75 years ago in the Summer of 1945, the war in the Pacific and Far East raged on. Offensive Japanese capability had all but been neutralised; an invasion of Japan was being planned. At Yalta the Allies discussed bringing the war to swiftly to an end. On 8 August, the Soviet Union declared war on Imperial Japan, and soon after midnight on August 9, the Soviet Union invaded the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Soon after on the same day, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. These events pushed Emperor Hirohito to intervene; he ordered the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms of surrender the Allies had offered in the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war. On 10 August, Japan made an offer of surrender; the only condition being that the emperor be allowed to remain the nominal head of State. When news of this initial offer broke, cities, towns, and villages around the world took to the streets to celebrate.
It took several days for the exact terms of the surrender to be agreed.After several more days of negotiations and a failed coup d’état, Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on 15 August announcing the surrender of Imperial Japan; this day has since been commemorated as VJ Day. The Imperial War Museum footage in this showreel includes scenes from London’s celebrations, a parade through the streets of Hong Kong, and celebrations in Toronto, Canada.
The formal surrender took place on 2 September, when representatives from the Empire of Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in Tokyo Bay aboard USS Missouri.
2 September 1945, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government, on board USS Missouri. (Photograph: the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives)
In a virtual ceremony on 24 July, the United States Congress,
awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, its highest honour, to all living and
dead crew members of the USS Indianapolis (CL/CA-35); which was sunk by
Japanese torpedoes 75 years ago on 30 July 1945. The ceremony was broadcast on Thursday
30 July at 11 a.m. EDT.
A good portion of the crew were Irish American with the crew
list dotted with surnames such as Sullivan, Kelly, Murphy, O’Donnell, Moran,
Conway, Kennedy and many more. It is claimed the Captain, Charles Butler McVay
was also of Irish descent.
The USS Indianapolis(CA-35) off the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 10 July 1945, after her final overhaul and repair of combat damage. (Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.)
The USS Indianapolis was a Portland-class heavy
cruiser of the United States Navy. Launched in 1931, the vessel served as the
flagship for the commander of Scouting Force 1 for eight years, then as
flagship for Admiral Raymond Spruance in 1943 and 1944 while he commanded the
Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific during World War II. In July 1945 the ship
was engaged on a secret mission, delivering enriched uranium to the island of
Tinian; the silver-grey metal was badly needed for the ‘Little Boy’ atomic bomb
that would later be dropped on Hiroshima. On 30 July, four days after
completing her mission she was attacked by Japanese submarine I-58; two torpedoes
sank her in 12 minutes. The secrecy of the mission and the suddenness of the
attack meant few life rafts could be deployed and the disaster was compounded
by failures at various operational levels. For five days in the Philippine Sea,
the survivors – many suffering burns – were stranded in open ocean with few
lifeboats, no food or water, and dehydration. Many died from shark attacks.
The ship became globally famous in the 1970’s when its story
played a major role in one of the characters from the movie Jaws. In a famous
scene during the movie Quint (Robert Shaw) sitting on the Orca drinking
with Brody (Roy Scheider) and Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) told them about his
traumatic experience surviving the sinking of the Indianapolis, and
bobbing in the sea for three days while his crew mates were picked off by
sharks or drowned.
Of the 1,196-man crew, 880 escaped the sinking ship into the
water, just 321 men were rescued and only 317 ultimately survived the ordeal.
It was and remains the worst naval disaster in United States history.
On 19 August 2017, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen led a team
which found the USS Indianapolis. The exact location remains classified
because it is an official war grave at sea and is the property of the U.S.
government.
The Gold Medal will be displayed at the Indiana War Memorial
Museum in Indianapolis.
In this July 10, 1945, photo provided by U.S. Navy media content operations, USS Indianapolis (CA 35) is shown off the Mare Island Navy Yard, in northern California, after her final overhaul and repair of combat damage. (U.S. Navy via AP)
On this Day
Lt Thomas Conway U.S. Navy Chaplain – USS Indianapolis
Updated on 2 August 2020
Father Thomas Conway, (Photo: Diocese of Buffalo Archives)
Fr. Conway was born on 5 April 1908 and died 2 August 1945. He
was the oldest of three children born to Irish immigrants, Thomas F. Conway and
Margaret Conway (Meade) in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Fr. Conway attended Lasalette Junior Seminary, in Hartford, Connecticut.
In 1928, he enrolled at Niagara University (New York) and received an A.B.
degree in 1930. On 8 June 1931, Conway enrolled in Our Lady of Angels Seminary,
on the campus of Niagara University and on 26 May 1934, he was ordained to the
priesthood for the diocese of Buffalo, New York, in St. Michael’s Cathedral,
Springfield, Massachusetts.
On 17 September 1942, Fr. Conway enlisted in the U.S. Navy; subsequently
commissioned a chaplain. He served at naval stations along the East Coast and
in 1943 was transferred to the Pacific. For several months he served on the USS
Medusa and on 25 August 1944, Fr. Conway was assigned to the USS
Indianapolis.
The Chaplain was a popular member of the crew amongst all
faiths and was kept busy with prayer and counselling services for the men. The Indianapolis was sent on a secret
mission to deliver components of the atomic bomb ‘Little Boy’ to the island of
Tinian. After discharging its top-secret cargo, the ship left for Guam and then
Leyte in the Philippines. It was to join the American invasion fleet bound for
Japan. It was struck by two torpedoes from Japanese Submarine I-58. Over
four days later when rescued there was only 316 crewmen left. Sharks killed
many of the men. Fr. Conway stayed in the water for three days before he died.
Survivors have credited Fr. Conway with directly saving 67 men’s lives.
One survivor Frank J. Centazzo wrote: ‘Father Conway was in
every way a messenger of our Lord. He loved his work no matter what the
challenge. He was respected and loved by all his shipmates. I was in the group
with Father Conway. … I saw him go from one small group to another. Getting the
shipmates to join in prayer and asking them not to give up hope of being
rescued. He kept working until he was exhausted. I remember on the third day
late in the afternoon when he approached me and Paul McGiness. He was thrashing
the water and Paul and I held him so he could rest a few hours. Later, he
managed to get away from us and we never saw him again. Father Conway was
successful in his mission to provide spiritual strength to all of us. He made
us believe that we would be rescued. He gave us hope and the will to endure.
His work was exhausting, he finally succumbed in the evening of the third day.
He will be remembered by all of the survivors for all of his work while on
board the ‘Indy’ and especially three days in the ocean.’
Fr. M. Thomas Conway was the last chaplain to die in combat
in World War II. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously. The city of
Buffalo, New York was, and remains the location of veteran and citizen attempts
to preserve the memory of the heroic, compassionate and selfless ministry of
Fr. Conway. A park was named in his honour in the city.
There is also a campaign by a veteran’s group in Waterbury
with the support of some U.S. Senators to have Fr. Conway awarded the Navy
Cross for his heroism in saving so many of his crewmates in the water.
You can read a detailed account of this amazing Irish American’s life in Bill Milhomme’s blog post here.
