Hollywood has released a new movie about one of the largest naval disasters in the U.S. history.
Shot on an estimated budget of $40 million, the “USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage” tells the story of one of the greatest naval disasters in U.S. history – the sinking of USS Indianapolis which was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine 14 minutes past midnight, on July 30, 1945.
Academy Award winner Nicholas Cage is portraying Charles Butler McVay III, the captain of Indianapolis which was sunk shortly after delivering critical parts for the world’s first operational atomic bomb to the island of Tinian, Northern Marianas, on July 26, 1945.
Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 died as the ship sank in 12 minutes. About 900 men who survived were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. The 316 sailors which survived the tragedy were discovered merely by accident four days later.
Hannibal Pictures, the company in charge of producing the movie, started work on the movie in June 2013 in Alabama with Mario Van Peebles in the director seat.
The movie doesn’t center on a single feature of the story but rather includes both the atomic bomb delivery, the sinking – including the sharks, and the aftermath of the sinking during which Charles Butler McVay III was court-martialed and convicted of putting USS Indianapolis in danger through his actions.
The story of the USS Indianapolis was told through a number of motion pictures in the past. Worth noting, the 1975 Steven Spielberg film Jaws features a character, Quint, who is an Indianapolis survivor.
Below you can watch Quint (Robert Shaw) talk about the USS Indianapolis in an excerpt from the movie.