thedrifter
07-29-07, 07:29 AM
Palos Heights veteran survived sharks after torpedo attack
July 29, 2007
By Jim Hook Staff writer
For five days, Andre Sospizio bobbed in the waters of the Philippine Sea, the screams of fellow sailors a constant reminder of the dangers in the murky depths below.
It was just after midnight July 30, 1945.
Sospizio was among the more than 1,200 sailors and 39 Marines aboard the USS Indianapolis, the flagship of the Navy's powerful 5th Fleet.
The battleship had left the island of Tinian a few days earlier, where it had delivered components used in the atomic bombs the United States would drop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.
But now it had been hit by two Japanese torpedoes that ripped a hole through its starboard side.
Twelve minutes. That's all it took for the 10,000-ton ship to enter its watery grave. Many of her crew members were fatally burned in the explosions.
Those who survived endured days in the oil-slicked water surrounded by man-eating sharks.
Sospizio, who was 20 at the time, remembers having a premonition that a Japanese sub was nearby just minutes before the attack.
"It was one of those gut feelings," the 83-year-old Palos Heights man said. "I can't explain it. It was just a feeling I had."
Sailors and Marines huddled together in a huge oil slick, which served as a buffer from the sharks.
But after a couple of days the sharks became hungry -- and more aggressive.
Sospizio said dorsal fins cut through the water like a knife. And at all hours of the day and night.
During the day, the men could see the sharks. At night, the sharks would come up from the depths and pick off the men who had drifted away from the group.
Sospizio said he was in a group of about 150 men. When they were rescued five days later, the group had 50 men left.
Nights were the worst. The cold was bad, but the sharks were even worse.
He dozed off once. When he awoke he found himself about 40 feet from the rest of his group.
Sospizio looked out to see a dorsal fin cutting through the water. It was coming right toward him.
The fin belonged to an 8-foot shark.
Floating perfectly still in the water as the shark made its initial pass, Sospizio reached for his knife and waited for the shark to return.
Pushing his face into the water for a better look, he saw the shark swim straight toward him again.
Holding tightly to his knife, Sospizio stabbed through the water, grazing the fish as it passed.
He then swam as fast as he could to join the others.
As the days passed, more and more men died. Some succumbed to the elements. Sharks took the others.
To keep the sharks from eating the dead, sailors would tie shoes, shirts, belts and "anything heavy" to the bodies and send them down to the bottom of the 5-mile-deep sea.
"Sharks were everywhere," Sospizio said.
Finally, on day five, Navy pilot Chuck Gwinn was flying a patrol bomber when he saw the men in the water below.
Gwinn -- who Sospizio calls his "angel" -- radioed for a ship to pick up the sailors.
Of the more than 1,200 men who were aboard the Indianapolis, 317 survived.
Today, there are fewer than 70 men still alive.
Some of the survivors recently attended a dedication of a museum in Indianapolis honoring the battleship and the men who were aboard that July evening in 1945.
Sospizio and his wife of 57 years, Margaret, didn't attend for health reasons.
But Margaret did submit her husband's Navy uniform and photo for inclusion in the museum.
For Sospizio, the event is something he'll never forget. Lord knows he's tried.
Ellie
July 29, 2007
By Jim Hook Staff writer
For five days, Andre Sospizio bobbed in the waters of the Philippine Sea, the screams of fellow sailors a constant reminder of the dangers in the murky depths below.
It was just after midnight July 30, 1945.
Sospizio was among the more than 1,200 sailors and 39 Marines aboard the USS Indianapolis, the flagship of the Navy's powerful 5th Fleet.
The battleship had left the island of Tinian a few days earlier, where it had delivered components used in the atomic bombs the United States would drop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.
But now it had been hit by two Japanese torpedoes that ripped a hole through its starboard side.
Twelve minutes. That's all it took for the 10,000-ton ship to enter its watery grave. Many of her crew members were fatally burned in the explosions.
Those who survived endured days in the oil-slicked water surrounded by man-eating sharks.
Sospizio, who was 20 at the time, remembers having a premonition that a Japanese sub was nearby just minutes before the attack.
"It was one of those gut feelings," the 83-year-old Palos Heights man said. "I can't explain it. It was just a feeling I had."
Sailors and Marines huddled together in a huge oil slick, which served as a buffer from the sharks.
But after a couple of days the sharks became hungry -- and more aggressive.
Sospizio said dorsal fins cut through the water like a knife. And at all hours of the day and night.
During the day, the men could see the sharks. At night, the sharks would come up from the depths and pick off the men who had drifted away from the group.
Sospizio said he was in a group of about 150 men. When they were rescued five days later, the group had 50 men left.
Nights were the worst. The cold was bad, but the sharks were even worse.
He dozed off once. When he awoke he found himself about 40 feet from the rest of his group.
Sospizio looked out to see a dorsal fin cutting through the water. It was coming right toward him.
The fin belonged to an 8-foot shark.
Floating perfectly still in the water as the shark made its initial pass, Sospizio reached for his knife and waited for the shark to return.
Pushing his face into the water for a better look, he saw the shark swim straight toward him again.
Holding tightly to his knife, Sospizio stabbed through the water, grazing the fish as it passed.
He then swam as fast as he could to join the others.
As the days passed, more and more men died. Some succumbed to the elements. Sharks took the others.
To keep the sharks from eating the dead, sailors would tie shoes, shirts, belts and "anything heavy" to the bodies and send them down to the bottom of the 5-mile-deep sea.
"Sharks were everywhere," Sospizio said.
Finally, on day five, Navy pilot Chuck Gwinn was flying a patrol bomber when he saw the men in the water below.
Gwinn -- who Sospizio calls his "angel" -- radioed for a ship to pick up the sailors.
Of the more than 1,200 men who were aboard the Indianapolis, 317 survived.
Today, there are fewer than 70 men still alive.
Some of the survivors recently attended a dedication of a museum in Indianapolis honoring the battleship and the men who were aboard that July evening in 1945.
Sospizio and his wife of 57 years, Margaret, didn't attend for health reasons.
But Margaret did submit her husband's Navy uniform and photo for inclusion in the museum.
For Sospizio, the event is something he'll never forget. Lord knows he's tried.
Ellie