Shortly after midnight on July 30, 1945, the Navy cruiser USS <i>Indianapolis</i> was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea. The ship had just left the island of Tinian, delivering components of the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima. As the torpedoes hit, the <i>Indianapolis </i>erupted into a fiery coffin, sinking in less than fifteen minutes and leaving nine hundred crewmen fighting for life in shark-infested waters. They expected a swift, routine rescue, unaware that the Navy high command didn't even realize that the <i>Indianapolis</i> was missing. Help would not arrive for another five days. <br><br>Drawn from definitive interviews with key figures, <b>Fatal Voyage</b> recounts the horrific events endured as the number of water-treading survivors dwindled to just 316. Each gruesome day brought more madness and slow death, from explosion-related injuries, dehydration, and, most terrifying of all, shark attacks. But the pain did not end when the men finally returned home: The <i>Indianapolis</i>'s commander, Captain Charles B. McVay III, was court-martialed for causing the clearly unavoidable disaster. <br><br>With a new afterword chronicling the fifty-five-year campaign by <i>Indianapolis</i> survivors and their supporters to win public vindication for Captain McVay, this classic is restored, along with memories of the <i>Indianapolis</i> crew.