65 years ago today

On July 30, 1945, a Japanese submarine torpedoed the U.S.S. Indianapolis, which had just dropped off critical supplies for the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II. Of the 1,196 men on board, about 300 went down with the ship. Another 600 perished while waiting for rescue in shark-infested waters.

The worst naval disaster in U.S. history was memorialized in the 1975 Steven Spielberg film, “Jaws.” Actor Robert Shaw delivered what is one of the best monologues in film:

Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, chief. It was comin’ back, from the island of Tinian Delady, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes.

Didn’t see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen footer. You know how you know that when you’re in the water, chief? You tell by lookin’ from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn’t know … was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh huh. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week.

Very first light, chief. The sharks come cruisin’. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it’s… kinda like ol’ squares in battle like a, you see on a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo. And the idea was, the shark comes to the nearest man and that man, he’d start poundin’ and hollerin’ and screamin’ and sometimes the shark would go away. Sometimes he wouldn’t go away.

Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he’s got…lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eye. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be livin’. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin’ and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin’ and the hollerin’ they all come in and rip you to pieces.

Y’know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men! I don’t know how many sharks, maybe a thousand! I don’t know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin’ chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player, boson’s mate. I thought he was asleep, reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up and down in the water, just like a kinda top. Up ended. Well… he’d been bitten in half below the waist.

Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. He’s a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper, anyway he saw us and come in low. And three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know, that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again.

So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

Chilling.

You can watch it here.

Adventures of the Shackleton in Maine

Well, I did put the Shackleton into the water up here in Maine. Unfortunately, I had to row her out of the water. See the dramatic re-enactment at right.

When I took the motor back to the marine shop, the mechanic declared it DOA. I could have poured more money into that 1985 Johnson 40 HP — but the mechanics thought it foolish.

I would’ve been more bummed out if my original boat — the Bluebird II — hadn’t worked so well this summer. She had barely a hiccup and ferried the family all over the Maine coast. We even painted the Bluebird’s trailer in anticipation of driving her south to her new caretakers in the warmer waters of North Carolina.

Since the Shackleton wasn’t in the water I did get to work out a few kinks. I fixed a vexing leak around the drain plugs — found some marine caulk that works wonders. I also installed a bow light and an automatic bilge pump (in case water finds a way back in.)

And the best news is … the trouble with the motor convinced me to play big or stay home. I just dropped the Shackton off at J and M Marine where she’ll be stored for the winter. In early spring, their mechanics will install a brand new 60 HP Yamama. It’s expensive, but I’ve heard the pleasures of owning a new Yamaha are unparalleled. I’m hoping that the profits from my academic editing company can totally cover the cost. The mechanics are going to install a new steering system, new controls, a tachometer, and several other bells and whistles. Can’t wait to post the pictures next summer.

So, the Shackleton will wait a while longer for her first Maine shakedown cruise. But, I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.

Putting that Ph.D. to good use

Lest you think I’m simply lazing about all summer in Maine, I’m doing far more than that. I’m writing letters to the editor.

Here’s my letter addressing a problem with a poll in the Portland (Me.) Press Herald:

In Tuesday’s front-page article about a recent Rasmussen poll, the newspaper states that Paul LePage “leads the race” with support from 39 percent of respondents compared to 31 percent for Elizabeth Mitchell. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percent.

Because of the intricacies of statistical modeling, the margin of error means that LePage’s true support could be as low as 34.5 percent and Mitchell’s could be as high as 35.5 percent. Therefore, LePage and Mitchell are actually in a statistical dead heat.

According to the article, Rasmussen surveyed 500 people for the poll. In order to achieve a lower margin of error (in the 3 percent range), approximately 1,000 people would need to be interviewed.

Of course, interviewing twice as many respondents would cost a lot more money — which is why we see a lot of polls with large margins of error.

The Press Herald is surely not alone in this oversight. Research has found that many media outlets tend to ignore or downplay the details of polling margins.

In the future, reporters should be careful how they phrase poll results, and editors may want to be more selective in which polls they choose to highlight.

Matt J. Duffy, Ph.D.
Westport Island

That’s my first official use of the Ph.D. They took out the following coda: “Duffy teaches journalism at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He summers in Maine.”

Fourth of July float

Here’s the video of the float we made for the Fourth of July parade in Wiscasset, Maine. We came in second place. There’s just no beating the Congregational Church.