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It arrived on July 26, and the bomb parts and their handlers disembarked. McVay made sure that the Indianapolis traveled quickly it made the trip in record time. The ship stopped at Pearl Harbor briefly to refuel, before continuing on to Tinian. With confirmation of that success, the Indianapolis left port. In fact, they were waiting for a message about the result of the Trinity Test. He constantly had to return belowdecks to check the radiation from the canister, and was unable to answer basic questions about his supposed artillery experience.įurman and Nolan were also probably the only ones who knew what caused the delay in launching the ship on the morning of July 16. But Nolan, a radiologist, raised some suspicion. Furman, as an Army engineer, had some experience with artillery. The men were disguised as artillery officers, though it was not a very convincing cover. The two men who definitely did know were James Nolan and Robert Furman, two men from the Manhattan Project who accompanied the components to Tinian.
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He was, at least, aware of the secrecy and importance of his mission. It is unclear if McVay even knew what the contents were, though he claimed after the war that he did. The uranium contained in the canisters was about half the US supply (the other half was flown to Tinian). The crate contained the “gun-type” mechanism for Little Boy. None of the crew knew what was contained in the crate and canister that were brought on board. Despite the new crew’s inexperience, they were given little time to prepare for departure. Enlisted men ending their tours of duty rotated out and were replaced by new enlistees. The ship took on many crew members in California. Only a few days before, Captain Charles McVay III had received his orders from Rear Admiral William Purnell and Captain William Parsons. The B-29 Enola Gay would eventually take off from the island for its fateful mission to Hiroshima. While there, the Indianapolis was chosen for a secret mission: to transport components of the Little Boy uranium bomb to Tinian.
THE STAFF THAT BUILT THE ENOLA GAY FULL
After emergency repairs, the ship went back to California for a full overhaul. The impact of the plane itself did little damage, but the pilot managed to drop a bomb that punched a hole in the ship and led to several casualties. The Indianapolis was struck by a kamikaze attack during the battle of Okinawa. It served along the way as the flagship for Admiral Raymond Spruance, Commander of the Fifth Fleet. The ship saw action in New Guinea, the Aleutian Islands, and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. During the attack on December 7, 1941, the Indianapolis avoided damage because it was out on a training mission. It was stationed with the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor in the lead-up to the war. Before the war, it transported President Roosevelt on various occasions, including on a tour of South America. The Indianapolis was one of two Portland-class cruisers built during the early 1930s. The ship’s secret mission, the questions surrounding its sinking, and the brutal trials endured by survivors have fascinated the public for decades. It was later sunk by a Japanese submarine in what became the worst naval disaster in US history. The USS Indianapolis (hull classification symbol CA-35) was a US Navy cruiser that delivered the components of the Little Boy atomic bomb to Tinian Island.