S Indianapolis, the Greatest Loss of Life at Sea

Captain charles butler mac vay the third was court martialled. He was acquitted of a charge of failing to issue a timely order to abandon ship, but he was found guilty of failing to zigzag. Was a standard procedure to steer the ship in an evasive zigzag course in waters where a submarine attack was likely. Mac vay had stopped at night due to weather conditions, and because he needed to conserve fuel to reach late on schedule. While also zigzagging, he would have needed travel at a faster speed that just wasn't fuel efficient. The survivors of the us. S indianapolis were allowed to write letters home from guam. Although