The Uss Indianapolis

It was in July of 1945 And the USS Indianapolis Had a crew of nearly 12 hundred alive But a Japanese sub fired and did not miss American sailors had completed their job Delivering parts for the first atomic bomb Some sank with the ship, others in the sea did bob No food, few lifeboats, ocean deceptively calm Surprise attack, no distress signal had been sent It was four days later those floating were spotted The survival rate was just 25 percent With hundreds of sailors’ bodies the sea was dotted In the movie “Jaws” as Captain Quint had related, “The sharks came cruisin'. So we formed into tight groups.” Six men per hour were killed while for help they waited All were lost but 316 Navy troops Some victims died of exposure or starvation But far more were killed by the sharks that had attacked These men lost their lives in service to our nation But bomb parts delivered had a deadlier impact One of the last ships that was sunk in World War II The Indianapolis had turned the war’s tide With a mission carried out by a courageous crew Victory was soon celebrated by allies worldwide This is an entry for the History Poems contest