Captain Charles Butler McVay III
Captain Charles Butler McVay III came from a military family. His father graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1890. While his father was in school, his grandfather (Charles Butler McVay I), showed so much support for the Academy that they made him an honorary graduate with the class of 1890.
Charles Butler McVay II went on to become an Admiral and command the Asiatic Fleet in the early part of the 1900’s. The McVay family name had a good reputation heading into World War II. Charles Butler McVay III was well on the way of filling his father’s shoes before taking command of the USS Indianapolis.
Captain McVay III graduated from the Naval Academy in 1920, and had already held the position of Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Combined Chiefs of Staff (the highest allied intelligence agency), but it was during his time as Commanding Officer of the USS Indianapolis that Captain McVay III showed his ability to command at sea.
He commanded the Indianapolis in the battle of Tarawa, Woleai, and Iwo Jima, as well as the bombardment of Okinawa. It was off the coast of Okinawa that the Indianapolis was struck by a kamikaze. This left nine crew members dead and two wholes in the side of the ship.
The only thing that saved the Indianapolis from sinking was the reactions of the well trained damage control parties. It was
because of this experience that Captain McVay III knew the importance
of proper training. Unfortunately, the short turn around time between
deployments and a new crew left no time to train as the Indianapolis got
underway for Tinia on July 16, 1945.Let it not be said that Captain McVay recklessly endangered his crew’s lives. Three days before the ship was set to sail, they had not received their standard issue of life jackets. After exhausting all normal channels, he went straight to the office of the Commander, Western Sea Frontier. Two days before setting sail, they had twice the number of life jackets onboard as they needed. As time would tell, this bit of luck would soon pay off.
Even after the sinking of the Indianapolis, his crew stuck by him. During his court martial his men testified on his behalf, and still support him to this day.
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