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Francis Anthony Glaub


World War II · US Navy

United States of America
F

rancis Anthony Glaub was born on 12/10/1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to parents Mr. and Mrs. Frank Henry Glaub. He was a Gunners Mate in the US Navy aboard the USS Indianapolis. A few days after departing from Tinian Island where it delivered key components of the atomic bomb dropped by the Enola Gay on Hiroshima, at 14 minutes past midnight, on July 30,1945, midway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, the U.S.S. Indianapolis (CA 35) was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes. It was hit by two torpedoes out of six fired by the I-58, a Japanese submarine. The first blew away the bow, the second struck near midship on the starboard side adjacent to a fuel tank and a powder magazine. The resulting explosion split the ship to the keel, knocking out all electric power. Within minutes she went down rapidly by the bow, rolling to starboard. Of the 1,196 aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remainder, about 900 men, were left floating in shark infested waters in the twelve minutes before she sank with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. Few life rafts were released. Most survivors wore the standard kapok life jacket. Shark attacks began with sunrise of the first day and continued until the men were physically removed from the water. The ship was never missed, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later, only 316 men went on to survive. He is listed on the memorial at the U.S.S. Indianapolis National Memorial, Indiana Interesting Facts: The ship's captain, the late Charles Butler McVay III, survived and was court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag" despite overwhelming evidence that the Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way, despite testimony from the Japanese submarine commander that zigzagging would have made no difference, and despite that fact that, although 700 navy ships were lost in combat in WWII, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed. Recently declassified material adds to the evidence that McVay was a scapegoat for the mistakes of others. On October 30th 2000, President Bill Clinton and the 106th United States Congress, posthumously exonerated Captain Charles B. McVay III, and his naval record was expunged of any wrong doing by Secretary of the Navy, Gordon R. England, in July 2001. On August 20th, 2017, the wreck of the USS Indianapolis was found, 18000 ft (5.5km) at the bottom of the Philippine Sea.

Timeline

1939 - 1945World War II
Served For
United States of America
Conflict Period
World War II
Branch
Navy

Other Facts

Owner:jazzspurs
Owner contributions only

Created:Jul 17, 2020

Modified: Jul 17, 2020

View Count: 25(Recent: 1)

Fold3, Francis Anthony Glaub (https://www.fold3.com/memorial/653606273/francis-anthony-glaub : accessed Jul 27, 2024), database and images,


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