Indianapolis. The sinking of the ship was one of the worst day in history for the navy.
880 men died during the sinking of the ship and only 317 survived. There is several reasons why those 880 men died. One of the major reasons those 880 men died was because of different diseases they suffer during the four days in the ocean. During the sinking of the ship men were injured severely and that cause the death of some of the men. Other men went into the water injured and during those four days they died. The men were in the ocean for four straight days without food or water and because of that the men began drinking the seawater, which caused hypernatremia an excess of salt in the body. …show more content…
The men also suffer from hypothermia, which instantly kills a man once the body’s temperature drops below eighty- eight degrees. They also suffer from dehydration and without fresh water the survivors experienced unimaginable thirst, hallucinations, and poor judgement. Sleep deprivation was another cause of their death. Sleep deprivation made them go out of their heads and it caused obsessive thoughts, uncontrollable fear, and compelling fantasies. Another main reason, which helps us understand why those 880 men died was unpreparedness. The ship did not have lifeboats, which cause the men to be in the ocean for four straight days. Also, nobody was keeping track of the ship, so nobody knew what was going on and they didn't send rescue planes and ships. They sent out SOS and three
SOS messages were received, but nobody ever responded to them. The first SOS message was sent, but Russell Hetz superiors asked him to be hoaxes because they thought it was a trapped. The second SOS message was sent and Clair B. Young received the message and when he told his commodore about the message his commodore said if