"Fire!" "Fire!" " 11:00!" " 11:00!" " Fire!" " Fire!" "Fighter plane to the bow!" " 12:00!" "12:00!" "Fire!" " 12:00!" "12:00!" " Brace for impact!" " Brace for impact!" " Damage report!" " Damage report!" "Fire party to the bow." "Fire party to the bow." "Damage report now!" "Japs blew the crap out of us at Pearl Harbor." "We cowboyed up, turned the tables on them." "Ain't a whole lot of quit in them either." "Gave as good as they got." "Iwo Jima, Okinawa." " Where's this all going?" " Mainland ground invasion's only going to stretch this war out even longer." "Truman's in his third month as President." "Honeymoon's about over." "America wants this war to end and quickly." "Jesus, are you talking about the atomic bomb?" "Send a message loud and clear." "Drop it right on Hiroshima, military target." "Ostensibly, yes." "But you'll kill every man, woman, and child, not to mention the radioactive fallout." "Even if the bomb works, and there's no guarantee that it will, you can't fly it to Japan." "We motorboat the son of a bitch." "The Tinian, Philippine Sea." "With all due respect, we know their Navy's stretched thin, but the Japanese will spot a fleet." "Not a fleet." "No escorts." "One ship, a fast ship." "Alone, unprotected." "That's a damn suicide mission." "But if it works... they're heroes." "Who do you have in mind?" ""There will always be war until we kill off our own species." "The difference between us and them is that we want to do our duty and then go home." "The man who flew his kamikaze plane into the bow of our ship knew he wasn't going home." "He was on a suicide mission using his body as ammunition." "God help all of us when we face an enemy like that."" ""In a few days it's my birthday." "My best gift would be just to see you again, my dear Louise."" "Yeah." " Paul?" " Sir." "Can you please get this off to Western Union?" "Aye aye, sir." "So you been sweet on this girl since the fourth grade and you ain't asked her out yet?" "You don't get it." "A sophisticated debutante like her, hell, you wouldn't know what I mean." "You have to prove yourself." "That's why I got to get that promotion..." "What, so she wouldn't like you without a promotion?" "While you're plotting and planning, you know what's happening out there?" "Life!" "So live it, my friend." "Holy smokes!" "Daddyo's got big pockets." "Brian Smithwick." "Judge Bazemore." "How are you, sir?" "This here is my friend Mike." "Hell of a place you got here, sir." "I was telling my boy Bama, it's like that movie," ""Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."" "Oh, forget it." "Mike D'Antonio." "Good to meet you." "He's from New York, sir." "Brian, why don't you step into my office?" "There's a gentleman there who would like to meet you." "Alonso, show Mike up to the parlor, and tell those girls to turn down that racket." "Brian, Is it true we might be finally invading Japan?" "Well, that has been the rumor now for a while, sir." "They don't really tell us much." "I've heard we have crippled the Japanese Imperial Navy." "Well..." "Much in large part to the men of the USS Indianapolis." "Hear, hear!" "Do you think the war's going to continue, son?" "I don't really know, sir." "Do you have a son in the military?" "Heavens no, son." "He's got money in steel." "That's right, war is good for business, and business is good for America." " We're proud of you, son." " Thank you, sir." "Five, six, seven, eight!" "You girls ready?" "Hey, could use a little help over here!" "No, no, you go ahead and make a fool of yourself." "I'm fine right here." "Your friend is teaching the dance society girls the latest dance craze from New York." "Not bad, huh?" "Whoo!" "He's a gas." "All right, I want to close on the ranks of a damn Rolls-Royce, all right?" "She's the crown jewel of the Navy!" "Good job." "Good job." "Okay, we're gonna get this boat looking brand-spanking new!" "Let them Japs know they didn't hurt nobody!" "They didn't do nothing to us, okay?" "Good job, sailors!" "No holes in my shoes, and no holes in my boat!" "Hey, it's going to take two surgeons six hours to get my size-10 boot out of your ass if you don't get a move on, FNG." "Means "friggin' new guy."" " Sir." " Carry on." "Congratulations, McWhorter." "I heard the news." " A boy right?" " Can't wait to meet him." "He's nine pounds and 13 ounces of romping-stomping dynamite." "And the wife's fine, too." "Outstanding." "How we doing here?" "The Japs put a pretty big hole in the ship, but the big guns are fine, sir." "Sir?" "Lieutenant Standish reporting for duty again, sir." "Ready to turn these sailors into a lean, mean fighting machine." "And may I say, my father, Admiral Percy Standish, sends his regards." "All hands stand by." "All hands, stand by." "Looks like you got the damage from that Zero" " repaired pretty quickly." " Yes, sir." "We finished it today." "The fact that you lost only nine men is a solid testament to you and your crew." "Nine too many." "Ready to get out there again, Captain?" "Admiral, I have nine new officers and 250 new enlisted men, but we will press through workup and be ready for sea." "This way, this way." "Captain, President Truman has chosen you to lead a highly classified mission." "This is not a combat mission." "You will carry two pieces of highly classified cargo to Tinian at best speed stopping only at Pearl Harbor to refuel." "You leave tomorrow." "Where do we pick up our escort?" "Charlie, this mission could save millions of American lives." "It is top-secret." "There'll be no escort." "Does this have something to do with the Manhattan Project?" "Open that tomorrow after you've weighed anchor." "As of 0500 tomorrow, this ship is under the direct command of the President of the United States." "Good luck, Captain." "Get your butt outta my seat." "Excuse me." "Sorry." "Look, look, look it, that's that cracker that's been messing with you." "You told everybody you was gonna whup his ass." "What you gonna do?" "What?" "Hey." "It's still a diamond." "I'll get her a better one when I can afford it." "It's not about the damn ring." "I can't believe you're about to pop the question in front of the judge." "You even thought about this?" "You've known her three months." "I thought y'all were just having fun." "Oh, yeah, we're having lots of fun." "Besides, when you ever known me to be scared of a judge?" "You miss 100 percent..." "Of the shots that you don't take, yeah, I know." "Just don't forget to call them "sir" and "ma'am," all right?" "Hey, you're gonna be our best man." "Mama, mama, yeah, there we are." "You have no shot." "No shot." "Double or nothing." "Double or nothing!" "I'm telling you, kamikaze planes coming down from everywhere, you know?" "And I'm firing back, see?" "I'm like..." "There's planes coming..." "Hot damn, Sanchez, you're cooking with gas!" "♪ Ba, ba, ba, hey!" "♪" "♪ Ba, ba, ba, hey!" "♪" "Tame your horses!" "I'm coming!" "I'm coming!" "Next round's on you..." "How's a young fella gonna know how much he can drink unless he knows how much he can't?" "It's 1945." "Our ship is docked in San Francisco for repairs." "The streets are alive, and the sailors... we're on the town tonight." "D'Antonio!" "Daddy didn't mean it." "Yeah, well, it sure as hell sounded like he did, Clara!" "Please, wait!" "Mike!" " D'Antonio!" " What?" " Would you stop and listen to me?" " I'm listening." "You need to give daddy a chance." "He just needs some time." "So you never told your parents you were slumming it, I guess." "That's not what this is." "That's exactly how they looked at me!" "A feisty young lady in red pursued a sailor... while another one... seemed to pursue her." "Come on!" "come on!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hey." "Mess hall boy knows about boxing." "They fighting!" "Hey, y'all, they fighting!" "That's not fair, you can't hold that against me!" "D'Antonio!" "D'Antonio!" "There's a fight." "There's a fight." "There's a fight!" " There's a fight!" " Stay right here." " Stay right here." " Mike!" "Show him what for." "Which one of you wants to get sliced open first?" "You really need that thing?" "I'm flattered." "Three against five." "Little friend here makes it even." "Garrison." "Maybe we shouldn't." "Shut up!" "Shut up, Quinn!" "Back up, boys." "I said back up now!" "All right." "Fair fight." "You and me." "You don't know nothing about fair." "You ain't on a ship now, peckerwood." "If they move, cut 'em." "If you don't, I cut you." "Oh, yeah!" "Come on, come on." "Get up get up!" "Garrison, It's not worth it!" "Come on!" "Yeah, knock him out, man!" "Hey, there's a fight down there!" "I got the colored fella." "I got the colored." " I got the colored." " Get him, Garrison!" "My money's on the colored fella!" "Soft face, boys!" "Cut it out!" "Back off!" "Back off!" "Huh?" "I told you." "It's not worth it!" " Get him!" " Mike!" "Smoke his ass!" "Break it up!" "Stand down!" "Stand down!" "Hey, listen up, listen up!" "Where you going with my money..." "Hey, hey, hey, we just got word okay?" "Were shipping out, captain's orders, okay?" "We need to get back to the ship." " Mike!" " Clara!" "Clara!" "What happens between us is between us." "Clara, let's go." "I am not my father." " And you really mean that?" " Yes." "D'Antonio!" "D'Antonio, we got to hoof it!" " All right!" " No, no." "No!" "This isn't how it was supposed to..." " I love you!" " I love you, too!" "Now, sailor!" " Clara, let's go." " I'll be back!" "For those of you who are new to the Indianapolis," "I am your Captain." "Without me, you are worthless." "You are my crew, and without you, I am worthless." "Our success, our very survival... is contingent upon our functioning together as one cohesive unit." "We have the complete confidence and trust of the commander-in-chief, as well we should." " Understood?" " Yes, sir!" " Am I understood?" " Yes, sir!" "The Indianapolis is a heavy cruiser designed to take out enemy ships and aircraft, but our guns are useless against submarines." "That's why normally, we are sent out with an escort of destroyers in front of us that act as blockers." "Their job is to detect and destroy enemy subs with depth charges before they can get to us." "Many of the crew are mere boys with no idea of the danger we face out here at sea." "If we are fired upon by an enemy sub and if miraculously we spot it early enough, we have at maximum four minutes before the torpedo arrives." "Our main defense is to get the ship watertight point station zebra so any hull rupture doesn't spread and sink us." "For the secret mission, we are in effect a glorified postal service delivering two packages with no protection, but mine is not to reason why." "Hey, W Division was seven seconds faster than everybody else, even without you." "Bullshit!" "Hey, farm boy, chew on that first." "Ah, eat that." "That's gold." "Yeah, you bastard." "Concerned about submarines, sir?" "Hard to hit what you can't see." "If I may, protocol would be to zigzag, sir." "Not so effective against kaitens." "Kaitens?" "It's a new Japanese weapon, a manned suicide torpedo, like an underwater kamikaze plane." "If the enemy fires a kaiten, they can recalibrate your position on the fly." "We're faster than their subs, but not their kaitens." "General quarters." "Send it up, come on!" "Move it!" " Battle stations!" " Battle stations!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Load us up!" "Let's go, let's go!" "Man your stations!" "Ready!" "Down!" "Ammo!" "Ammo!" " Go!" " Ready!" "Fire, fire, fire!" "Fire, fire, fire, fire, come on!" "Done!" "Group W can stand down." "I want the big guns running again in the dark." "W, drill is over." "Isolate the power in sectors five, six, and seven." "You did it!" "Run the test again." "All right." "All right, limp dicks, cap says we go again." "Come on!" "You swab it, then you swab it again!" " If I had two of you..." " Hey!" "Man, you are as dumb as a bucket of bolts." "Hell, boy, everybody know that." "Look here, which one is Standish's?" " Is it this one right here?" " No, no, no, that's McVay's." "Okay." "Man, come on." "Ugh." "You are nasty." "Man, Quinn, what are you doing?" " The right thing." " That's too much." "He's gonna know." "Hope he like the pie." "Captain?" "Good work on the guns today." "Thank you, sir." "What do you put in this delicious pie, Theodore?" "I'm afraid that's classified information, sir." "Set it down, imbecile." "Yes, sir." "Is it too hot, sir?" "It's 42 seconds on the big guns, sir." "Four minutes and 36 seconds on zebra." " Run it again?" " Negative." "All ahead. best speed." "All ahead, Bendix." "She was a four at port, but she was a 10 on the ship!" "Y'all are really lucky I cut my right cross today." "Doing what?" "Changing your tampon?" "Yeah, laugh it up, ya mug." "Okay, $75, Deuce." "That's another 50 to Sanchez, right." "25 to Quinn." "Shit." "Anybody know where we're going after we drop cargo?" "All right, chowder heads, who took my bag?" "Nobody took your bag, you idiot." "Are you worth $850, you shiny devil, huh?" "Alpha, Romeo, tango." "Sir?" "Where are we headed after the drop?" "Not my concern." "Or yours." "Hey, so what's in the crate, huh?" "I hear it's toilet paper for General MacArthur." "So why'd you join the Marines?" "To kill people." "Your requested cereal, Chief." "Hey, Lindy here has a confession to make." "This asshole wanted to join the Army." "But he ended up in the Navy, and he doesn't know how to swim." "I'll tell him tell him why he doesn't need to know how to swim." "Because we won't be going in the water, sir?" "Hey, son, you any idea how old the ship is?" "It's 13 years old." "13 is an unlucky number." "We have the unlucky privilege of carrying God knows what with no protection across the ocean." "So you don't need to swim because if you go in the drink, and the Japs don't get you..." "here... the sharks will." "Sharks, sir?" "Si, señor, the great white shark." "Very top of the food chain." "No natural enemies, an ancient killer left over from the dinosaur age when there was still a big food supply in the water." "Go that way, you guys." "Now up on the land by some evolutionary accident, we developed these big brains, and we invented weapons." "So we got used to being at the top of the food chain, but once you step in that saltwater, right back to the bottom of the food chain." "Even if you swim well, we look pathetic to sharks." "They think were wounded, split up the middle, you know?" "Five rows of dagger-like teeth and jaws... that can bend steel." "It's okay." "Apparently, we're not good eatin'." "'Course, they don't know that until they shred us up pretty good and we're bleeding everywhere and nothing turns a shark on more... than blood." " Sorry." " Yeah." "I was sent down here for an engine room punch." " XO send you?" " Yes, Chief." "Yeah?" "Look at that nose." "Look at that nose!" "Look at it." "You can be thankful you didn't get an engine room punch" " in the nose." " Y-yes, Chief." "I wouldn't worry about it, though." "Our luck will hold as long as we have our little white dove of peace here." "She's our good luck charm." "All right, back to work!" "Captain wants the boat at top speed." "Chief, doves have longer tail feathers." "That's a pigeon." "I know. my father raises pigeons." "Hmm." "We accomplished our mission, reaching Tinian in record time with zero casualties." "I fear the cargo we were dropping off could change the nature of war forever." "Our next assignment would be to return to combat, but we were still being denied our escort" "To the best chaplain we ever had!" "♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪" "♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪" "♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪" "♪ Which nobody can deny. ♪" "Congrats on your last tour, chaps." "Thanks, boys." "I think I'm gonna take this one back in my quarters." "Come on, short timer, stay with us." "I do appreciate Deuce for not sneaking any unclothed women in here tonight." "Listen up, Standish is on the prowl, all right?" "So keep it down." "Alvin, I know that's tough for you." "Hey, I'm innocent as a dove, father, you know me." "Thanks, fellas." "Admiral, I understand that we are to sail to Leyte." "Now that we have delivered the packages, can we please have our escort?" "Charlie, how can you have an escort?" "You were never here." "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "go!" "Listen up, listen up, hey, hey, who am I?" "Huh?" "Huh?" "Hey!" "I'll have y'all know..." "That I graduated second in my class at the Naval Academy!" "Whoo!" "And I'm going to turn you into lean, mean fighting machines!" "Attention on deck!" "Signalman!" "Where did you get that alcohol?" "It's actually mine." "Is that so?" "And that liquor on his breath?" "Is that yours, too?" "Swab up that giggle water." "We're shipping out!" "There will be no liberty!" "We're received our orders." "And you'll all be on mess hall duty effective immediately." "This isn't a minstrel show." "This is the United States Navy!" "And I graduated first in my class, by the way." "What in the hell?" "That ain't your bag." "No, it's Alvin's." "I think he took the ring." "Hey, you're gonna get busted." "I checked Sanchez and West." "Nothing." "Shit." "Hey, thanks for helping me out the other night with Standish." "Wouldn't want you to jeopardize your promotion." "All right, look, the whole reason that this ship is on a course is 'cause they charted a plan and they followed it." "So it's lucky Clara didn't get a chance to say yes because I'm incapable of making a plan, incapable of supporting her." "I'm just saying maybe things turned out for the best." "My plan is to find the son of a bitch that stole my ring and marry her the second I get off this ship, and I don't care what her parents or you or anybody else has got to say..." "You the kid that does the diving?" "Oh, you mean the all-knowing Brian Smithwick?" "Yeah, that's him." "Yeah, I do a little diving." "Okay, man, we want to know about sharks." "I've been telling Lindy here that sharks don't really bother you unless you're bleeding." "If you're bleeding, it's a problem." "I get nosebleeds." "Captain's on the bridge." "Captain, some of the men are sleeping on deck again." "Let them." "Their racks are hotter than Hades." " Visibility?" " Just this side of poor, sir," "Got a fog rolling in." "Let's get through this weather as quickly as possible." "Cease zigzagging until the fog clears, full speed ahead." " Aye aye." " Standish." "Full speed ahead." "Full speed ahead, boys." "Full speed ahead." "I hear you put 24 men on mess hall duty for a week." "Yes, sir, I'm gonna write them all up as well." "The Japanese are extremely disciplined adversary, sir." "If we are to defeat them..." "Sometimes it's better to be respected than feared." " D'Antonio." " What?" "Night watch is that way." " He took the ring." " What?" "The engagement ring, Deuce took it when he pulled me out of the fight," " pickpocketing son of a bitch." " Come on, Deuce?" "Ugh, you smell like a distillery." "Might as well go on and admit." "You was scared, boy." "Scared?" "Of you?" "You hit like a girl." "Next time I'm scared of a fight, it'll be the first damn time." "Boy, you better be glad them MPs saved your ass from us." "Else we have to take you like this chicken bone here." "Hey, Mr. Big Talk, whatever you do to that there flight deck buzzard bone, that's exactly what I'm going to do to you when I get out of his cage and I catch you alone." "You suck that bone like you've done that before!" "Lady Luck is a friend of mine." "Open up and let it shine." "Huh?" "Yeah." " Come on, now," " Here we go, we go." "Ah, yeah, doc." "Okay." "Yeah." "Mmm." "Deuce, where's my ring?" " What the hell you talking about?" " Oh, no, you know exactly" " what I'm talking about!" " No, I don't know what you're talking about!" "Double or nothing!" "Hey!" "Oh, my God!" "General quarters!" "Out of the way!" "Report!" "All comms are down, sir!" "I tried to stop the engines!" " But I don't know if the signal went through!" " Stay calm." "Cavanaugh, keep trying to get through." "Standish, I want eyes on the damage." "You heard the captain!" "Go!" "Go!" "Fire control, fire control now!" "Hoses, starboard side." "Get that fire out!" "Shut the engines down!" "Shut them down!" "Are we getting through?" "Radios are down, but I jerry-rigged the wires." " You sent the SOS out?" " Yes sir." "Look at the needles." "They're moving." "Good work." "Carry on." "Don't touch it with your hands!" "I told you not to touch it!" "Come on, come on, come on, come on!" "We gotta go." "We gotta go!" "USS Indianapolis trying to establish any and all contact." " Does anybody copy?" " Anything?" "I don't know, sir." " Keep trying." " Yes, sir." " Damage control." " It's dead, sir." "This is USS Indianapolis." "Does anybody copy?" "This is USS Indianapolis trying to establish any contact." "Indianapolis, Indianapolis, do you copy?" "This is Leyte." " What's going on?" " Three calls, sir." "One caller identified himself as the captain." " I dispatched three tugboats..." " On whose command?" "Pull them back!" "We don't send anyone out until we get confirmation of their position." "That could be an enemy sub trying to draw us out." " Is that understood?" " Yes, sir." "We're not going to be able to fight this one off." "She's going down." "Pass the word!" "Abandon ship." "Abandon ship!" "Abandon ship!" "Help me, father." "Help me, father." "I hear you." "Help me, father!" "I'm scared." "Abandon ship, abandon ship!" "Captain's orders, abandon ship!" " Grab the documents, now!" " Aye aye, sir." "All hands on deck!" "Abandon ship!" "Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!" "I've got the keys!" "Come on, help me, too!" "Help me, too!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "The keys, I dropped the keys!" "I can't find them!" "Hey!" "No, no, no, no, no!" "Hey, you can't leave me here!" "Please come back!" "Please!" "Go." "Watch out, watch out, watch out." "Let's go, let's go!" "Come on, let's go, let's go!" "Let's go!" "Please!" "Come back!" "Please!" "Help!" "Garrison, please!" "You gotta come back, man!" "Come on, let's go!" "Garrison, please help me!" "Come back, man!" "Help!" "Bama, toss the documents!" "He said, he gave the order." "Help!" "Help me with the raft!" "Help!" "Garrison!" "Garrison!" "Get the keys, man." "You gotta get me out here, man." "Hold the light!" "Hold the light!" "Get the keys!" "Garrison, hurry up!" " I got it." " Gimme." "Come on." "Were locked in!" "Abandon ship!" "Swim away from the ship as fast as you can as soon as you hit the water." "Try to see stay clear of the oil." "Cavanaugh, jump!" "That is in order!" "The ship's breaking." "The ship's breaking." "The ship's breaking." "Listen." "I'm sorry!" "Pray with me." "Pray with me." "Our Father who art in heaven..." "You should have left me here." "I'm sorry, man." "I'm sorry I got you killed." "I'm sorry." "Thy will be done." "Go, go!" "Go, jump!" "Jump!" "Hello?" "Hello!" "Can anyone hear me?" "Hello?" "Hello!" "Can anyone hear me?" "Paul?" "Paul." "Keep your head up." "Come on." "Kick with me, now." "Kick with me." "Kick with me." "There you go." "Come on, man!" "Keep your head up." "Oh, God." "This is not safe." "We got to get to the rafts." "Sir, are you crazy?" "We can't leave this thing." "This thing's sinking." "That's an order." "No." "Get Lindy in the raft." " Get him up." " Come on, guys." "Like this." "What sunk us?" "It had to have been the Japs." "They might still be a out there looking to finish this off." " Did the signal go out?" " It had to." "Someone will know we're missing." "They'll come rescue us, boys." "They'll come rescue us." "You guys okay?" "The captain make it?" "He went down with the ship." "Attention, men!" "Attention!" "If you are able-bodied and in a raft, get out now!" "The rafts are for injured men and officers!" "Bring all of the provisions over here now!" " Grab my hand!" " I need help over here!" "Now!" "Get out of the raft!" "Let the injured men into the raft now!" "Hold on." "Captain." "Hey, you made it." "Campbell." "Campbell." "Medicine." "I need it." "Hey... you made it, Captain, you made it." "You got some morphine, huh?" "Hey." "You made it." "Okay... ah." "Ain't this a hell of a damn note?" "Gotta keep the leg elevated!" "Keep it elevated!" "Okay." "Don't go nowhere." "Sir, please don't go nowhere." " I'm not going." " Don't go nowhere." "Please don't go nowhere." " How's my little boy?" " He's good." " Yeah." " He's strong, like his daddy." "He is?" "Don't go nowhere." "Don't leave me here." "I'm not." "I'm not leaving you." "What I'm saying, Fireplug, is if you gotta leave a woman, you always make sure she thinks she left you." "Yeah?" "And how do you do that?" "That requires a level of sophistication you have not yet acquired, my friend." "Calm down!" "Save your energy!" "Calm down!" "You too good to flag a plane, sir?" "Oh, you think me waving would've made the difference?" "!" "I'll kill you!" " I will have you court-martialed, sailor!" " Go ahead!" "If we get rescued..." "and if we get rescued..." "Let's all cool off!" "We're going to get rescued soon." "These men look to us on how to conduct themselves." "We need each other." "I need to get the life jacket off the doctor." "Father, bless his soul, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." "How much longer are we going to circle, an hour, a day?" "Keep looking." "It's nine men lost on one plane, Lieutenant." "It's beyond a needle in a haystack." "Even with coordinates, we barely have enough fuel to get back to base." "Do you copy?" "You got eyes on that plane?" "That's a negative, sir." "Request a few more beats out here." "Negative, you've been out there too long as it is." "Bring it back." "This way, right over here." "Just grab on." "Quinn... your head looks like 40 miles of bad road." "We gotta get you in the raft." "Unh-unh, no." "Not with him, no." "Keep playing." "Keep playing." "Theo, What in the hell you writing in that book now, boy?" ""Dear Mama, I should've learned how to swim." "But now my black ass gonna drown."" "What are you all laughing at, huh?" "We're all gonna die, you know?" "You know that, right?" "I mean, the funny part is you mess hall boys are dying for a country that doesn't give a shit about you or your people." "Yeah, well, I ain't waiting for no white folks or anybody else to care for me." "I just knew the streets of Detroit wouldn't." "I'm telling you, man, I'd have died out there." "Same here." "The streets of Galveston killed my pa and my little brother." "Plus I wanted to get out and see the world, chase some foreign tail." "I second that." "Hey, you take notes." "Adventure, sex... you put that in your book, it'll sell like hot cakes." "We might even have a new New Testament!" "What's going on over there!" "Get in the raft!" "Get in the raft!" "Get the men out of the water!" "Get on the raft!" "Everybody out of the water!" "Get out of the water!" "You men, out of the water!" "What are you doing?" "You stop swimming, you get out of the water!" "Where in the hell's he going?" "What happened?" "May the Lord bless you and keep you." "May he shine his face upon you." "Amen." "Dear God, take my soul..." "Thank you, God." "Agh!" "Get off me, God damn it!" " There's something out there!" " Sharks!" "Theodore, Theodore, have you see any other group?" "I was in a big group, 100 or more of us." " Which direction?" " That way!" "Son of a bitch!" "Peel that open and inject him." "I'll just head out a little ways." "I won't be gone long." "See if I can find them." "No, wait, Captain!" "Don't leave us!" "Talk to him, distract him!" " Keep him calm!" " Wait, sir!" "Sir!" "Captain!" "Help me." "♪ Amazing grace ♪" "♪ How sweet the sound ♪" "♪ That saved ♪" "♪ A wretch ♪" "♪ Like me ♪" "♪ I once was lost... ♪" "It's okay..." "Oh, Christ have mercy on me!" ""He wandered into the mess hall gleam in his eyes, rolled the dice, and said, 'Lady luck is a friend of mine." "Open up and let it shine.'"" " What are you doing?" " I'm reading." " What?" " Reading!" "You're gonna have to do better than that." "I'm fucking dying!" "Okay, okay!" " Do better than that." " I'm sorry!" ""The first time I saw her, it was on Market Street in San Francisco." "You could spot her red dress a mile away."" "Was it a tight dress or what?" "Sure, sure, tight dress." "So tight, leaving little to the imagination." "Did you write that?" "Yeah, it's my book." "That's good." "Read it again." ""The first time I saw..." Sir, please, stay with me." "I'm going to read you, I'm going to read you, okay?" "Okay?" ""She was so..." "She was safe." "She knew." "I will not be defined by what I face, but how I face it."" ""It was as if she was a fallen angel,"" "CHIEF McWHORTER:" "Angel in the skies?" ""sent to watch over him." "'Kiss me with your eyes, ' she teased." "Every molecule in this sailor's body ached for her touch."" "Tie us together!" "Found more men and supplies." "These two say they drifted away from the same group as you, Theodore." "How you men doing?" "This young man is telling a story, making this old sailor blush, McVay." "So go on, man, does he take her or what?" "Carry on." ""'I'll give you all the love this life allows, ' she whispered, and with that, she spread herself beneath him, finally guiding him home."" ""Dearest Louise, it's been two days at sea and no sign of rescue." "I fear I have let the men down." "I try to find little things to give them hope."" " Spam." " "But even that is in short supply."" "House specialty." "God damn." "This... baboon ass... tastes like a two-inch steak." "We'll open one can a day." "Splash some seawater on your head, let the breeze cool you down." "Don't drink it." "It'll make you crazy." ""It is bordering on impossible that a plane would spot us." "But still, at the slightest sound," "I look up to the sky."" "Shut up a minute." "Why, that old tightwad!" "He'd steal flies from a blind spider!" "Yeah, well, he just died and left you $500,000 bucks." "$500,000?" "I taught her a couple of dance moves." "Man..." "she sure can dance." "Clara's the cutest thing, man." "Do you know what she used to call me, Bama?" "No." "I don't want to hear it." "I told you, not in the raft, shitbird!" "What the hell?" "Stop!" "Stop!" "You ain't scaring 'em off!" "You're ringing the dinner bell." "I couldn't use my Annapolis ring as a fishing lure because we need it for good luck, but I could use my wedding ring, because my wife would understand." "You see, she likes to fish." "Might even like it more than I do." "How'd you guys meet?" "You aren't going to use this for one of your creative stories, are you?" "No, sir." "At the Chevy Chase Club outside of Washington, DC." "The band was playing "Pennies From Heaven,"" "and I saw her." "She was singing to herself." "She's everything to me." "Well, I'm sure you miss your family, too." "Have you ever told her?" "How you just told me?" "Told her what?" "How you feel about her." "I try to write to her." "Words don't come even easily for me..." "Not yet!" "God!" "I got a little boy I never seen!" "No!" "No angels!" "No, no angels!" "Please, please, God!" "Hold it tight." "Hold it tight." "Don't let me die here without seeing him!" " Hold my hand." " I don't wanna die!" "Don't let me die without letting me see my..." "Captain." "Captain?" "It's okay." "The fleet is coming." "Get some rest." "Attention!" "If anyone was coming to save us, they would've been here by now." "An island has been spotted a few miles away." "That's impossible." "We're somewhere in the Philippine Sea." "You don't know where we are." "We're going to catch a current, and we're gonna ride it over to that island." "The captain would want us to stay together." "The Captain is dead, you understand?" "I am in charge now." "I need a few good men who are tired of being shark bait to join me now!" "You, come on over." "You, come on over." "Obviously, we can't take anyone who's bleeding." "I'm sorry, chap." "I promised my mama I'd come home safe." "Come on, men, swim on over." "And, Waxman, I'm going to leave you in charge of the wounded." "And those two troublemakers over there you seem to have such an affinity for." "What about leaving us some supplies?" "Sir." "Oh, we'll leave you with that extra raft," "Don't you worry." "We'll send help." "What about you, Marine?" "I'm will stay with the padre." "Very well, then." "Everybody grab an oar." "Let's paddle." "All in unison now, let's go." "I know we're tired." "The island's over there." "All right, God bless." "Row!" "Row!" "Come on, men!" "Mike?" "Mike!" "Mike, are you out there?" "!" "We're here!" "Bama, Bama, wake up, they're here." "Bama!" " What?" " We're getting out of here." "They're here." "That's Clara!" "That's Clara!" "That's Clara!" "Calm down!" "Hey, hey!" "You're just hallucinating." "Calm down." "Hey, calm down." "You're just hallucinating." "Calm down, buddy." "I love her, Mike." "I love Clara!" "I always have." "Since Sunday school at First Baptist, and... and I..." "I was gonna make something of myself." "What's that?" "Gotta be sharks!" "Get in the raft!" "Get in the raft!" "It's gonna flip." "Go on the other side." "Damn, that stinks man." "Probably been dead for a good two hours or so." "Go on, take his vest." "Oh, jeez, that's the kid, Theodore." "That's his book, man." "Shark took his poor head clean off." "You think it's just luck, who lives and who dies?" "It was his time." "I'm hoping that I'm too bad for Heaven and too good for Hell." "I think people make up religion to make themselves feel better." "Can't be a God, not with the stuff that I seen." "At least, not one that cares." "Death, evil..." "I saw a man sacrifice his life for another man." "I ain't telling you what to believe, brother." "I..." "I just know there's a lot of good in the world, and..." "I want to get back to it." " You said your girl?" " Mm-hmm." "Is it true she's the Michigan state arm wrestling champion?" "Two years in a row." "Don't get out of line with her." "Do you think this is going to mess up my dance game?" "Well... it's called the Lindy hop." "What if she doesn't believe I bought her a ring?" "Then you'll get her another one." "And you'll give it to her." "She's great..." "a great girl, right?" "Take care of her." " What?" " Promise me, Bam." "Take care of her." "Hey, you stop." "Listen, Bam, remember on the ship?" "You told me to slow down." "I didn't listen." "And I grabbed the hatch." "I burned my hands, Bam." "Melted my skin." "I never listen." "You were doing what you thought you were supposed to be doing." "And I got her in trouble." "That's why... the ring." "A nice girl like that." "Mike?" "Mike?" "Mike?" "Hey." "Don't be dead." "Hey, we got company." "West." "They're all dead." "Standish." "Cavanaugh." "Sharks everywhere." "West, you're okay." "Forgive me, chap." " I'm so sorry." " It's okay." " You're safe." " I'm so sorry." "You're safe." "No!" "Get out of the water!" "Swim!" "Swim!" "Get out!" "No!" "God damn it!" ""It is the fourth day, and many men have simply given up." "I've seen the strongest boys, their lives full of promise, succumb to our horrible circumstances." "Others of us feel as though we are losing our minds."" "Garrison." "Garrison, is that..." "is that a hallucination?" "That son of a bitch is close." "Can you see it?" "Do you see that?" "Help!" "Over here!" "Over here!" "I can't see." "I ca..." "I can't see." "I can't see any..." "I can't see anything." "Wave right here." "He's close." " Hey!" " Hey!" "Hey!" "I'm getting nothing but static, sir." "It's that antenna." "I thought you had it looked at." "I did." "God damn it." "Look down!" "We're above something." "I think it's an oil spill from a Japanese sub." "Let's circle back." "Get ready to drop." "He saw us!" "He saw us!" "He saw us!" "Drop below 50!" "Hang on!" "Are you sure it was a Japanese submarine, sir?" "Who else would be out here?" "You got eyes on this?" "On my go!" "Are you..." "seeing this, skipper?" "You seeing..." "seeing this?" "It doesn't see us." "Sees the oil." "And drop in three, two, one." "Wait!" "Wait!" "There's got to be 100 men out there spread out over miles." "Get on the radio now!" "Hey, look, this is Gambler 17." "We are flying over hundreds of boys in the water." "I repeat, we are flying over hundreds of boys in the water." "Amber 17, copy this." "We have to follow protocol." "The Japanese could be out there." "Lieutenant!" "Lieutenant!" "Sir, Lieutenant!" "Lieutenant, sir!" "We just got a call in." "There's something in the water." "Could be the plane we're looking for, sir." "Find all the water we have, food, too, medical supplies." "God knows how long they've been down there." "Do you see what I see?" "There are men everywhere!" "The Japs must have sunk a ship." "Japs might still be out there waiting to sink any ship that comes along!" "Those boys need help now." "Sir, request position permission for a no-no." "Negative!" "Do not land that plane on open ocean!" "You can't risk that kind of damage." "I'm gonna land this plane." "Land the damn plane, Lieutenant." "Hang on!" "Holy shit, these guys are doing a water landing." "Were almost out of fuel, sir." "We have to go." "10-4, heading back to base." "He saw us!" "He saw us!" "Taking on water!" "Holy shit." " Pick up the single swimmers." " Lieutenant, wouldn't it be faster to pick up the ones in groups?" "It'd be a hell of a lot faster, but they stand a better chance of survival in big groups." "Hey, son, what's your name?" "What happened here?" "Brian Smithwick." "Signalman first class aboard the USS Indianapolis." "Even out!" "Straight!" "Lieutenant, the cabin's getting full." "Get some more on the wing." "Don't forget this tail." "We can put some on there." "Watch that cleat!" "We're going home!" "Are you serious..." "Hey, wait, wait!" "It's our skipper." "Thank you... for..." "landing!" "We got room for a few more." "I'm okay!" "Get my men... out of the water!" "It's the USS Indianapolis." "That can't be." "It shouldn't be, but it is." "This is a class-A clusterfuck." "Somebody is gonna pay for this." "If I were you, I'd send every ship you got before the sharks get at the rest of them." "I don't know how many more I fit on this plane." "You're putting them on the plane?" "You'll never get off the water!" "You kidding me?" "The plane's shot, Hoss." "It's shot to shit." "We're taking on water." "We're lucky to be afloat." "You don't want to consider sending a ship for these boys, send one for me." ""I don't understand why it took so long." "At last relief came." "There wasn't enough room on the plane for all the survivors, but soon the ships followed, the Bassett, the Ringness, the Talbot, the Register, the Dulfilho, and the Cecil J. Doyle."" "That's exactly what I want." "Our hero ship that delivered the bomb in record time got sunk four days ago." "What?" "How many survived?" "317." "879 men lost their lives." "Command screwed the pooch on three SOS calls from the Indianapolis." "That's not including an intercepted message from the Japanese I-58 that did that sinking." "Son of a bitch." "The Japanese on the verge of surrender, and that's due in part to the Indianapolis." "I don't want to hear about the sinking in the press till I'm damn good and ready." "Jap surrender we'll just mention in a news dump." "Bury it below some positive news." "There will still be an investigation." "Too many lives were lost." "With the Pearl Harbor inquiry going on, now ain't the time to be raising questions about military incompetence." "Or you just suggest we indict the Big Blue Dick." "No, I'm saying the press and the public will want somebody's head on a platter." "Then we'll give 'em someone." "I want to go home!" "I just want to go home!" "Where's the doctor?" "!" "I need a doctor!" "Just lie back, sir." " Signalman." " Yes, sir." "Did your friend make it?" "The boy you jumped over with?" ""Through some terrible twist of fate, it turns out that I am one of the only officers that survived." "Many of those that died were our dear friends." "It will be a tremendous burden for you to have to tell their wives that all their husbands perished while yours, the Captain, lived."" "Anybody seen Cavanaugh?" "Did Cavanaugh make it?" "What about Standish?" "Garrison, 9:00. 9:00." "Stick your hand out." "It's Theodore, you dummy." "You little turd!" "We found your book on a dead guy, man." "I gave it to a sailor for comfort." "I ain't ready to go down God's toilet bowl yet." "I missed you guys!" "I found that... in the gutter... two weeks ago." "You believe that?" "Thanks." "Don't... don't thank me." "I was going to come here." "I was going to tell you that I didn't know whose it was." "But I knew." "I knew it was D'Antonio's." "I was gonna pawn it to pay some debt." "I'm not just like some everyday normal kind of asshole, Bama." "I'm a special kind." "I'm sorry." "I'm so sorry." "The war is over." "Atomic bombs have been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan has surrendered to the Allied powers." ""The packages we delivered worked with devastating accuracy." "The men of the USS Indianapolis returned home..."" "A joyous day indeed." "Tickertape parades are the order of the day for all our brave American GIs, both those who came back and those courageous boys who have given their lives." ""Not all of them with good news."" ""For them, the war was over."" "Mom!" ""But for me, the battle was just beginning."" "I'm here." "McWHORTER:" "My boy." "My baby boy." "I'll never get to see him!" "McVay residence." "I hope you burn in hell for what you did." "Just hang up, Charlie." "Burn in hell!" "We need you back, Charlie." "Me, your boy... we need you." "A lot of boys needed me." "You did all you could." "I hear you got your promotion." "I turned it down." "I'm moving to Washington, DC, going to law school." "Might even help my uncle on his next campaign." "Well, I wish you all the luck in the world, Brian." "You deserve it." "Clara, I, um..." "I've been through just about the scariest thing that a man could face out there on the ocean." "I don't know that that's something" "I'm ever going to get over." "You see, I've been afraid to live my life to the fullest." "I've been afraid a long time." "Afraid of what?" "Just, well, not being good enough." "Yeah." "About being rejected." "Rejected?" "By who?" "By you, Clara." "I have been in love with you since the day that we met." "And I, um..." "Marriage?" "Brian..." "Mike and I are having..." "A baby, yeah, I know." "But you see, Mike was like a brother to me, and that baby is going to need a father." "And so I would be honored if you would at least consider being my wife." "You don't gotta love me back or anything like that." "And we might never be as rich as your folks." "But we could start a fresh life in DC." "I know you already got one ring, but I thought maybe two was better than one." "After all he's been through, they're putting him on trial." "Sounds like they're looking for a scapegoat." "Louise, it..." "it's complicated." "What's complicated?" "Admiral." "Captain." "Would you gentlemen like some tea?" "Thank you, Louise." "Bumped into the submarine, which had fired the torpedoes." "Members of the tanker's crew related..." "The President withheld immediate comment..." "Charlie, as far as they were concerned, you were on a secret mission under the command of the President." "And since their orders were to never announce arrivals, they'll argue that they were not supposed to announce non-arrivals either." "So what now?" "I found outside counsel." "What I'm about to tell you... can't ever leave this room." "Four days before your ship was sunk by the Japanese... there was another US ship in those same waters." "The USS Underhill." "She was torpedoed..." "and sunk." "Point being, you should have had an escort." "You should have had sonar." "Charlie, I am so sorry." "The trial will be in Washington." "This one right here, fellas, is to being back on solid ground." "To never seeing another shark again." "To wishing our Captain luck in this bullshit trial." "To all the good men we lost at sea." " Amen." " Amen." "Excuse me, boys." "See something you like, Alvin?" "Oh, no, yeah, no I..." "I recognize one of those rings." "But, uh, not the other one." "I got it from my husband, Bama." "Your husband." "Oh." "You got something you want to say, Alvin?" "Isn't that D'Antonio's girl?" "Yeah, she was." "So?" "I mean, a fella married his buddy's pregnant girlfriend?" "That's... well, he's a better man than me." "Yeah, I'll drink to that." "Hey, McVay's trial starts at 0900." "Think we ought a be there about an hour early." "Sir!" "Sir!" "Are you expecting to be court martialed?" "Sir, answer the question!" "Do you feel personally responsible for the loss of your men?" "Captain!" "Captain McVay, you're being accused of hazarding your ship by failing to zigzag as an evasive maneuver and failing to abandon ship in a timely manner." "For the benefit of the court, how do you plead?" "Not guilty." "And when the ship was hit, did you hear any directives from your Captain?" "I went to the bridge." "Commander Cavanaugh was there." "He told me that Captain McVay had given the order to abandon ship." "But you never got the order from Captain McVay." " Not initially, but..." " Thank you, sir, that'll suffice." "No further questions, your honor." "Why didn't you object?" "That was military protocol." "Captain McVay, what, pray tell, is your theory on zigzagging?" "Not so effective against kaitens," "It's a new Japanese weapon a manned suicide torpedo, like an underwater kamikaze plane." "Hard to hit what you can't see." "And on that night?" "Let's get through this weather is quickly as possible." "Cease zigzagging until the fog clears." "Full speed ahead." "Tell us about the sequence of events the night you were struck." "We'd been hit." "The question was how bad." "The Indianapolis is a strong ship." "She's built like a floating tank." "We had survived multiple attacks before so we had to assess the damage." " General quarters!" " We had no electrical." "Did you get the SOS out?" "Pass the word!" "Abandon ship." "So you called abandon ship about six to eight minutes" " after you were struck." " Abandon ship!" "How did you personally abandon ship?" "Go, go!" "Can anyone hear me?" "Paul?" "Paul." "It was the last I saw of my men that night and the last I saw of our ship." "Nothing further, Your Honor." "We wish to call to the stand the only submarine commander who is relevant to this case because he was there." "The United States government calls Captain Hashimoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy." "Order in the court." "Order in the court." "Captain Hashimoto, you understand that you are under oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." "But you're not Christian, are you?" "Shintoist." "We believe that the soul exists after death, and, yes, I understand the difference between truth and falsehood." "Very well." "Tell us about your actions on the night in question." "Did you fire your kaitens?" "So the USS Indianapolis was sunk using conventional torpedoes." "Yes." "In your opinion, if the ship had been zigzagging, would it have made a difference?" "No." "We were too close." "I fired six torpedoes." "He had no chance to escape." "No further questions, Your Honor." "McVay must pay!" "McVay must pay!" "Call to order." "Please rise." "On the first count, failure to give the order to abandon ship in a timely manner, we find the defendant," "Captain Charles Butler McVay III, not guilty." "What does that mean?" "What happened?" "They only announce the not-guilty verdicts." "He's been found guilty of hazarding the ship by failing to zigzag." "They court-martial our captain and didn't mention all of our dead?" "They should be building him a monument." "Charlie, I want you to know," "I'd rather this played out differently." "Hundreds of ships were sunk during the war, and yours is the only court-martial?" "It stinks." "Thank you." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Who's that guy?" "Who is that guy?" "I need a few minutes alone." "Captain..." "Captain, how do you feel about this being the worst naval disaster in history?" " Captain..." " Is it true you were denied your choice of an attorney?" "This would never happen in Japan." "If the roles were reversed, you would not be called in to testify on anyone's behalf." "Was there anything I could have done?" "You were exposed." "We were there." "As a commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy, it was my duty to kill you." "But as a man..." "I have regrets." "I had a good idea of what we were carrying." "I, too, did my duty." "But as a man..." "I find no... honor in it." "I often wonder how things would be if I had stopped you before you completed your mission." "We have learned to forgive each other as former adversaries." "Perhaps one day... we can forgive ourselves as men." "They say we won the war." "In my opinion, we'll really win when there is no more war." "And just like there were different groups of survivors in the water..." "There are different groups on land today." "Every year, we survivors gather together to honor our fallen brothers." "Even though they're gone, they'll be with us forever." "Our new mission is to try to make sure that even future generations never forget the price that we all paid for freedom." "Time marched on, and I eventually lost my dear Louise." "And the memories... of all the boys we lost at sea... never faded." "And the phone... never stopped ringing." "The first day, we must have had 120, 150 sharks around us all day long." "It's a horrifying experience, you know, being in the water, don't know if they're coming to get you." "If you hit those sharks in the eyeball, it really hurt them, and they left you alone, and you could see down in the water maybe 50 feet, and they'd go down there and just thrash" "back and forth in pain." "Whenever they said there were sharks in the area," "I always pulled my legs up and froze." "And I was petrified." "I saw so many sharks eating men that I never will like them." "You know, I think they're horrible."