The Deadliest Shipwreck & Shark Attack in Naval History 

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It's utterly fucked that Hashimoto did more to help his former enemy captain than the man's own navy did. Hashimoto seems like an honorable man. War is Hell and almost no one fighting it actually wants to be there, or holds a real grudge against the common solider on the other side.

Hashimoto, the sub commander that sunk the Indianapolis, lost his whole family to the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, which is what the Indianapolis was delivering parts of. The fact he came to help the survivors and clear the Captain's name is beautiful.

What a chad that doctor is while everyone is freaking out and stuff and the doctor is like "Imma show these sharks who the real apex predator is out here" while also saving a lot of lives what a legend.

My grandfather was on this ship. He didn't speak about it. My family only found out when they saw his picture during a documentary about it. It's crazy to think that I wouldn't be here if it had taken another day or two for them to be rescued. When my grandpa got dementia he started thinking I was my grandma and he wanted to tell me what happened. It was heartbreaking. He passed away several years ago. I can't imagine how this must've haunted him. He was a good man, quiet with serious issues, but he did his best

The fact that he was bullied into suicide by his own men's families when the guy who was actually responsible honored him is so sad to me

Hashimoto shows how soldiers are still people, following orders. This guy pretty much caused this tragedy, yet instead of using it to boost his name, he testified against the captain’s prosecution and even showed compassion to the survivors. Plus, he lost his family to the bomb that the Indianapolis helped create, yet he didn’t blame the surviving men and still prayed with them.

I feel so bad for the captain. Poor man already narrowly escaped death, had to deal with all the trauma that situation entailed, and what was his reward? To be blamed for not seeing a torpedo in the dark. Saddled with all the guilt by his own superiors.

The captain being blamed and sent those letters will forever irk me. The man was placed in charge of 1,200 people, no radar, no other vessels, and the attack happened in the dark. Whatd they want him to do hop in the water every 5 minutes to see if anythings there? Did they want him to personally wrestle the missiles underwater when they were fired? The biggest cause of death here was negligence and complacency

My great grandpa was on this ship, he refused to talk about it or ever go into the water again. I can't imagine what it was like actually being there.

All I can think about is Quint’s speech from Jaws… “Eleven hundred men went into the water, 316 men came out and the sharks took the rest,”

The way the Captain died is so depressing. Committed suicide while clutching a toy sailor in his hand. Can't image what must've been going through his mind while holding that sailor.

"Complacency about procedure" Literally sent a shiver up my spine. Thats how the worst things happen. Almost every industrial accident is caused by this.

I can’t imagine the pain of losing 3/4s of your crew, seeing your captain be ridiculously blamed for it, and then discovering that this all happened because the US wanted to deliver half the worlds uranium supply unguarded

Seriously the story about Hashimoto caring more about his former enemies then there own government seriously makes me tear up

It makes me really happy that the survivors didn't hold any grudges against Hashimoto. War is an ugly hell and they most definitely understand that. He was doing what he could for is nation, for his family and so where they. It's really beautiful how they prayed together. May the men rest in peace and may a tragedy like this never happen again

11:35 This event is the reason why the navy now teaches every recruit how to swim. In fact the facility they use to train recruits in water survival is named the USS Indianapolis.

The term underwater mountain really makes you remember how horrifyingly deep the ocean is

the story of McVay’s suicide is so sad, and the fact he was holding a tiny sailor nearly made me cry in and of itself. such a sad story

The way you’d do an 8 hour WWII video would make me go bonkers. I love learning about what REALLY happened in history and I think you’d do it a lot of justice.

Imagine surviving everything that captain went through, to be betrayed by your country and be brought to suicide…. RIP to that amazing man, I will surly tell my children about this story.

For a guy who’s spooked by the sea, you sure seem to cover a lot of sea stories lol

the “toy sailor and revolver” made me immediately cry. how awful, i wish he didn’t get the blame for it like that

The part at the end about not wanting to let these stories die with the people who took part in them hit me hard. My boyfriend is in the Navy, and I'm always worried that something is going to happen where he'll die and the Navy will cover up his death so that neither I nor his family will ever get an explanation or closure. That's why I'm so invested in keeping stories like this alive- militaries are made of real people with real lives and memories that continue on living after they're gone. Knowing and retelling these stories is the least I can do to make sure that that memory doesn't fade, which is what I hope people will do for my boyfriend in the unfortunate case that my deepest fears come true.

From what was said Hashimoto really seems like a very Honorable man. He helped more in Mcvays case more then our own navy and he actually went to Pearl Harbor 49 years later after the bombing to grieve the men lossed. It was also really nice that the men accepted him in to pray with them and mourn. Shows the humanity a little bit that we all seem to forget at times. Great Video again Wendigoon.

My great grandfather on my mother’s side died on that ship. His “official” cause of death has never been made. My grandpa basically spent his whole life trying to learn more about his father, and sadly, in 2017, he died without any answers... *So anyways* thank you for making this video! You never fail to make informative videos on not-so-covered subjects on this platform.

“McVay walked out onto his front yard with a toy sailor in one hand and his navy revolver in the other.” Jesus, man instant tears from me. I’ve lost a few friends in war. My best friend was the soldier who was killed in Kabul on the 26th of August at Hamid Karzai airport. You learn that every seasoned soldier, sailor, airman, or marine was just a kid playing soldier once upon a time.

I love how Wendi adds the funny bits to these tragic tales. Those sailors likely gained and lost friends and probably had some tales to tell.

The amount of forgiveness and understanding for the sailors and the Japanese captain is amazing. Teared up about him asking to pray with them

My great uncle served on the Indianapolis during ww2 but transferred to the uss Mississippi before the Indianapolis final journey he had major survivor guilt by not being there with his team for he served there for 3 years

Holding a toy sailor and his service revolver is not how a hero like that deserves to go. That hurt. DO MORE OF THESE WWII videos

My teacher actually brought in a guy who was on the ship and he talked about how the skin was so waterlogged that when pulled out of the water the skin would basically fall apart and that is probably the most horrific image In my mind

My great grandfather is one of the survivors of the uss Indianapolis and it means a lot that you would cover this story as it is truly both harrowing and remarkable.

The US Navy actually teaches new recruits about the USS Indianapolis during water survival training. They talked about how new technology was made so this incident would never happen again. Such as life rafts deploying underwater to the surface if they sink under a certain depth.

The part about Hashimoto helping to clear McVay's name and praying with the surviving crew is one of the most beautiful things I've heard. I really enjoy your one off stories like this. I love both the more serious ones as well as the ones where you lean into the humor and absurdity of it. Please keep more of both types coming.

Roger Spooner, a man who was a survivor of this shipwreck passed this year about the same time this came out. He was a great man who even at 98 years old ran and drove his trucking buisness until his death. It’s crazy to think of how much he witnessed during this and still persevered and loved his life to the fullest

Fun fact about 2nd and 3rd degree burns: the heat to make a burn like that is so hot that it kills the nerve endings making you feel nothing or near nothing until you take your body away from the heat allowing pain to properly register again. Moral of the story: Burning can quite literally feel like nothing at some points until you see that you are burning,

Whaaaat? The Navy blaming other people for their own mistakes instead of taking responsibility? Impossible. They'd never do something like that, never.

My high school US history teacher would only talk about historical events that interested him, the USS Indianapolis being on of them. It may be because we were in Indiana. It was a fun class. We learned the Cold War through the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

🚢I spent like a month in Oceanography class learning about this ship and we were going to meet one of the survivors, Adolfo but he passed away around thanksgiving. It was tragic, as I really wanted to meet him. Normally I don't like learning about stuff like this but this story just showed me how strong humans can be when they do come together in a crisis.🦈

The USS Indianapolis always fascinated me. My mom said my great uncle was on the boat and survived, was ordered to never talk about it, and he didnt. It's insane to hear all the horrible stuff he went through while he was out there :( thank you sm for making this!!

As a bit of a history buff when you said "Whenever we stop talking about stories we forget them." That hit. Thank you for not just covering how scary the things we imagine are but also how scary real life can be.

Something I wanted to add, just regarding the Indianapolis' lack of an escort. The Captain requested one but was informed by Naval Intelligence that there were no subs around and the route was safe

Mad respect towards Hashimoto; though he caused the ship to sink, he showed compassion towards the soldiers and helped clear the Captain's name.

My grandfather was on Admiral Nimitz's staff during this time and he fought to get Capt. McVeigh a commendation because he kept so many of his men together. Admiral Nimitz called my grandfather in his office and told him to drop it stating that this matter was bigger then you or me.

God, McVey's story made me feel emotional. He did his best, the politics screwed him over, and he ended his own life. Like shite. Hashimoto and the crew, and the kiddo fighting for his innocence is just, damn, it can never bring him back but it cleared his name and I hope wherever he was, he's at peace. You make topics like this interesting and not too heavy. I appreciate it. Like man, the entire situation is tragic but you make it easy to listen to while not lessening the severity of the situation and remains respectful. Thanks for your vids. Listening to them while working.

I would love to hear more “forgotten” war stories and known stories like this. Since people need to be correct about everything

I actually met a survivor of the Indianapolis a few years back. He did an interview for some short film or documentary in my families living room. A great man with a phenomenal story

My stepfathers great grandpa was on this ship, he survived by holding on to a piece of floating hull wreckage for days with deep lacerations to his stomach area. He said he watched the oceanic white tips stalk the remaining sailors and would wait until night to come, every morning there were less sailors.

I do believe the sailors being drenched in oil saved most of them from shark attacks, I don't know much about shark diets but I don't think they would choose an oily sailor with a masked scent over a "clean" one.

It’s a shame that Hashimoto didn’t live to see McVay be exonerated, but at least it did happen eventually. Also, do the 8 hour World War 2 video, I’d love to watch it, and these one off videos are very nice as well.

Fun fact: oceanic white tips have been reported to follow ships in the open ocean

that man's crew unanimously deciding to help despite the fact that they had such a small plane, and would likely get put in danger themselves is really amazing. they didn't set off that day to do any of that, but they dropped everything to help those men in the water. even going so far as to wreck their plane.

I’ve lived in Indianapolis my whole life. I got to meet Dick Thelen, one of the last survivors in 2016. He described everything in such detail. It was a very traumatizing experience for him and he mentioned watching their numbers dwindle over the years is depressing. It’s important for everyone to remember stories like these.

Something interesting to know is that when WWII was reaching was near the end the Japanese also had to deal with gruesome animal attacks. There were apparently over 1000 Japanese soldiers that retreated into the swamp on Ramree Island and were attacked by saltwater crocodiles and was listed in Guinness Book of World Records for the deadliest crocodile attack to ever be recorded. So you have one side picked off by sharks then the other side picked off by crocodiles.

What's crazy is my great grand father was supposed to be on this voyage but the day the boat started the journey he woke up late and missed the leave time by a few hours. My grandmother was born a few years later so if he had be on it I most likely wouldn't be here and it's crazy to think about that

My great grandpa, Norval “Jerry” Mitchell is one of the survivors. He passed in 2009, and was one of the last ones to pass away. Even though I was young when he was around, I remember playing with him in the yard, going over to his house, and him being such a good guy and great grandfather to me. My family says he didn’t like talking about the sinking, and I can see why. Rest in piece Great Grandpa Jerry ❤️

Commander Hashimoto deserves some serious recognition... The love and respect it would take to show the Captain of the ship that delivered the most harrowing weapon ever unleashed on your people, that he would travel to the country he just waged war with in an attempt to exonerate him, and then spend his life doing everything he could to help? That's amazing.

fkng broke my heart mannn....just the captain holding a toy sailor in one hand reminiscing the men he served with and eventually shooting himself all because the military wants to put the blame on someone else other than their own that eventually took a toll on his mental health

I remember hearing Quint’s speech from Jaws about this, a horrific tale to say the least. Scariest part of the movie tbh.

While my friend was serving in the USMC during the 80s, he said in the morning they would throw trash bags off the back end of the navy vessel they were on. In the morning light you could see the silhouettes of dozens of sharks. He said you could watch the trash bags get pulled under the water and ripped apart.

My great gramps survived the Indianapolis. He was my grandma’s second dad (her first one died after falling off a ladder) and always had trama about it and seeing his friends slowly die through it. My sympathies go out to everyone who’s family members went through this awful event.

I hate to see in history good men shown as monsters, really saddened to see we couldn't save thr Captain but overjoyed to know that people cared enough about him to rewrite history.

Please wendigoon make more ww2 history. I've been binge watching your channel for weeks and ww2 is one of my favorite topics and I'm sure I'm not alone on that. Love all the content and as always, thank you for existing

You are the only RU-vidr that has ever come close to filling the void in my heart left by Sam O’Nellas Disappearance.

Wendigoon, you should make a video talking about the different types of sea monsters every civilization seems to have and supposedly true stories about each one.

My favorite scene from JAWS is when everything just stops and Quint tells his story of being on the USS Indianapolis realizing catching the Shark is personal to him. That scene got me interested in learning more and into battleships.

My old man met the last living survivor from the Indianapolis, Michael Kuryla, along with the navigator from the Enola Gay, Dutch Van Kirk, at the Kane County gun show and they both signed a book about the 509th for him [along with the authors signatures]. One of the other last living survivors from the USS Indianapolis, Gus Kay, lived about four or five blocks away from me in Elmwood Park, Chicago.

That fuzz noise at 7:13 absolutely scared the shit out of me while working. Fastest I've ever spun around thinking someone was pulling at my headphones. Great video!!

something about the effort to clear capt. McVays name, even in death, to let him rest without the guilt that he carried from his life to his grave of a crime he didn’t commit, to relieve him of the weight of the families who lost someone on that ship, to bring about justice for a soul that is gone but not forgotten is to truly let him rest in peace. just hits so hard i teared up a bit a lot the kid and the remaining survivors and captain hashimoto too and then it worked!! they did it!! his name is cleared!! a beautiful ending and a very important story.

I’m not sure exactly how to say this. But the topics/stories you choose to talk about are the most fascinating, entertaining and eye opening that I cant thank you enough for putting in this amount of effort. Keep up the great work and I hope you find this stuff just as entertaining and fun to talk about as you do now.

Wendigoon you're my go to for IRL Lore and History, I admire how dedicated you are to this stuff and you break it all down so perfectly its really easy to follow along, cya in the next one and keep up the great work

There are actually a surprisingly large amount of Japanese and Nazi soldiers that were found 20-40-60 years later. I'd love to hear a medley of their stories in one of your videos. Very interesting stuff.

I think it’s cool that the survivors welcomed Hashimoto (I am totally butchering that and I am sorry) with open arms. It shows that just because we are different sides, soldiers are soldiers, and real respects real.

Imagine not knowing what you're transporting, but that it's important enough to be behind the amount of firepower that ship has alone.

Can’t believe I’m just finding this. I love your videos, and I’ve had a fascination with WWII and the USS Indianapolis in particular since I was really little. I remember reading “Left For Dead” in seventh grade, which is the book about Hunter Scott and his journey with the surviving crew to clear the name of their captain and share the story. Listening to you talk about this brought back all those feelings I had when reading that book, which was largely what kickstarted my rising fascination with history after years of apathy and depression. Now I’m pursuing a minor in history in college, and it’s inspiring to see other people with the same passion to pass on these stories to new generations. Thank you. You made my heart very happy today.

An 8 hour WWII video? Now THAT would be epic.

I remember seeing a documentary about the Indianapolis when I was younger, and as someone with a fear of the ocean (and sharks) I can't imagine how horrible what those sailors went through was, or the negligence that allowed it to happen.

Really glad I stumbled accross your channel, growing up in London I was fortunate enough to know someone who served in the RAF on the raids to mainland Europe, not many made it back, but Its him that focused my passion on hearing the indrecities of the past, and remembering them, Great job on remembering their past 👏 Subbed and staying tuned.

One of the most fascinating and freighting stories that has happened. You did an excellent job covering this. I just found your channel not that long ago and I want to say thank you for all the work you’ve done and keep up the great work, take care!

Another interesting fact I read from survivor stories is that the life jackets back then weren't made to be in water for days on end. They would become waterlogged. They would place sodden life jackets on the rafts, they would be squeezed as dry as possible (like sponges), then allowed them to further air dry atop the raft. That way, they could trade out the jackets and buy themselves more time.

I met a man who was in the water after the ship wrecked. I'm a Marine myself so he went into full detail. It's horrifying hearing what he saw. Bodies and living men just being taken every few seconds at one point. I have a fear of crocodiles and sharks man. I love them but I hate the thought of something invisible lurking under me in the abyss.

I went to Indianapolis this year and last year, and the amount of military things that honor the USS Indianapolis is nice, they also have a few other things, along with a museum that’s pretty cool to look at and learn about. The museum in particular is very nice and has a ton of neat information about this topic and general information of the many Wars, 9/11, and history of the USA in Indiana. Would love to visit the museum again as a history person myself.

I admire that they gave the life saving equipment to those who were critically injured as opposed to just letting them die for being “burdens”.

I actually cried when I found out Hashimoto prayed with the survivors and was accepted as an honorary crewman That's what healing and growth is all about

This story is absolutely tragic, but a story of human resolution and defiance in the face of death, regardless. Fantastic video!

This story is incredible. I'd heard it several times in the past but I enjoyed your telling of it more than any of those! What I love about it is that even though it was an awful tragedy at the time, seeing the surviving crew strive to clear McVeigh's name, teaming up with an awesome young man to do so - and most of all, seeing the guys' reconciliation with and acception of, a former enemy, Hashimoto and praying with him! God is good!

Thanks for doing so much research and relaying these stories. Your videos are just super cozy to watch, despite the usual macabre topic. I've never been a big history buff, so it's interesting to get to hear these stories

Just realized why I like it when you cover these events. The jokes, the telling of the events are great. But it's easy to see that you respect the people involved, and that's what I love about this channel.

I live in Indianapolis, this story has a special place in my heart, and if anyone in Indiana/ Indianapolis did not know, there is a monument/ memorial on the Canal walk downtown. Great job Wendigoon. another banger of a video

"I wanted to flip the food chain aroundseehowhelikedit" the best dockers ever

You can’t just hint at an 8 hour WW2 episode and leave me hanging! I’d watch every minute!

My Great Uncle served in the Navy during WW1. He rarely spoke of the stuff that he saw during his service, except for one particular situation that’s strikingly similar to the one in this video. To make a long story short, he was aboard a warship somewhere in the Pacific Ocean that was sunk after a torpedo attack. The survivors (including my Great Uncle) we’re clinging to floating pieces of debris, awaiting rescue when the bodies of the already dead sailors started getting dragged under by sharks. After a while some of the wounded men began getting dragged beneath the waves and eaten too! Scary stuff man. So much respect for all our combat veterans; such a shame that they’re treated so poorly after risking their lives for our freedom.

I feel like Wendigoon posts a lot about sea stories because he’s so terrified of it, making him 5x more into the stories

3/4s of the men surviving a ship that sunk in 12 minutes when they were sleeping in their bunks is a complete miracle.

This entire story is horrific. Thank you for telling it so cavalier so I wasn’t panicking for the folks that were actually involved

16:33 sharks tend to do that. It's less to see if you're dead and more of a "taste test". The only reason they don't latch on afterwards is because they dislike the way humans taste due to our diets

My grandpa William nightingale was on the ship when it sank. He was one of the 316 men that lived. I never got to meet him I was born to late but I would've loved to hear his story.

My great uncle died in that attack. It’s a trip to hear one of my favorite RU-vidrs covering a family/naval tragedy

I'm really glad Hashimoto and the survivors held no ill will towards each other and Hashimoto even joined in their memorial. The men being able to put aside their feelings and recognize that Hashimoto was only doing what they would have done, too, and Hashimoto being able to give respect to the fallen is a very heartwarming story