75 years after their ship sank during World War-II, US Navy owns up to 13 sailors being buried at sea

Vishal Thapar May 28, 2022

Seventy-five years after the sinking of the warship USS Indianapolis towards the fag end of World War-II, the US Navy on May 27 changed the status of 13 crew members on board that ship from “unaccounted for” to “buried at sea”.

The USS Indianapolis sank on July 30, 1945, after being struck by two Japanese torpedoes. Of a crew of 1,195, only 316 survived. About 300 went down with the ship and another 900 were set adrift.

The change in status for the 13 missing sailors follows extensive research aimed at bringing closure to the families of the sailors who lost their lives at the end of a secret mission which helped end World War-II, according to a US Navy announcement.

The US Naval History and Heritage Command, the US Navy Casualty Office joined hands with the USS Indianapolis survivors association and a legacy organisation to go to extraordinary lengths to arrive at a definitive conclusion.

The breakthrough follows a deep review by the US Navy which established that “due to administrative errors, many sailors who were recovered from the ocean and buried at sea from responding vessels were misclassified as ‘missing in action’ or ‘unaccounted for’”.

Subsequent efforts by Rick Stone, who previously served at the US Naval History and Heritage Command helped locate documentation proving that the 13 sailors were misclassified as ‘unaccounted for’. This was the outcome of the the USS Indianapolis Burial at Sea Project he initiated to determine if any Indianapolis casualties suffered the administrative misclassification unearthed by the Navy.

According to the Stone’s USS Indianapolis Burial at Sea Project web page, “recovering a lost Sailor, giving their loved ones and family closure, is the greatest gift we can imagine and the greatest way to celebrate and thank the Sailors who lost their lives aboard the USS Indianapolis.”

“One of my favourite quotes is ‘Poor is the nation that has no heroes but shameful is the nation who, having heroes, forgets them,’” Stone said. “Our Foundation will never forget the heroes of the USS Indianapolis and are proud of our role in helping thirteen families learn that the Navy went to great lengths to honour them soon after their deaths.”

Captain Robert McMahon, director of the Navy Casualty Office, said bringing closure to families of those lost at sea is a “solemn duty and obligation” he takes to heart.

“Nothing is more important to me than giving families that knowledge when the unthinkable happens,” he said. “No amount of time lessens the loss, however, if we can bring some certainty to loved ones, even seven decades later, we are keeping faith with those we lost.”