LOEL DENE COX
Veteran for April 2009
At 19 years old Loel Dene Cox, a native Texan, was on board the USS Indianapolis as it sailed for the Philippine Islands having recently delivered a mysterious box, rumored to be loaded with scented toilet paper for General MacArthur, to Tinian Island.
Cox's usual duties were to either steer the ship, communicate with the engine room or to be the lookout. On the night of July 30, 1945, just after midnight, Cox was at his post on the bridge communicating with the engine room via headphones when a loud explosion threw him five feet in the air. The ship had been torpedoed by the I-58 Japanese submarine. Cox landed on his stomach and as he looked up at the debris, water and flames descending upon him, trying to orient himself to what was happening, another torpedo struck the ship in the middle hitting the ammunition magazine. All power was out prohibiting communication with the lookouts or even the engine room. As the Indianapolis quickly began to sink, amid flames and leaking oil, Captain McVay III gave the order to abandon ship. Cox ran to the port side, grabbed a hook and swung out over the main deck, hit the hull and then disappeared in the frigid Pacific Ocean. Coming up out of the water Cox's stomach heaved as he expelled the ingested oil and salt water. He began to swim as fast as he could to escape the suction of the sinking ship. When Cox looked back he saw the 610 foot USS Indianapolis completely laid over on her side. The stern came up and the giant ship went straight down; it had taken 12 minutes.
Cox and the other survivors later learned that the mysterious box, along with a smaller metal container kept in the Captain's quarters, made up the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima. What remains a mystery is why the Captain's request for an escort was denied. After delivering the mysterious cargo to Tinian the USS Indianapolis was told to join the battleship USS Idaho in the Philippines for gunnery practice. Since the Indianapolis carried no sonar equipment they regularly depended on escorts, however, this time they were told that none were available and were assured that the route was safe. That the USS Underhill had been sunk just five days earlier on the same route was not disclosed. Zigzagging to avoid enemy fire is left to the discretion of the Captain. If it was very dark it wasn't unusual for a ship to cease zigzagging. Captain McVay gave orders to stop zigzagging and told the officer of the deck that if the weather cleared to start zigzagging again. Captain McVay was later court-martialed and convicted for ordering that the zigzagging be stopped.
Several hundred men went down with the ship or died shortly after it sank, before they could escape into the black ocean water which was icy by night and reflected the broiling sun by day punctuated by the prowling of hungry sharks. For five days the men held on to life jackets hopefully awaiting the rescue they were sure of in the beginning, praying, as each day their numbers decreased. Hallucinating men tried to swim to islands only they saw, some let go of the life jackets and sank to the imaginary ship they believed to be carrying fresh water just below the surface. Sharks feasted on the dead and the living, especially anyone who strayed from the group, while the others helplessly watched and waited.
Finally, after five nights and four days in the water, the pilot of a plane flying overhead saw Cox and his fellow seamen as they kicked and screamed and yelled, thinking if he didn't see them it would be their last chance. Just before dark they heard the motor again and this time the plane was closer. As it turned to fly right over them the men could see that, in the door of the plane, a guy was waving at them. Although they had been found the men still had to remain in the water for hours until they could be rescued. Eventually a huge flood light shone down on the water as one of the rescue vessels turned on its flood light to give the men hope. But the wait would prove to be too long for some of them.
Cox became conscious of a bright light in his face and a strong arm pulling him into a little boat that took him to the USS Bassett where his burns and sores were treated and he was transported to a military hospital.
Cox was actively involved in the efforts to have Captain McVay exonerated which were successful in 2000. He and other survivors have met in reunion every other year in Indianapolis, Indiana for many years, however, the numbers are dwindling. There were 1,197 men on board the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, 317 were rescued from the water five nights later, and 60 remain alive today. We are grateful to all of them.
The survivors have worked together to publish a book recounting the individual memories of each of them. The title is ONLY 317 SURVIVED and can be purchased on-line at www.ussindianapolis.org/317. Proceeds benefit the survivors' organization and help pay for their reunions.
