Edgar Harrell, USS Indianapolis survivor and author of Out of the Depths, will share his testimony during a special Memorial Day service this Sunday at 10 a.m., at Calvary Baptist Church in Red Bank, 5201 Dayton Blvd., Chattanooga. Autographed copies of his book, Out of the Depths, will be available in the bookstore for $20.
Like so many stories surrounding World War II where fact is stranger than fiction, Out of the Depths is a terrifying firsthand account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Navy cover-up that led to the bizarre court-martial and eventual exoneration of its captain.
Marine survivor Edgar Harrell vividly describes the horrors of being plagued by sharks, hypothermia, severe dehydration and salt-water hallucinations, and the crew's heart wrenching struggle to survive the greatest catastrophe at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy—a truly riveting story of survival, political intrigue and faith in the providence of God.
Former U.S. Marine, Ed Harrell, survivor, tells the tragic story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis on July 30,1945. The sinking of the Heavy Cruiser Indianapolis was the largest casualty at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. Of the crew of 1197 aboard it is estimated that 900 made it into the water, but many of these were injured from the explosion and fire and therefore did not last long in the water. The ship sank in about 12 minutes. Eight hundred eighty (880) of the Eleven hundred ninety seven (1197) aboard did not survive the sinking. Only three hundred seventeen (317) survived the four and one half days in the shark-infested waters. The Indianapolis had just made a record speed run from San Francisco to our B 29 base on the Island of Tinian, in the Marianas. The cargo aboard was the components of the Atomic Bomb, which was to be dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Twenty-six days from the time that the cargo was loaded aboard the Indianapolis the war was over, the Japanese were aboard the Missouri. Harrell’s story has to do with his experience those four and one half days. Harrell abandoned the ship with only a Kapok life jacket and thus required swimming nearly constantly for the next 4 1/2 days. Of the 80 men in the group, that Harrell was in, some 40 did not make it through the second day, and there were only 17 the third day at noon.
Two torpedoes ripped through the ship, the first cut off the bow of the ship some 45 ft, and the second hit near mid-ship close to the Marine compartment. Many were trapped below deck and never made it topside. These experienced an agonizing death with the fire and all the water rushing in from the open bow. Mass hallucination and dehydration caused by lack of water resulted in many imagined that they saw an oasis or an island out on the horizon, but when they left the group to explore their hallucination they were met by sharks, and then you could hear that blood curdling scream.
It was an answer to prayer for water the second day when a little cloud passed over dropping some much needed water, and on the third day finding a crate of half rotten potatoes. It was at the end of the fourth day that an airplane providentially spotted an oil slick on the water, and when they investigated they discovered that there were boys scattered over a 75-mile area. Rescue was called in for the next 24 hours, but only 317 of the 1197 would be found alive to be rescued.