INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Fourteen survivors of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during World War II have gathered in Indianapolis to mark the 70th anniversary of the attack.
The Indianapolis Star reports just 31 men are still alive out of 317 who survived the sinking in shark-infested waters on July 30, 1945. The ship carrying nearly 1,200 men was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945, while returning from a Pacific island where it delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
More than 450 people went to a four-day reunion at a downtown Indianapolis hotel that ended Sunday. Attendees included families of sailors who were aboard the ship when it sank.
Reunions were held periodically at first, but have become an annual gathering organized by children of survivors.