody Eugene James of Utah conveys some of the terror.

"The day wore on and the sharks were around, hundreds of them. You'd hear guys scream, especially late in the afternoon. Seemed like the sharks were the worst late in the afternoon than they were during the day. Then they fed at night, too. Everything would be quiet and then you'd hear somebody scream and you knew a shark had got him."

As each day and night passed, more men died. Some just fell out of their life jackets and dropped to the bottom of the sea. Others became delusional and aggressive.

"A lot of those guys did not die a real pretty death," Horvath remembered. "It's not a nice thing to see."

Things grew progressively worse until finally, at the end of the fourth day, the survivors were spotted by a naval pilot flying a routine anti-submarine patrol.

Lt. Wilbur Gwinn was confused by the sight he saw below, so he circled back and flew low. He reported back of finding "many men in the water."

Another plane was dispatched to the scene, and it confirmed the report. Lt. Adrian Marks began dropping rubber rafts and supplies to the men.

The sailors of the Indianapolis consider Gwinn's spotting them something of a miracle.

"I'll never forget the moment I saw Lieutenant Gwinn's plane flying over us," Peña said. "Neither will I forget the moment Lieutenant Marks landed his plane on the open sea."

They consider Marks a hero because, at great personal risk and in violation of a direct order, he landed his seaplane after witnessing the men below him being attacked by sharks.

Within hours, a massive rescue operation was under way, and 317 survivors were pulled from the sea.

"I can still taste that water they gave me," Horvath said.

Dealing with memories

Unlike many of the men on board the Indianapolis, both Peña and Horvath were in pretty good shape after their rescue. Both men stayed in the Navy and were honorably discharged in 1946.

But they struggled in their own way with their ordeal.

"He talked about it at first," Alice Mae Horvath said of her husband. "But he had a lot of nightmares. And he seemed to make a decision to not talk about it. ... He didn't talk about it for 15 years."

Santos Peña, naturally a quiet man, did not talk about his experiences at all. Not even to his family.

But in 1975, his son saw the movie Jaws, which speaks about the experiences of the Indianapolis crew. The son came home and asked his father if the Indianapolis tattooed on his arm was the same ship. Only then did Peña start talking.

Horvath, a civil engineer, worked for governments in Ohio, Arizona and Nevada before retiring to Phoenix.

Peña was a truck driver working for the family's produce company.

They had families and careers and became regular citizens. Neither has ever been able to figure out why they survived and others did not.

Despite those unanswerable questions, Horvath says there is no doubt the five days at sea shaped the man he became and how he lived his life.

"I think so. I've had a good life. I've tried to live a better life. I'm easygoing. Tried to stay out of trouble. I just wanted things to be ordinary."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/111...ansday1111.html

[Scott & Lai 12]

Great article, Steve, thanks for posting it

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Wow. Both of these guys never went back on the ocean I bet. Probably never saw it.

[Ban Hammer 14,396]

also of note - the indianapolis delivered one of the atomic bombs used on japan

the captain of the indianapolis was court martialed and drummed out of the navy. he committed suicide in the 60's or 70's. the captain of the submarine that sank the indianapolis stated that there was no way the indianapolis could have escaped, yet the navy would not change what they did to the captain.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

also of note - the indianapolis delivered one of the atomic bombs used on japan

the captain of the indianapolis was court martialed and drummed out of the navy. he committed suicide in the 60's or 70's. the captain of the submarine that sank the indianapolis stated that there was no way the indianapolis could have escaped, yet the navy would not change what they did to the captain.

38 years ago last monday to be exact.

Although he was wounded, Captain McVay, commander of Indianapolis, survived and was among those rescued. He repeatedly asked the Navy why it took five days to rescue his men, and he never received an answer. The Navy long claimed that SOS messages were never received because the ship was operating under a policy of radio silence; declassified records now show that the Navy lied. At least three SOS messages were received separately, but none were acted upon because one commander was drunk, another had ordered his men not to disturb him and a third thought it was a Japanese prank.

Also

although 700 ships of the U.S. Navy were lost in combat in World War II, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed.

Edited November 11, 2006 by CherryXS

[Scott & Lai 12]

also of note - the indianapolis delivered one of the atomic bombs used on japan

Yep, this is mentioned in the original article.

the captain of the indianapolis was court martialed and drummed out of the navy. he committed suicide in the 60's or 70's. the captain of the submarine that sank the indianapolis stated that there was no way the indianapolis could have escaped, yet the navy would not change what they did to the captain.

The Navy's treatment of the captain is a travesty!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

also of note - the indianapolis delivered one of the atomic bombs used on japan

the captain of the indianapolis was court martialed and drummed out of the navy. he committed suicide in the 60's or 70's. the captain of the submarine that sank the indianapolis stated that there was no way the indianapolis could have escaped, yet the navy would not change what they did to the captain.

Yeah, I found that the Navy never really cared about people too much. They were only concerned with their image.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

also of note - the indianapolis delivered one of the atomic bombs used on japan

the captain of the indianapolis was court martialed and drummed out of the navy. he committed suicide in the 60's or 70's. the captain of the submarine that sank the indianapolis stated that there was no way the indianapolis could have escaped, yet the navy would not change what they did to the captain.

Yeah, I found that the Navy never really cared about people too much. They were only concerned with their image.

I don't want to turn this into an argument nor do I dismiss those claims, but I want to point out that such criticism of the military by some has been construed as unpatriotic or not supporting the troops. Obviously, when speaking about the military, it's erroneous for anyone to assume it means everyone. There are bad apples and bad decisions made, but stating so doesn't condemn the entire military nor does it equate to bashing the troops. Just thought I should point that out.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

also of note - the indianapolis delivered one of the atomic bombs used on japan

the captain of the indianapolis was court martialed and drummed out of the navy. he committed suicide in the 60's or 70's. the captain of the submarine that sank the indianapolis stated that there was no way the indianapolis could have escaped, yet the navy would not change what they did to the captain.

Yeah, I found that the Navy never really cared about people too much. They were only concerned with their image.

I don't want to turn this into an argument nor do I dismiss those claims, but I want to point out that such criticism of the military by some has been construed as unpatriotic or not supporting the troops. Obviously, when speaking about the military, it's erroneous for anyone to assume it means everyone. There are bad apples and bad decisions made, but stating so doesn't condemn the entire military nor does it equate to bashing the troops. Just thought I should point that out.

I'm just speaking from personal experience while in the navy. FTN!!