Captain Mcvay In Harm's Way
Persuasive Essay: In Harm’s Way
The sinking of the USS Indianapolis was a horrible event, which killed hundreds of soldiers, and left hundreds floating adrift in the sea with swarms of sharks circling around them. Captain McVay, the captain of the Indianapolis, was charged with negligence. Truly, Captain McVay did his job with what he had, and should not be the scapegoat for the navy. Generals, Lieutenants, and Commodores are all partially responsible for the sinking due to negligence, miss communication, and important top-secret intelligence. Captain McVay did nothing wrong, and did a great job as Captain with the knowledge and information that he was aware of. Inconsistent communication and information that were out of McVay’s control are …show more content…
“He was to follow a zigzag course during daylight hours, and at night, at his discretion, during periods of good visibility”(71). McVay followed this order but when the Indianapolis was hit, it was at night when McVay was sleeping and not zigzagging. The Navy blamed McVay for not zigzagging when the ship was hit, Zigzagging was only required by the navy during daylight. Also, the naval command thought it was going to be a safe sail unescorted in which McVay would obviously have to trust and agree with. This ended up being false and making his trip more dangers than expected. McVay took action and requested an intelligence report to be aware of any enemy subs since he had no escort. When McVay received the intelligence report, the most crucial and important information was not given. “Three days earlier, the USS Underhill, a destroyer escort, had been sunk by a Japanese torpedo”(72). This message was kept a secret, neither McVay or anyone that he was communicating with was aware of this attack. However, this was crucial information for McVay, because the attacked happened in the same route as the USS Indianapolis. Commodore James Carter met with McVay at the CINCPAC headquarters and was aware of the attack but neglected to mention it to McVay. Communication was a big factor in the attack of the USS Indianapolis and even when the ship sank, successful SOS messages did not get communicated right resulting in a delayed rescued
The sinking of the USS Indianapolis was a horrible event, which killed hundreds of soldiers, and left hundreds floating adrift in the sea with swarms of sharks circling around them. Captain McVay, the captain of the Indianapolis, was charged with negligence. Truly, Captain McVay did his job with what he had, and should not be the scapegoat for the navy. Generals, Lieutenants, and Commodores are all partially responsible for the sinking due to negligence, miss communication, and important top-secret intelligence. Captain McVay did nothing wrong, and did a great job as Captain with the knowledge and information that he was aware of. Inconsistent communication and information that were out of McVay’s control are …show more content…
“He was to follow a zigzag course during daylight hours, and at night, at his discretion, during periods of good visibility”(71). McVay followed this order but when the Indianapolis was hit, it was at night when McVay was sleeping and not zigzagging. The Navy blamed McVay for not zigzagging when the ship was hit, Zigzagging was only required by the navy during daylight. Also, the naval command thought it was going to be a safe sail unescorted in which McVay would obviously have to trust and agree with. This ended up being false and making his trip more dangers than expected. McVay took action and requested an intelligence report to be aware of any enemy subs since he had no escort. When McVay received the intelligence report, the most crucial and important information was not given. “Three days earlier, the USS Underhill, a destroyer escort, had been sunk by a Japanese torpedo”(72). This message was kept a secret, neither McVay or anyone that he was communicating with was aware of this attack. However, this was crucial information for McVay, because the attacked happened in the same route as the USS Indianapolis. Commodore James Carter met with McVay at the CINCPAC headquarters and was aware of the attack but neglected to mention it to McVay. Communication was a big factor in the attack of the USS Indianapolis and even when the ship sank, successful SOS messages did not get communicated right resulting in a delayed rescued