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Presenter: Jon Fiorella
Community Room, 3rd floor

Jon Fiorella tells the tale that is over 70 years in the making and most historians consider it the worst disaster at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.

After delivering the components of the atomic bomb “Little Boy,” that was later dropped on Hiroshima, the ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine in the waning days of WWII. About 900 men went into the water and five days later only 316 were still alive.

Most of the men died of exposure, drowning and shark attacks. Due to confusion and deception on the part of the Navy 880 men died—approximately 300 men were killed in action and about 579 were killed by inaction.

Image from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives