一九四五年七月三十日，美國海軍發生其歷史上的重大災難事件：完成運送原子彈任務的“波特蘭”級重型巡洋艦－“印地安那波里斯”號（USS INDIANAPOLIS ＣＡ－３５）在返航途中被日本帝國海軍“伊－５８”號潛艦擊沈，艦上的一千一百九十六名官兵中約有九百人左右跳海逃生。生還者在四天的海上漂浮期間多次遭到大群鯊魚圍攻，最後僅有三百一十六人獲救。然而，“印地安那波里斯”號遭擊沈的消息傳回美國本土時卻被淹沒在廣島、長崎原子彈爆炸和日本投降的新聞之下，只成為報紙上的幾行文字之簡述。
橋本以行中佐在戰後並沒有被當成戰犯處置。當華盛頓方面開庭審理麥維艦長一案時，他是以證人的身份被傳訊出庭，美國海軍方面還為此派出專機和嚴密戒護接運他到美國。當媒體得知此消息－美國過去的敵人竟能在法庭上指證已方的高階軍官，全美輿論均為之譁然（試想台灣的法庭假如審理“拉法葉”案的涉案將領時，法官傳喚中國人民解放軍的軍官出庭作證，這將會是如何的具有爆炸性。電影“火線衝突～RULES OF ENGAGEMENT”的情節實際上就是抄襲改編自這段故事）。
INDIANAPOLIS - Survivors of one of the final Naval tragedies of World War II gathered this weekend to honor hundreds of crewmates from the USS Indianapolis who were killed when their ship was torpedoed, leaving hundreds of sailors adrift on the Pacific Ocean amid circling sharks.
Just days after delivering key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima, the cruiser was struck by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea on July 30, 1945.
More than four days later, barely a quarter of the crew of 1,197 came out of the water with enough strength to survive.
"Time makes us forget," said George Horvath of Glendale Ariz. "We all hope our place in history will be kept. A lot of people died for these stories to be preserved."
About 60 survivors held a reunion during the weekend, honoring their fallen shipmates with a service Sunday at a memorial in downtown Indianapolis. Secretary of the Navy Gordon England laid a wreath there Saturday.
Of the 317 survivors of the sinking, just 93 are still alive.
"By the grace of God, we've survived," Horvath said. He recalled his prayer as he clung to survival gear waiting to be plucked from the water by rescuers: "There was a shark down there, big teeth. I said ' God, no, not now, not now.' "
The ship had sped 5,000 miles across the Pacific in 10 days to deliver the atomic bomb components to Tinian Island on July 26, 1945.
It's mission was so secret — the crew did not know the cargo — that the Indianapolis sailed alone, not escorted by ships better equipped to detect and fight Japanese submarines.
After it left Tinian, it was struck during the night of July 30 by two torpedoes fired by the Japanese submarine I-58. The ship sank in minutes with about 300 men trapped inside. The others were thrown into the sea.
Because of the mission's secrecy, no one else knew what had happened.
"Unfortunately, we didn't know the Navy wasn't looking for us," said Paul Murphy, 81, chairman of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization.
Blast injuries, shark attacks, drowning, dehydration and delirium killed many of the seamen before the crew of an anti-submarine plane accidentally spotted them on Aug. 2 and radioed for help.
Lyle Pasket of Egan, Minn., who was two weeks shy of his 18th birthday, said he remained conscious for two days, determined to spare his mother a birthday telegram informing her of his death.
"My feeling was ' I'm going to live! ' " he recalled. He passed out on the third day, but woke up a couple of hours before rescuers arrived.
"Prayers were a lot of it," Pasket said, recalling how sharks picked off survivors who drifted away from the safety of a group. "They didn't like Polish meat, or I prayed too hard. I say my prayers every night yet — but that was a promise I made. And I'm not a religious man."
Reports of the Indianapolis' sinking were buried behind the news of the Japanese surrender.
The commander of the Indianapolis, Capt. Charles McVay III, was court-martialed for not sailing a zigzag course to evade submarines. His men believe he was made a scapegoat. In 2000, 32 years after McVay committed suicide, Congress passed an act clearing his name.