Now available for the first time in trade paperback, the bestselling account of Americaβs worst naval disasterβand of the heroism of the men who, against all odds, survived
On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated three hundred men were killed upon impact; close to nine hundred sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they struggled to stay alive, battered by a savage sea and fighting off sharks, hypothermia, and dementia. By the time help arrivedβnearly four days and nights laterβall but 317 men had died. How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? Why was the cruiser traveling unescorted in enemy waters? And how did these 317 men manage to survive? Interweaving the stories of three survivorsβthe captain, the shipβs doctor, and a young marineβjournalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless.
The definitive account of this harrowing chapter of World War II historyβalready a bestseller in its hardcover and mass market editionsβIn Harmβs Way is a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.