title: Out of the Depths: An Unforgettable WWII Story of Survival, Courage, and the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
author: Edgar USMC Harrell
description: To keep us all together through the massive crests of waves, our dwindling little group formed a circle and fastened our life jackets to one another. Those who didn't have a jacket hung on to someone who did.<br /><br />As our bodies baked in the open sea, we began to realize that the sun was transitioning from friend to foe. It soon blistered our previously chilled and now exposed flesh. We tore our clothing to make protective hoods, but the ultraviolet rays reflecting off the water still managed to find our skin. The bright glare forced us to squint our eyes until our facial muscles became utterly exhausted. Our eyes also burned from the caustic saltwater waves that constantly splashed our faces.<br /><br />Late on that first day, around dusk, we had company. To our horror, we saw several large black dorsal fins cutting through the water and circling our group. I cannot describe the fear . . .
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  FOR  
  Anne, John,  
  and Katharine Stanton
  
  
    
  
  
  And my mother and father,  
  who told me about the war
  
  
    
  
  
  And the boys of the USS Indianapolis, who fought it
  
  
    
  
  
  IN MEMORIAM  
  Leonard K. Dailey  
  PFC Infantry  
  World War II  
  Died October 25, 1944
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Table of Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  [Title Page](part0000.html)  
  
  
  
  
  
  [PROLOGUE \- Sailor on a Chain](part0003.html)  
    
  
  
  [PART ONE \- SAILING TO WAR](part0004.html)  
  
  
  [CHAPTER ONE \- All Aboard](part0005.html)  
  
  
  [SUNDAY, JULY 15, 1945 - San Francisco, California](part0005.html#title5)  
  
  
  [MONDAY, JULY 16, 1945](part0005.html#title6)  
  
  
  [CHAPTER TWO \- Good-bye, Golden Gate](part0006.html)  
  
  
  [JULY 16—26, 1945 - Sailing to Tinian Island, South Pacific
  Ocean](part0006.html#title8)  
  
  
  [CHAPTER THREE \- The First Domino](part0007.html)  
  
  
  [THURSDAY, JULY 26—SUNDAY, JULY 29, 1945 - The West
  Pacific](part0007.html#title10)  
  
  
  [PART TWO \- SUNK](part0008.html)  
  
  
  [CHAPTER FOUR \- The Burning Sea](part0009.html)  
  
  
  [SUNDAY,