logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2022
40m 24s

USS Indianapolis: Disaster at Sea | Redi...

Wondery
About this episode

Sara Vladic was 13 when she first heard about USS Indianapolis while watching a World War II documentary with her dad. In just one sentence, the film described how the ship delivered the bomb that ended the war and then sank. For Sara, that moment would spark a decades-long journey to discover the untold story of Indy and its crew.


Sara spent years interviewing the survivors for her own documentary Indianapolis: The Legacy, and the book Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man. Today, she joins host Mike Corey to discuss Captain McVay’s trial, the ship’s recovery and the role Jaws played in reviving interest in Indy’s story.

This is the story of the greatest sea disaster in U.S. naval history, and the courageous men who survived it.


Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.


Support us by supporting our sponsors!


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Aug 21
FAN FAVORITE: Trapped on Mt. Hood | Considered Lost | 2
With night falling, the student climbers and their adult chaperones must take refuge in a cramped, frigid, and hastily dug snow cave. Their leader, Father Tom Goman, begins to succumb to hypothermia. Meanwhile, search and rescue teams prepare to deploy. But as the storm that firs ... Show More
37m 29s
Aug 19
FAN FAVORITE: Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon Expedition | A Killer in Their Midst | 3
Challenges mount as the expedition travels farther down the river. With the end of their journey nowhere in sight, hunger and disease take their toll on the men. Colonel Rondon wonders if members of an indigenous tribe are following them … and waiting to attack. Tensions between ... Show More
44m 59s
Aug 19
FAN FAVORITE: Trapped on Mt. Hood | Whiteout | 1
In May 1986, a group of high school students and faculty embarked on a journey to the top of Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest mountain. The climb was part of an annual wilderness program, and was usually uneventful. But during this climb, a brutal and massive storm engulfed the mount ... Show More
47m 42s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2023
The USS Indianapolis’ Secret Mission Turns into Tragedy
July 16, 1945. It’s the summer of 1945 and World War II is underway. The USS Indianapolis has just set out from Mare Island on a top-secret mission. The famous vessel is delivering enriched uranium and other components of “Little Boy” to Tinian Island. The mission is technically ... Show More
30m 13s
Sep 2018
EP5 Nightmares of Indianapolis
Description: Imagine actual people living for real through the plot of several disaster and survival movies combined. That's what the crew of the USS Indianapolis experienced after it was torpedoed at the very end of the Second World War. Show Notes: 1. "In Harm's Way: The Sinkin ... Show More
53m 27s
Jul 2022
SYMHC Classics: Unearthed! USS Indianapolis
This 2017 episode covers the U.S.S. Indianapolis, known today for its crew's horrifying wait for rescue after being torpedoed following a secret mission at the end of World War II. But the ship's history goes back much farther than that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf ... Show More
32m 2s
Nov 2022
The Battle of the Tollense Valley
More than 3,000 years ago, two armies met in a titanic Bronze Age battle along a river in northern Germany. We don’t know why they fought or who won, but thanks to stunning archaeological discoveries, we know how they died, where they come from, and what their lives were like.Pat ... Show More
40m 28s
May 2020
Enemy of All Mankind | A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History's First Global Manhunt | S30-E1
On September 11th, 1695, two ships confronted each other in the middle of the Indian Ocean: one an enormous treasure ship owned by the Grand Mughal of India, and the other a much smaller British pirate ship led by Henry Every. What happened next changed the world. Every and his c ... Show More
36m 19s