What was The USS Indianapolis?

The ship that carried key parts of Little Boy to the island of Tinian represents the precariousness of the mission. Given the parts under strict secrecy, given no details except that the components must never fall into the hands of the Japanese, the crew of the Indianapolis succeeds in delivering them, only to be struck by Japanese torpedoes in its very next voyage. Most of the crew die tragically, from drowning, from the health effects of being stuck on the open water for long periods of time, and from shark attacks. Had they been intercepted by a Japanese submarine ahead of their arrival at Tinian, one can only guess how the end of the war would have proceeded.