Quint's Indianapolis Speech from Jaws

Robert Shaw portrays Quint in Jaws, a shark hunter who is a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, a ship that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during WWII and sank in just 12 minutes. Of the 1,196 crewmen aboard the Indianapolis, roughly 300 went down with the ship and the remaining 900 struggled to survive in shark-infested waters. In addition to shark attacks, the crew battled dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and exposure. Some also eventually died from injuries they had sustained when the ship was hit. The USS Indianapolis had been on a top-secret mission, having just delivered parts for the first atomic bomb to Tinian Island. As a result, it was never missed and the survivors were spotted by accident four days later by a plane on a routine patrol. 317 men survived, making it the single greatest naval catastrophe in the history of the U.S. Navy. Related Article: Jaws: History vs. Hollywood













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