USS Indianapolis

[snip]

The wreck of the Indianapolis was found. Some cool pictures.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Pretty cool.
Reading about the find made me think about adding miscellaneous weight for extra lifeboats.... those poor sailors.

[Darman]

Pretty cool.
Reading about the find made me think about adding miscellaneous weight for extra lifeboats.... those poor sailors.

Don't forget the shark repellent!

[Guinness]

Pretty cool.
Reading about the find made me think about adding miscellaneous weight for extra lifeboats.... those poor sailors.

Portland, Indianapolis and the other US treaty cruisers certainly were weight sensitive, but all US combatants lost almost all of their ship's boats to make deck space for light AA and related arcs of fire. British ships were the same way.

The rafts which replaced them were supposed to be self-deploying, but "failed to [float free]" according http://www.ussindianapolis.org/pfinnstory.htm. From my other various readings, this seemed to happen on other ships too. The rafts were haphazardly placed wherever they fit, and got entangled in other things. In other instances this wasn't really a problem, as sailors also wore life belts when at action stations and these worked well, and US Navy ships rarely operated alone. So I don't think the USN in WW2 ever realized they had a problem with self-deploying rafts until after this incident.

Now I'm heading down a rabit hole related the history of self-deploying life rafts. Thanks.  ;)

[Boeke]

I'll happily follow you down that rabbit hole, Guinness. I love that stuff!

[snip]

Paul Allen strikes again.

[Darman]

Its truly amazing what modern technology allows us to find.