Based on a True Story

You may also want to check out our earlier story, Court Martial Clemency.

Captain Charles McVay III

The USS Indianapolis

Fr. Thomas Conway, chaplain aboard the USS Indianapolis, who swam between groups of survivors for 3 days, offering prayers, encouragement, and the sacraments, before being lost to the sea. Fr. Conway was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross in 2021. Many men like Fr. Conway would swim out and bring back more survivors to the groups, often losing their own lives to the sharks in these swims.

Survivors of the USS Indianapolis at Guam

The scene from Jaws that inspired Hunter Scott’s research. Parts of his speech are not accurate (particularly the mention of the distress signal), but it remains powerful. The time in the water was in fact far worse than what Quint describes.

We avoid telling stories about people who are still alive. This story is primarily about Captain McVay and the crew of the USS Indianapolis. Nevertheless, there were several key people involved in the effort to exonerate Captain McVay that we would be remiss to not mention.

Hunter Scott with his history fair project in 1997

Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Hunter Scott, and Representative Joe Scarborough. Scott is from Pensacola, Florida, and Scarborough was the friend from church who asked to display the project in his congressional office. After the story was picked up by national media, Scarborough and Gingrich were two of the congressmen who championed the effort.

Lt. Hunter Scott with one of the last remaining survivors of the USS Indianapolis

This book, Left for Dead, was the source of many of the details in this story. It is an excellent read. You can likely find it at your local library, or even through your library’s ebook service.