Occurring just twelve days before the end of the war, the loss of the USS Indianapolis to torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-58 represented the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. The event has been dramatized and eulogized, perhaps most famously in a chilling scene from the 1975 film Jaws. But in the face of mistakes and incompetence came self-sacrifice and heroism that deserves to be remembered.
USS Enterprise was the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, and would see an exceptional five decades of active service throughout an astounding number of operations, including being the first nuclear powered ship to engage in combat. However, Enterprise’s deadliest day was not off of Vietnam, but off of Hawaii.