End of the Indianapolis Case

The last great tragedy of World War II --the sinking of the cruiser Indianapolis in the Philippine Sea last July, with the loss of 880 lives--was unveiled in full detail last week. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz called in newsmen, said: "We have no desire or intention to deny any of our mistakes." Then he confessed four grievous ones:

P: At Leyte naval headquarters, the Indianapolis had been recorded as having arrived, when in fact she had not been sighted or heard from.

P: A Jap submarine's radio report of sinking "something" along the cruiser's route was intercepted, partly decoded--but not taken seriously.

P: Fleet orders directing that arrival of combat ships should not be reported (to cut down radio traffic and increase security) were misinterpreted, so that non-arrivals also went unreported.

P: The acting port director and operations officer at Tacloban failed to investigate the Indianapolis' nonarrival; their failure went unnoticed because their superior officers were not exercising proper supervision.

All these errors had helped to swell the casualty list--for survivors of the Indianapolis weltered in the sea for three days before it even occurred to anyone that the ship might be in trouble.

The Blame. The Navy top command had disagreed on disciplinary action. Nimitz said he had wanted to give Captain Charles B. McVay III, skipper of the Indianapolis, nothing worse than a letter of reprimand, "but the Department in Washington saw fit to disregard my recommendation." A compromise had at last been reached.

The court-martial found McVay guilty of negligence in failing to follow a zigzag course, but the sentence (that he be dropped a hundred names in the list for promotions) was remitted. He had been "restored to duty"--of an unspecified nature.

Letters of reprimand have been issued to Commodore Norman C. Gillette, who was acting commander of the Philippine Sea Frontier, his operations officer, Captain Alfred M. Granum, and the port-operations officer, Lieut. Stuart B. Gibson. A milder letter of admonition has gone to the acting port director, Lieut. Commander Jules C. Sancho. (Both Gibson and Sanchp are reserve officers, now getting out of uniform.)

Said the Navy's personnel chief, Vice Admiral Louis Denfeld: "I question that 'McVay will ever again get a command of great responsibility ... or ever become an admiral."*

*Admiral Nimitz did, in spite of being court-martialed and reprimanded for running a destroyer aground in the Philippines almost 40 years ago.

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