Bermuda Triangle Wikipedia page

Frank Mundus
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For other uses, see Mundus (disambiguation).
Frank Mundus (October 21, 1925 – September 10, 2008) was a sport fisherman at Montauk, New York who is said to be the inspiration for the character Quint in the movie and book Jaws.[1][2] Up until his death, he chartered out his boat "Cricket II" for those seeking the thrill of big game fishing.
He started out as a shark hunter but then later became a shark conservationist.



 Fiberglass copy of the 1986 shark depicted on the Lake Montauk waterfront
Mundus' early techniques, which included killing whales merely for chum and harpooning sharks (practices which are outlawed today), earned him criticism even at the time. In the last few years of his life Mundus had campaigned for shark fishermen to catch and release their prey including a conservation book White Shark Sam Meets The Monster Man. In 2008 the Cricket spent much of the summer docked near Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, New York where conservation of the predators was preached.
Mundus died on September 10, 2008, due to complications from a heart attack he suffered on September 6, the day he returned home to Hawaii after spending the summer in Montauk. According to his obituary he had spent the last night in Montauk aboard the Cricket II which had made him famous and had his heart attack in the Hawaii airport immediately after returning.


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 The Pelican
3 Monster Fish
4 Colorful Character
5 Inspiration for Quint in Jaws
6 Bibliography
7 References

Early life[edit]
Mundus, who was of German descent, was born in Long Branch, New Jersey and moved to Brooklyn when he was young. In 1945, he began a charter fishing operation in Brielle, New Jersey, with the Cricket. In 1947, he had the Cricket II custom-built.
The Pelican[edit]
He moved to Montauk in 1951 saying he wanted to start charters for bluefish. In his first year at Montauk he played an important role in the rescue and retrieval of "The Pelican" an overloaded party boat in which 35 of 54 on board perished after capsizing in a squall. He was among the second wave of searchers, and helped tow the hull of the Pelican to port with ten dead bodies still trapped inside. The disaster was the worst in Montauk recreational history and led to numerous laws regulating the industry.[3]
Monster Fish[edit]
However he soon discovered that bluefish were not plentiful but the sharks were in the Montauk waters.[4]
Mundus started what he called "Monster Fishing" with boats leaving the port at Lake Montauk. Mundus with his colorful character became immediately popular. He further helped his reputation by catching a 4,500 pound white shark by harpoon (the figure of 4,500 pounds was estimated without the shark having been weighed). In 1986 he and Donnie Braddick caught a 3,427-pound great white about 28 miles off Montauk, and only 18 miles from Block Island,[5] which still holds the record, not only for the largest shark, but for the largest fish of any kind ever caught by rod and reel. The capture of the shark was controversial at the time with some saying the shark was feeding on a whale when caught (which would have negated the so-called "Official Record"). The International Game Fishing Association ruled that the catch was legitimate based on photographs.
In 1991 the U.S. Coast Guard said that his license had expired and he had to reapply. Mundus initially attempted to sell the Cricket 2 and moved to Hawaii. The sale did not go through although the boat would be operated by others. He officially retired as a charter captain in 1997. In the years before his death he would come back to Montauk for its shark tournaments and would ride along on higher priced Cricket 2 excursions. He died in Hawaii shortly after returning from Montauk.
Colorful Character[edit]
Mundus' reputation was enhanced by his eccentric personality and ostentatious displays of the killed sharks (something he would say later he regretted). "He always said the charter business was 90 percent show and 10 percent go," said Chris Miller, a Montauk resident who had seen him on the docks. He colored his big toenails red and green for port and starboard. He wore a hoop earring and an Australian slouch hat and a shark tooth necklace.[6]
In 2005, he appeared in a Shark Week documentary "Shark Hunter: Chasing the Great White" which was narrated by actor Roy Scheider who played Martin Brody in Jaws and Jaws II. The special told of Frank's early career, how he became the inspiration for Quint, his world record capture, and how he turned from shark hunter to shark conservationist. Frank also joined Chris Fallows and other Shark conservationists in viewing great whites in their natural habitat. In one such viewing of the breaching Great Whites (made famous in the "Air Jaws" series of specials) along with Chris Fallows, during which Chris brought out a seal decoy he had humorously named "Frank" after Mundus (a hat like the ones Mundus usually wore was even added to it) and they used it to fool them into breaching.
He said that the Cricket name of his boat was inspired by the fact that his profile resembled that of Jiminy Cricket.
JoAnne Kalish, internationally known photographer, booked Captain Frank Mundus on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Inspiration for Quint in Jaws[edit]
Mundus is often said to be the inspiration for charter captain Quint in the book and film Jaws. The novel's author Peter Benchley denied that he was the inspiration and Mundus was not used as a source in the movie. However, Robert Shaw did indeed say that in the film Jaws he portrayed him. Furthermore, many Montauk residents say that Mundus was definitely the inspiration. John Ebel, a mate on the Cricket said that Benchley had privately acknowledged that Mundus was the inspiration but had publicly denied the association for legal reasons.[7] They note the following:
##Mundus and Benchley had gone on shark hunting expeditions out of Montauk prior to the 1974 novel and were filmed together aboard the Cricket II in a 1974 episode of American Sportsman[7]
##In the book the fictional Jaws community of Amity is described as being between Bridgehampton, New York and East Hampton, New York, the latter the location of Montauk.
##Quint's boat was said to be berthed at a place called "Promised Land." Mundus' boat at one time was docked at the fish factory called Promised Land in Napeague, New York immediately west of Montauk.[6]
##Joe Gaviola, a Montauk businessman, was quoted as saying, "He is Quint. If you read the book, he was everything Frank was. Benchley spent weeks fishing with him. Give me a break. He is Quint."[6]
##Both Frank and Quint possessed a hatred for the two-way radio.
In comparisons to his character in Jaws his web sites quotes him:[8]
What did you think about the movie Jaws?
It was the funniest and the stupidest movie I've ever seen because too many stupid things happened in it. For instance, no shark can pull a boat backwards at a fast speed with a light line and stern cleats that are only held in there by two bolts. And I've never boiled shark jaws. If you do, you'll only end up with a bunch of teeth at the bottom of your bucket because the jaw cartilage melts.
Is it true that the shark hunter "Quint" in Jaws is based on you? In what ways does he resemble you?
Yes, he was. He knew how to handle the people the same way I did. He also used similar shark fishing techniques based on my methods. The only difference was that I used hand held harpoons after field-testing harpoon guns and discovering that they didn't work: the dart would pull out after hitting the fish.
Bibliography[edit]
##Fifty Years a Hooker - ISBN 1-4134-8428-X - 2005
##White Shark Sam Meets the Monster Man - ISBN 1-59926-099-9 - 2005 (coloring book)
##Sportfishing for Sharks - ISBN 0-02-587950-2 - 1971
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Hevesi, Dennis (2008-09-16). "Frank Mundus, 82, Dies; Inspired ‘Jaws’". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
2.Jump up ^ Carlson, Michael (2008-09-19). "Obituary: Frank Mundus". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
3.Jump up ^ Clavin, Thomas (2007-04-05). Dark Noon: The Final Voyage of the Fishing Boat Pelican. International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press. ISBN 0-07-148659-3.
4.Jump up ^ - Great White Hunter by John Capone - Dan's Papers - August 2004
5.Jump up ^ Downie, Robert M. Block Island History of Photography 1870-1960s, page 242, Volume 2, 2008
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Wright, Michael (2008-09-17). ""Monster Man" Frank Mundus Dies". East Hampton Press. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
7.^ Jump up to: a b "Frank Mundus, Montak Monster Man, Dies". East Hampton Star. 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
8.Jump up ^ "Frank Mundus Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2007-01-10.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Categories: 1925 births
2008 deaths
People from Brielle, New Jersey
People from East Hampton (town), New York
People from Long Branch, New Jersey
American fishers
Deaths from myocardial infarction
Sportspeople from New York
Jaws (franchise)


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USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other ships of the same name, see USS Indianapolis.


 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)
USS Indianapolis, 1937
Indianapolis at Pearl Harbor in 1937

Career (United States)


Name: USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
Laid down: 31 March 1930
Launched: 7 November 1931
Commissioned: 15 November 1932
Honors and
 awards: 10 Battle Stars
Fate: Torpedoed and sunk on 30 July 1945 by Japanese submarine I-58. About 900 of the 1,196 crewmen aboard initially survived; by the time they were rescued, only 321 remained, four of whom soon died.
General characteristics
Class & type: Portland class heavy cruiser
Displacement: 9,800 long tons (10,000 t)
Length: 610 ft (190 m)
Beam: 66 ft (20 m)
Draft: 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
Propulsion: 8 × White-Foster boilers, single reduction geared turbines, 107,000 shp (80,000 kW)
Speed: 32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h)
Complement: 629 officers and enlisted (peace), 1,269 officers and men (wartime)
Armament: 9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 cal guns (3x3)
 8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal AA guns
 8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
Aircraft carried: 2 × OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. She was named for the city of Indianapolis, Indiana.
She was flagship for Admiral Raymond Spruance while he commanded the Fifth Fleet in battles across the Central Pacific. Her sinking led to the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. On 30 July 1945, after delivering parts for the first atomic bomb to the United States air base at Tinian, the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, sinking in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship.
The remaining 900 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 317 survived.[1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Commanders
2 Construction
3 Interwar period
4 World War II 4.1 New Guinea campaign
4.2 Aleutian Islands campaign
4.3 1943 operations
4.4 1944
4.5 1945 4.5.1 Loss
4.6 Navy failure to learn of the sinking
4.7 Captain Charles McVay
5 Awards
6 The wreck
7 Memorials
8 Popular culture
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

Commanders[edit]
Capt. John M. Smeallie (15 November 1932 – 10 December 1934)
Capt. William S. McClintic (10 December 1934 – 16 March 1936)
Capt. Henry Kent Hewitt (16 March 1936 – 5 June 1937)
Capt. Thomas C. Kinkaid (5 June 1937 – 1 July 1938)
Capt. John F. Shafroth Jr. (1 July 1938 – 1 October 1941)
Capt. Edward Hanson (1 October 1941 – 11 July 1942)
Capt. Morton L. Deyo (11 July 1942 – 12 January 1943)
Capt. Nicholas Vytlacil (12 January 1943 – 30 July 1943)
Capt. Einar R. Johnson (30 July 1943 – 18 November 1944)
Capt. Charles B. McVay III (18 November 1944 – 30 July 1945)
Construction[edit]
Main article: Portland class cruiser
Indianapolis was the second of two ships in the Portland class; third class of "treaty cruisers" constructed by the United States Navy following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, following the two vessels of the Pensacola class ordered in 1926 and the six of the Northampton-class ordered in 1927.[2] Ordered for the U.S. Navy in fiscal year 1930, Indianapolis was originally a light cruiser, given the hull classification symbol CL-35, being re-designated a heavy cruiser with the symbol CA-35 on 1 July 1931, in accordance with the London Naval Treaty.[3]
As built, the Portland cruisers were to be 610 feet 3 inches (186.00 m) in length overall, and 592 feet (180 m) long at the waterline,[4] 64 feet 6 inches (19.66 m) abeam,[2] and with a draft of 21 feet (6.4 m) (24 feet (7.3 m) maximum). They were designed for a standard displacement of 10,258 tonnes (10,096 long tons; 11,308 short tons), and a full-load displacement of 12,755 tonnes (12,554 long tons; 14,060 short tons).[5] However, when completed she did not reach this weight, displacing 9,800 tonnes (9,600 long tons; 10,800 short tons).[4] The ship had two distinctive raked funnels, a tripod foremast, and a small tower and pole mast aft. In 1943, light tripods were added forward of the second funnel on each ship, and a prominent Naval director was installed aft.[4]
The ship had four propeller shafts and four Parsons GT geared turbines and eight Yarrow boilers. The 107,000 shaft horsepower (80,000 kW) gave a design speed of 32 knots (59 km/h) She was designed for a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h).[4] She rolled badly until fitted with a bilge keel.[3]
The cruiser had nine Mark 9 8"/55 caliber guns in three triple mounts, a superfiring pair fore and one aft. For anti-aircraft defense, she had eight 5"/25 caliber guns and two QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss guns. In 1945, she received 24 Bofors 40mm guns, arrayed in six quad mounts. Both ships were upgraded with twelve Oerlikon 20 mm cannons.[4] No torpedo tubes were fitted on her.[6]
The Portland class was originally had 1 inch (25 mm) armor for deck and side protection, but in construction[3] they were given belt armor between 5 inches (130 mm) (around the magazines) and 3.25 inches (83 mm) in thick.[6] Armor on the bulkheads was between 2 inches (51 mm) and 5.75 inches (146 mm); that on the deck was 2.5 inches (64 mm), the barbettes 1.5 inches (38 mm), the gunhouses 2.5 inches (64 mm), and the conning tower 1.25 inches (32 mm).[4]
Portland-class cruisers were to be outfitted as fleet flagships, with space for an admiral and his staff. The class also had an aircraft catapult amidships.[4] They could carry four aircraft. The total crew varied, with a regular designed complement of 807,[5] a wartime complement of 952, which could increase to 1,229 when the cruiser was a fleet flagship.[4]
Indianapolis was laid down by New York Shipbuilding Corporation on 31 March 1930.[4] The hull and machinery were provided by the builder.[3] Indianapolis was launched on 7 November 1931 and commissioned on 15 November 1932.[4] She was the second ship named for Indianapolis, Indiana following the cargo ship of the same name in 1918. She was sponsored by Lucy Taggart, daughter of former Mayor of Indianapolis Thomas Taggart.[7]
Interwar period[edit]



Indianapolis in 1939
Under her first captain, John M. Smeallie, Indianapolis undertook her shakedown cruise through the Atlantic and into Guantánamo Bay until 23 February 1932. Indianapolis then transited the Panama Canal Zone for training off the Chilean coast. After overhaul at Philadelphia Navy Yard, she sailed to Maine to embark President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Campobello Island in New Brunswick on 1 July 1933.[7] Getting underway the same day, Indianapolis arrived at Annapolis, Maryland on 3 July. She hosted six members of the Cabinet along with Roosevelt during its stay there. After disembarking Roosevelt, she departed Annapolis on 4 July, and steamed for Philadelphia Navy Yard.[8]
On 6 September, she embarked Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson for an inspection of the Navy in the Pacific. Indianapolis toured the Canal Zone, Hawaii, and installations in San Pedro and San Diego. Swanson disembarked on 27 October. On 1 November 1933, she became flagship of Scouting Force 1, and maneuvered with the force off Long Beach, California. She departed on 9 April 1934 and arrived at New York City and embarked Roosevelt a second time, for a naval review. She returned to Long Beach on 9 November 1934 for more training with the Scouting Force. She remained flagship of Scouting Force 1 until 1941. On 18 November 1936, she embarked Roosevelt a third time at Charleston, South Carolina, and conducted a goodwill cruise to South America with him. She visited Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay for state visits before returning to Charleston and disembarking Roosevelt's party on 15 December.[8]
World War II[edit]
On 7 December 1941, Indianapolis was conducting a mock bombardment at Johnston Atoll during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Indianapolis was absorbed into Task Force 12 and searched for the Japanese carriers responsible for the attack, though the force did not locate them. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 December and joined Task Force 11.[8]
New Guinea campaign[edit]
Main article: New Guinea campaign
With the task force, she steamed to the South Pacific, to 350 mi (560 km) south of Rabaul, New Britain, escorting the aircraft carrier Lexington. Late in the afternoon of 20 February 1942, the American ships were attacked by 18 Japanese aircraft. Of these, 16 were shot down by aircraft from Lexington and the other two were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire from the ships.[8]
On 10 March, the task force, reinforced by another force centered on the carrier Yorktown, attacked Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea, where the Japanese were marshaling amphibious forces. Attacking from the south through the Owen Stanley mountain range, the U.S. air forces surprised and inflicted heavy damage on Japanese warships and transports, losing few aircraft. Indianapolis returned to Mare Island shipyard for a refit before escorting a convoy to Australia.[8]
Aleutian Islands campaign[edit]
Main article: Aleutian Islands campaign
She then headed for the North Pacific to support American units in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands. On 7 August, Indianapolis and the task force attacked Kiska Island a Japanese staging area. Although fog hindered observation, Indianapolis and other ships fired their main guns into the bay. Floatplanes from the cruisers reported Japanese ships sunk in the harbor and damage to shore installations. After 15 minutes, Japanese shore batteries returned fire before being destroyed by the ships' main guns. Japanese submarines approaching the force were depth-charged by American destroyers. Japanese seaplanes made an ineffective bombing attack. In spite of a lack of information on the Japanese forces, the operation was considered a success. U.S. forces later occupied Adak Island, providing a naval base further from the Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island. In January 1943, Indianapolis, supporting a landing and occupation on Amchitka, part of an Allied island hopping strategy in the Aleutian Islands.[8]
On the evening of 19 February, Indianapolis led two destroyers on a patrol southwest of Attu Island, searching for Japanese ships trying to reinforce Kiska and Attu. She intercepted a Japanese cargo ship, Akagane Maru. The cargo ship tried to reply to the radio challenge but was shelled by Indianapolis. Akagane Maru exploded and sank with all hands. Through mid-1943, Indianapolis remained near the Aleutian Islands escorting American convoys and providing shore bombardments supporting amphibious assaults. In May, the Allies captured Attu, then turned on Kiska, the final Japanese holdout in the Aleutians. Allied landings there began on 15 August but the Japanese had abandoned the Aleutian Islands.[8]
1943 operations[edit]
After refitting at Mare Island, Indianapolis moved to Hawaii as flagship of Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commanding the 5th Fleet. She sortied from Pearl Harbor on 10 November with the main body of the Southern Attack Force for Operation Galvanic, the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. On 19 November, Indianapolis bombarded Tarawa Atoll and next day pounded Makin (see Battle of Makin). The ship then returned to Tarawa as fire-support for the landings. Her guns shot down an enemy plane and shelled enemy strongpoints as landing parties fought Japanese defenders in the bloody and costly battle of Tarawa. She continued this role until the leveled island was secure three days later. The conquest of the Marshall Islands followed victory in the Gilberts. Indianapolis was again 5th Fleet flagship.
1944[edit]



Indianapolis in 1944 camouflage pattern.
The cruiser met other ships of her task force at Tarawa, and on D-Day minus 1, 31 January 1944, she was one of the cruisers which bombarded the islands of Kwajalein Atoll. The shelling continued on D-Day with Indianapolis silencing two enemy shore batteries. Next day she obliterated a blockhouse and other shore installations and supported advancing troops with a creeping barrage. The ship entered Kwajalein Lagoon on 4 February, and remained until resistance disappeared. (See Battle of Kwajalein.)
In March and April, Indianapolis, still flagship of the 5th Fleet, attacked the Western Carolines. Carrier planes at the Palau Islands on 30–31 March sank three destroyers, 17 freighters, five oilers and damaged 17 other ships. Airfields were bombed and surrounding water mined. Yap and Ulithi were struck on the 31st and Woleai on 1 April. Japanese planes attacked but were driven off without damaging the American ships. Indianapolis shot down her second plane, a torpedo bomber, and the Japanese lost 160 planes, including 46 on the ground. These attacks prevented Japanese forces from the Carolines from interfering with the U.S. landings on New Guinea.
In June, the 5th Fleet was busy with the assault on the Mariana Islands. Raids on Saipan began with carrier-based planes on 11 June, followed by surface bombardment, in which Indianapolis had a major role, from 13 June. (See Battle of Saipan.) On D-Day, 15 June, Admiral Spruance heard that battleships, carriers, cruisers, and destroyers were headed south to relieve threatened garrisons in the Marianas. Since amphibious operations at Saipan had to be protected, Admiral Spruance could not withdraw too far. Consequently, a fast carrier force was sent to meet this threat while another force attacked Japanese air bases on Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima in the Bonin and Volcano Islands, bases for potential enemy air attacks.
A combined U.S. fleet fought the Japanese on 19 June in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Japanese carrier planes, which hoped to use the airfields of Guam and Tinian to refuel and rearm, were met by carrier planes and the guns of the Allied escorting ships. That day, the U.S. Navy destroyed a reported 426 Japanese planes while losing 29.[9] Indianapolis shot down one torpedo plane. This day of aerial combat became known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot". With Japanese air opposition wiped out, the U.S. carrier planes sank Hiyō, two destroyers, and one tanker and damaged others. Two other carriers, Taihō and Shōkaku, were sunk by submarines.
Indianapolis returned to Saipan on 23 June to resume fire support and six days later moved to Tinian to attack shore installations (see Battle of Tinian). Meanwhile, Guam had been taken, and Indianapolis was the first ship to enter Apra Harbor since early in the war. The ship operated in the Marianas for the next few weeks, then moved to the Western Carolines where further landings were planned. From 12 to 29 September, she bombarded the Peleliu in the Palau Group, before and after the landings (see Battle of Peleliu). She then sailed to Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands where she operated for 10 days before returning to the Mare Island Navy Yard.
1945[edit]
Overhauled, Indianapolis joined Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's fast carrier task force on 14 February 1945. Two days later, the task force launched an attack on Tokyo to cover the landings on Iwo Jima, scheduled for 19 February. This was the first carrier attack on Japan since the Doolittle Raid. The mission was to destroy Japanese air facilities and other installations in the "Home Islands". The fleet achieved complete tactical surprise by approaching the Japanese coast under cover of bad weather. The attacks were pressed home for two days. The American Navy lost 49 carrier planes while claiming 499 enemy planes, a 10:1 kill/loss ratio. The task force also sank a carrier, nine coastal ships, a destroyer, two destroyer escorts, and a cargo ship. They destroyed hangars, shops, aircraft installations, factories, and other industrial targets.



Indianapolis off Mare Island, on 10 July 1945.
Immediately after the strikes, the task force raced to Bonin to support the landings on Iwo Jima. The ship remained there until 1 March, protecting the invasion ships and bombarding targets in support of the landings. Indianapolis returned to Admiral Mitscher's task force in time to strike Tokyo again on 25 February and Hachijō off the southern coast of Honshū the following day. Although weather was extremely bad, the American force destroyed 158 planes and sank five small ships while pounding ground installations and destroying trains.
The next target for the U.S. forces was Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands, which were in range of aircraft from the Japanese mainland. The fast carrier force was tasked with attacking airfields in southern Japan until they were incapable of launching effective airborne opposition to the impending invasion. The fast carrier force departed for Japan from Ulithi on 14 March. On 18 March, it launched an attack from a position 100 mi (160 km) southeast of the island of Kyūshū. The attack targeted airfields on Kyūshū as well as ships of the Japanese fleet in the harbors of Kobe and Kure on southern Honshū. The Japanese located the American task force on 21 March, sending 48 planes to attack the ships. Twenty-four fighters from the task force intercepted and shot down all the Japanese aircraft.
Pre-invasion bombardment of Okinawa began on 24 March. Indianapolis spent 7 days pouring 8 in (200 mm) shells into the beach defenses. During this time, enemy aircraft repeatedly attacked the American ships. Indianapolis shot down six planes and damaged two others. On 31 March, the ship's lookouts spotted a Japanese fighter as it emerged from the morning twilight and roared at the bridge in a vertical dive. The ship's 20 mm guns opened fire, but within 15 seconds, the plane was over the ship. Tracers converged on it, causing it to swerve, but the enemy pilot managed to release his bomb from a height of 25 ft (7.6 m), crashing his plane into the sea near the port stern. The bomb plummeted through the deck, into the crew's mess hall, down through the berthing compartment, and through the fuel tanks before crashing through the keel and exploding in the water underneath. The concussion blew two gaping holes in the keel which flooded nearby compartments, killing nine crewmen. The ship's bulkheads prevented any progressive flooding. The Indianapolis, settling slightly by the stern and listing to port, steamed to a salvage ship for emergency repairs. Here, inspection revealed that her propeller shafts were damaged, her fuel tanks ruptured, and her water-distilling equipment ruined. But the Indianapolis commenced the long trip across the Pacific to Mare Island under her own power.

Loss[edit]
After major repairs and an overhaul, Indianapolis received orders to proceed to Tinian island, carrying parts and the enriched uranium (about half of the world's supply of Uranium-235 at the time) for the atomic bomb Little Boy, which would later be dropped on Hiroshima.[10] Indianapolis departed San Francisco on 16 July 1945. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 19 July, she raced on unaccompanied, reaching Tinian on 26 July. Indianapolis was then sent to Guam where a number of the crew who had completed their tours of duty were replaced by other sailors. Leaving Guam on 28 July, she began sailing toward Leyte where her crew was to receive training before continuing on to Okinawa to join Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's Task Force 95. At 00:14 on 30 July, she was struck by two Type 95 torpedoes on her starboard bow, from the Japanese submarine I-58 under the command of Mochitsura Hashimoto. The explosions caused massive damage. The Indianapolis took on a heavy list, and settled by the head. Twelve minutes later, she rolled completely over, then her stern rose into the air, and she plunged down. Some 300 of the 1,196 crewmen went down with the ship. With few lifeboats and many without lifejackets, the remainder of the crew were set adrift awaiting rescue.[11]



Indianapolis's intended route from Guam to the Philippines
Navy command had no knowledge of the ship's sinking until survivors were spotted three and a half days later. At 10:25 on 2 August a PV-1 Ventura flown by Lieutenant Wilbur "Chuck" Gwinn and copilot Lieutenant Warren Colwell spotted the men adrift while on a routine patrol flight.[12] Of the 880 that survived the sinking, only 321 men came out of the water alive; 317 ultimately survived. They suffered from lack of food and water (some found rations such as Spam and crackers amongst the debris), exposure to the elements (hypothermia, dehydration, hypernatremia, photophobia, starvation and dementia), severe desquamation, and shark attacks, while some killed themselves or other survivors in various states of delirium and hallucinations.[13] The Discovery Channel stated in Shark Week episodes "Ocean of Fear" that the Indianapolis sinking resulted in the most shark attacks on humans in history, and attributes the attacks to the oceanic whitetip shark species. Tiger sharks might have also killed some of the survivors. The same show attributed most of the deaths on Indianapolis to exposure, salt poisoning and thirst, with the dead being dragged off by sharks.[14]
Gwinn immediately dropped a life raft and a radio transmitter. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once. A PBY Catalina seaplane under the command of Lieutenant R. Adrian Marks was dispatched to lend assistance and report.[12] En route to the scene, Marks overflew Cecil J. Doyle and alerted her captain, future U.S. Secretary of the Navy W. Graham Claytor, Jr., of the emergency. On his own authority, Claytor decided to divert to the scene.
Arriving hours ahead of Doyle, Marks' crew began dropping rubber rafts and supplies. Having seen men being attacked by sharks, Marks disobeyed standing orders and landed on the open sea. He began taxiing to pick up the stragglers and lone swimmers who were at the greatest risk of shark attack.[12] Learning the men were the crew of Indianapolis, he radioed the news, requesting immediate assistance. Doyle responded while en route. When Marks' plane was full, survivors were tied to the wings with parachute cord, damaging the wings so that the plane would never fly again and had to be sunk.[12] Marks and his crew rescued 56 men that day.[12]
The Doyle was the first vessel on the scene.[12] Homing on Marks's Catalina in total darkness, Doyle halted to avoid killing or further injuring survivors, and began taking Marks' survivors aboard. Disregarding the safety of his own vessel, Captain Claytor pointed his largest searchlight into the night sky to serve as a beacon for other rescue vessels.[12] This beacon was the first indication to most survivors that rescuers had arrived.[12]
The destroyers Helm, Madison, and Ralph Talbot were ordered to the rescue scene from Ulithi, along with destroyer escorts Dufilho, Bassett, and Ringness of the Philippine Sea Frontier. They continued their search for survivors until 8 August.
Two of the rescued survivors Robert Lee Shipman and Frederick Harrison passed away in August of 1945.
Navy failure to learn of the sinking[edit]
Operations plotting boards were kept at the Headquarters of Commander Marianas on Guam and of the Commander Philippine Sea Frontier on Leyte. On these boards, the positions of all vessels of which the headquarters was concerned were plotted. However, for ships as large as the Indianapolis, it was assumed that they would reach their destinations on time, unless reported otherwise. Therefore, their positions were based on predictions, and not on reports. On 31 July, when she should have arrived at Leyte, Indianapolis was removed from the board in the headquarters of Commander Marianas. She was also recorded as having arrived at Leyte by the headquarters of Commander Philippine Sea Frontier. Lieutenant Stuart B. Gibson, the Operations Officer under the Port Director, Tacloban, was the officer responsible for tracking the movements of Indianapolis. The non-arrival of that vessel on schedule was known at once to Lieutenant Gibson who failed to investigate the matter and made no immediate report of the fact to his superiors.[15]



 Survivors of Indianapolis on Guam, in August 1945.
The Indianapolis sent distress calls before sinking. Three stations received the signals; however, none acted upon the call. One commander was drunk, another had ordered his men not to disturb him and a third thought it was a Japanese trap.[16] For a long time the Navy denied that a distress call had been sent. The receipt of the call came to light only after the release of declassified records.
Immediately prior to the attack, the seas had been moderate, the visibility fluctuating but poor in general, and Indianapolis had been steaming at 17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h). When the ship did not reach Leyte on the 31st, as scheduled, no report was made that she was overdue. This omission was due to a misunderstanding of the Movement Report System.
Captain Charles McVay[edit]
Captain Charles B. McVay III, who had commanded Indianapolis since November 1944, survived the sinking, and was with those rescued days later. In November 1945, he was court-martialed and convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag." Several things about the court-martial were controversial. There was evidence that the Navy itself had placed the ship in harm's way, in that McVay's orders were to "zigzag at his discretion, weather permitting." Further, Mochitsura Hashimoto, commander of I-58, testified that zigzagging would have made no difference.[17]
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz remitted McVay's sentence and restored him to active duty. McVay retired in 1949.[18] While many of Indianapolis's survivors said McVay was not to blame for the sinking, the families of some of the men who died thought otherwise - "Merry Christmas! Our family's holiday would be a lot merrier if you hadn't killed my son", read one piece of hate mail.[19] The guilt that was placed on his shoulders mounted until he committed suicide in 1968, using his Navy-issue revolver. McVay was discovered on his front lawn with a toy sailor in one hand.[19]
In October 2000, the United States Congress passed a resolution that Captain McVay's record should state that "he is exonerated for the loss of Indianapolis." President Bill Clinton signed the resolution.[20] The resolution noted that although several hundred ships of the U.S. Navy were lost in combat in World War II, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed for the sinking of his ship.[21] In July 2001, the Secretary of the Navy ordered McVay's record cleared of all wrongdoing.[22][23]
Awards[edit]
American Defense Service Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with ten battle stars[24]
World War II Victory Medal
The wreck[edit]



 Navy firing detail as part of a burial-at-sea in 2008 for one of the 317 survivors of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) sinking on 30 July 1945.
The exact location of Indianapolis is in the Philippine Sea – the coordinates given in this article are for the general area. In July–August 2001, an expedition sought to find the wreckage through the use of side-scan sonar and underwater cameras mounted on a remotely operated vehicle. Four Indianapolis survivors accompanied the expedition, which was not successful. In June 2005, a second expedition was mounted to find the wreck. National Geographic covered the story and released it in July. Submersibles were launched to find any sign of wreckage. The only objects ever found, which have not been confirmed to have belonged to Indianapolis, were numerous pieces of metal of varying size found in the area of the reported sinking position (this was included in the National Geographic program Finding of the USS Indianapolis).
Memorials[edit]
See also: U.S. Navy Museum § Other museums
The USS Indianapolis Museum had its grand opening on 7 July 2007, with its gallery in the Indiana War Memorial Museum[25] at the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza.[26][27][28]



 USS Indianapolis National Memorial
The USS Indianapolis National Memorial was dedicated on 2 August 1995. It is located on the Canal Walk in Indianapolis.[29] The heavy cruiser is depicted in limestone and granite and sits adjacent to the downtown canal. The crewmembers' names are listed on the monument, with special notations for those who lost their lives.
In May 2011, I-465 around Indianapolis was renamed the USS Indianapolis Memorial Highway.[30]
Some material relating to Indianapolis is held by the Indiana State Museum. Her bell and a commissioning pennant are located at the Heslar Naval Armory; the bell was removed to conserve weight prior to her final cruise.
The swim training center at United States Navy Recruit Training Command is named USS Indianapolis.


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Popular culture[edit]
References to the Indianapolis sinking and aftermath have been adapted to film, stage, television, and popular culture. The incident itself was the subject of 1991 made-for-television movie Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the USS Indianapolis, with Stacy Keach portraying Captain Charles Butler McVay III.
Arguably the most well known fictional reference to the events occurs in the 1975 thriller film Jaws in a monologue by actor Robert Shaw, whose character Samuel Quint is depicted as a survivor of the Indianapolis sinking. The monologue particularly focuses on the numerous deaths caused by shark attacks after the sinking. John Milius was specifically brought into the production to write lines for this scene and he based them on survivor stories. However, there are several historical inaccuracies in the monologue; the speech states the date of the sinking as 29 June 1945, when the ship was actually sunk on 30 July, and that no distress call was broadcast, while declassified Navy documents prove the contrary.[31]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Indiana portal
List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II
List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
List of World War II ships
List of United States Navy cruisers
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ U.S.S. Indianapolis Memorial, Indianapolis, Indiana
2.^ Jump up to: a b Bauer & Roberts 1991, p. 136.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Bauer & Roberts 1991, p. 138.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Silverstone 2007, p. 32.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Miller 2001, p. 292.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Stille 2009, p. 30.
7.^ Jump up to: a b DANFS 1981, p. 433.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g DANFS 1981, p. 434.
9.Jump up ^ "Marianas Turkey Shoot". cannon-lexington.com. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
10.Jump up ^ "Little Boy," the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was also inscribed with numerous autographs and graffiti by ground crews who loaded it into the plane. One of them read: "Greetings to the Emperor from the men of the Indianapolis." Richard Rhodes, The making of the atomic bomb (Simon & Schuster, 1986), 710.
11.Jump up ^ Lewis L. Haynes (Jul–Aug 1995). "Recollections of the sinking of USS Indianapolis (CA-35) by CAPT Lewis L. Haynes, MC (Medical Corps) (Ret.), the senior medical officer on board the ship.". Navy Medicine. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Marks (April 1981) pp.48–50
13.Jump up ^ In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
14.Jump up ^ Discovery Channel's Shark Week: Ocean of Fear Amazon.com (retrieved 27 July 1011)
15.Jump up ^ "The Sinking of USS Indianapolis: Navy Department Press Release, Narrative of the Circumstances of the Loss of USS Indianapolis, 23 February 1946". U.S. Navy. 23 February 1946. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
16.Jump up ^ Timothy W. Maier (5 June 2000). "For The Good of the Navy". Insight on the News. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
17.Jump up ^ "Mochitsura Hashimoto". ussindianapolis.org. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
18.Jump up ^ "Captain McVay". ussindianapolis.org. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Steven Martinovich (16 April 2001). "Review of In Harm's Way". enterstageright.com. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
20.Jump up ^ "Seeking Justice : Victory in Congress". ussindianapolis.org. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
21.Jump up ^ "Legislation exonerating Captain McVay". ussindianapolis.org. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
22.Jump up ^ Thomas, Joseph (2005). Leadership Embodied. Naval Institute Press. pp. 112–117. ISBN 978-1-59114-860-9.
23.Jump up ^ Magin, Janis (13 July 2001). "Navy exonerates WWII captain". The Argus-Press. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
24.Jump up ^ At USS Indianapolis Museum official website, in the left-hand column, click on "USS Indianapolis Battle Stars". Retrieved 2011-08-17.
25.Jump up ^ Indiana War Memorial Museum. State of Indiana official website. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
26.Jump up ^ At USS Indianapolis Museum official website, in the left-hand column, scroll down to and click on "Hours of Operation". Retrieved 2011-08-17.
27.Jump up ^ At USS Indianapolis Museum official website, in the left-hand column, click on "Mission & Vision". Retrieved 2011-08-17.
28.Jump up ^ At USS Indianapolis Museum official website, in the left-hand column, click on "Educational Mission & Traveling Event Museum" and scroll down to "USS Indianapolis Museum / Traveling Event Museum". Retrieved 2011-08-17.
29.Jump up ^ Indiana War Memorial: USS Indianapolis Memorial. State of Indiana official website. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
30.Jump up ^ Indy Star: I-465 gets new name
31.Jump up ^ Jaws Dialogues
Bibliography
Dictionary of American naval fighting ships / Vol.3, Historical sketches : letters G through K, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy, 1981, ISBN 978-0160020186
Bauer, Karl Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991), Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, ISBN 978-0313262029
Miller, David M. O. (2001), Illustrated Directory of Warships of the World, New York City: Zenith Press, ISBN 978-0760311271
Silverstone, Paul (2007), The Navy of World War II, 1922–1947, New York City: Routledge, ISBN 978-0415978989
Stille, Mark (2009), USN Cruiser vs IJN Cruiser: Guadalcanal 1942, Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1846034664
Further reading
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Fahey, James C. (1941). The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, Two-Ocean Fleet Edition. Ships and Aircraft.
Harrell, David (as told by Edgar Harrell). Out of the Depths. 2005. ISBN 1-59781-166-1
Hashimoto, Mochitsura (1954, reprinted 2010). Sunk: The Story of the Japanese Submarine Fleet, 1941–1945. New York: Henry Holt; reprint: Progressive Press. ISBN 1-61577-581-1.
Lech, Raymond B. All the Drowned Sailors, Jove Books, New York, ASIN: B000UE9796
Marks, R. Adrian (April 1981). America was Well Represented. United States Naval Institute Proceedings.
Newcomb, Richard F. "Abandon Ship!: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy's Greatest Sea Disaster". ISBN 0-06-018471-X
Stanton, Doug (15 April 2003). In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivor. New York: Owl Books. ISBN 978-0-8050-7366-9. Publisher’s Weekly Notable Book Award; Massachusetts Book Award
Taylor, Theodore (1954). The Magnificent Mitscher. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-850-2.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Indianapolis (CA-35).
USS Indianapolis Museum official website
USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization
Photographs of Indianapolis
Maritime Quest Indianapolis Pictures
1945 Kamikaze Damage Report – filed by Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Allied Warships: USS Indianapolis (CA 35), Heavy cruiser of the Portland-class
"USS Indianapolis Collection, 1898–1991 (Bulk 1945–1946 and 1984–1991), Collection Guide". Indiana Historical Society. 13 October 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
IndySurvivor.com - website and book by survivor Edgar Harrell, USMC
Discovery Channel: The Search for the USS Indianapolis
Announcement of the Father Thomas Conway Memorial (June 2006). (At USS Indianapolis Museum official website, in the left-hand column, click on "2006 Museum Activities".)
BBC Magazine
Coordinates: 12°2′N 134°48′E


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Ships of the Aleutian Islands Campaign
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The Island (Benchley novel)
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 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2013)
The Island
The Island (Benchley novel) cover.jpg
First edition

Author
Peter Benchley
Cover artist
Alex Gotfryd/Fred Marcellino[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Publisher
Doubleday

Publication date
 1979
Media type
Print
Pages
302
ISBN
0-385-13172-0
The Island is a novel by Peter Benchley, published in 1979 by Doubleday & Co.
Plot summary[edit]
Blair Maynard, a divorced journalist in New York City, decides to write a story about the unexplained disappearance of yachts and other small boats in the Caribbean, hoping to debunk theories about the Bermuda Triangle. He has weekend custody of his preteen son Justin, and decides to mix a vacation with work, taking his son along. They fly from Miami to the Turks and Caicos island chain but, while on fishing trip, are captured by a band of pirates. The pirates have, amazingly, remained undetected since the establishment of their pirate enclave by Jean-David Nau, the notorious buccaneer L'Olonnais, in 1671 (in reality, however, L'Olonnais is known to have died four years earlier). The pirates have a constitution of sorts, called the Covenant, and have a cruel but workable society. They raise any children they capture to ensure the survival of the colony, but kill anyone over the age of thirteen. In short order, Justin is virtually brainwashed and groomed to lead the pirate band, much to Maynard's horror. Maynard tries repeatedly to escape, and finally attracts the attention of the passing United States Coast Guard cutter New Hope. The pirates attack and capture it, but Maynard is able to use a machine gun aboard to kill most of the pirates and to win Justin's and his own freedom.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations[edit]
The Island (1980 film), a film directed by Michael Ritchie, was based upon the book; Benchley wrote the screenplay. It starred Michael Caine and David Warner, opened to decidedly mixed reviews and was considered a box office flop.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Modern first editions - a set on Flickr
 


Categories: 1979 novels
American novels adapted into films
Books about the Bermuda Triangle
Pirate books
Novels about journalists
Novels set on islands
Doubleday (publisher) books





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The Island (1980 film)
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Jump to: navigation, search


The Island
TheIsland1980.jpg
Theatrical poster

Directed by
Michael Ritchie
Produced by
David Brown
Richard D. Zanuck
Written by
Peter Benchley
Starring
Michael Caine
David Warner
Angela Punch McGregor
Frank Middlemass
Don Henderson
Dudley Sutton
Colin Jeavons
Zakes Mokae
Brad Sullivan
Music by
Ennio Morricone
Cinematography
Henri Decaë
Edited by
Richard A. Harris
Distributed by
Universal Pictures
Release date(s)
June 13, 1980

Running time
114 min.
Language
English
Budget
$22,000,000
Box office
$15,716,828 (USA)
The Island is a 1980 American thriller film, directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Michael Caine and David Warner. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley who also wrote the screenplay. It is about a savage group of pirates, made up of outcasts, thieves, and murderers, who are hidden from the outside world by an uncharted Caribbean island, and who've raided boats to sustain themselves, since the 1700s.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Production
3 Reception 3.1 Awards and nominations
4 Home media
5 References
6 External links

Plot synopsis[edit]
Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) is a British-born American journalist who was once in the Navy, decides to investigate the mystery of why so many boats disappear in the Bermuda Triangle of the Caribbean. He takes his estranged son with him to the area on the "vacation" and, while fishing, both are attacked by an unkempt man and forcibly brought to an uncharted island. On the island, Blair discovers the terrible truth: the inhabitants on the island are actually a centuries old colony of savage French pirates.
The group has been living on the island for centuries, unseen by society, who sustain themselves by raiding pleasure boats. The pirates kill whoever comes to the island, however, Blair and his son are both kept alive due to a false assumption regarding their lineage and a need to offset the negative effects of inbreeding. Blair is used to impregnate a female (Angela Punch Mcgregor) and act as a scribe for the largely illiterate group, while his son is brainwashed to become a surrogate heir to Nau, the pirate leader (David Warner). Blair struggles to escape from the island, but all attempts fail.
With Blair having begun his captivity as a very peaceable, civilized, and modern everyman, he is helpless in the absence of law and the presence of almost unlimited violence the pirates commit regularly. Subjecting him to constant fear and abuse, culminating in the pirates brainwashing his son to become the new surrogate heir to the colony, the pirates completely fail to realize how desperate and as a result, dangerous, Blair is becoming as his repeated escape attempts continually fail. He eventually arranges for them to come head to head with a US Coast Guard ship, but through their almost unimaginable savagery, they manage to wipe out the crew and take over the vessel. Blair sneaks aboard and, while most of the pirates are gathered on the aft deck of the ship, examining their loot, he discovers a WWII-era deck-mounted .50 caliber machine gun hidden underneath a tarp. He knows that this is his one chance to save both his and his son's lives and he does not hesitate to flip off the tarp and open fire on the pirates, killing perhaps forty to fifty men within seconds. He continues to fire even after they are all dead while evincing nothing but savage delight and satisfaction.
He then learns that Nau, by far the most dangerous and intelligent of them, was not on the deck. The two men then stalk each other through various parts of the decimated coast guard vessel. Blair eventually gets the upper hand and kills Nau with a flare gun, again proving how dangerous even the meekest of men can be when pushed too far. Blair and his son, who no longer desires to be a pirate and seems much more respectful of his father, are reunited.
Production[edit]
The United States Coast Guard cutter Dauntless stands in for the fictitious USCGC New Hope in the movie. Angela Punch McGregor was cast after Michael Ritchie saw her in Newsfront.[1]
Reception[edit]
The film was not well received, criticizing the performances, narrative and pacing. It holds a 'rotten' 40% rating on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes.[2] In addition, the film, which was meant to be a summer blockbuster, performed poorly at the box office, despite a then-large $22 million budget, as well as a highly regarded director and writer (the latter having enjoyed incredible success a few years before with Jaws).
Awards and nominations[edit]
1st Golden Raspberry Award
Nominated: Worst Actor (Michael Caine)Nominated: Worst Director (Michael Ritchie)
Home media[edit]
On July 27, 2011, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the film on DVD as part of its Universal Vault Series as an Amazon exclusive.[3] On December 11, 2012, Shout! Factory released a retail Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo pack of the film.[4]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jim Schembri, "Angela Punch McGregor", Cinema Papers, December 1984 p 421
2.Jump up ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1010745-island/
3.Jump up ^ "The Island (Universal Vault Series)". Retrieved October 19, 2012.
4.Jump up ^ "The Island". Shout!Factory. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
External links[edit]
The Island at the Internet Movie Database
The Island at Rotten Tomatoes


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Films directed by Michael Ritchie


Downhill Racer (1969) ·
 The Candidate (1972) ·
 Prime Cut (1972) ·
 Smile (1975) ·
 The Bad News Bears (1976) ·
 Semi-Tough (1977) ·
 An Almost Perfect Affair (1979) ·
 The Island (1980) ·
 Divine Madness! (1980) ·
 Student Bodies (1981) ·
 The Survivors (1983) ·
 Fletch (1985) ·
 Wildcats (1986) ·
 The Golden Child (1986) ·
 The Couch Trip (1988) ·
 Fletch Lives (1989) ·
 Diggstown (1992) ·
 The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993) ·
 Cops & Robbersons (1994) ·
 The Scout (1994) ·
 The Fantasticks (1995) ·
 A Simple Wish (1997)
 

 


Categories: 1980 films
English-language films
American adventure drama films
American films
1980s adventure films
1980s thriller films
Psychological thriller films
Pirate films
Films directed by Michael Ritchie
Films based on thriller novels
Universal Pictures films
Films set in the Caribbean
Films set on islands
Film scores by Ennio Morricone


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Bermuda Triangle
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For other uses, see Bermuda Triangle (disambiguation).
Page semi-protected

Bermuda Triangle
Devil's Triangle
Bermuda Triangle.png
One version of the Bermuda Triangle area

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. According to the US Navy, the triangle does not exist, and the name is not recognized by the US Board on Geographic Names.[1] Popular culture has attributed various disappearances to the paranormal or activity by extraterrestrial beings.[2] Documented evidence indicates that a significant percentage of the incidents were spurious, inaccurately reported, or embellished by later authors.[3][4][5] In a 2013 study, the World Wide Fund for Nature identified the world’s 10 most dangerous waters for shipping, but the Bermuda Triangle was not among them.[6]


Contents  [hide]
1 Triangle area
2 History 2.1 Origins
2.2 Larry Kusche
2.3 Further responses
3 Supernatural explanations
4 Natural explanations 4.1 Compass variations
4.2 Gulf Stream
4.3 Human error
4.4 Violent weather
4.5 Methane hydrates
5 Notable incidents 5.1 Ellen Austin
5.2 USS Cyclops
5.3 Carroll A. Deering
5.4 Flight 19
5.5 Star Tiger and Star Ariel
5.6 Douglas DC-3
5.7 KC-135 Stratotankers
5.8 Connemara IV
6 Influence on culture
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 Further reading 10.1 Newspaper articles
10.2 Website links
10.3 Books
11 External links

Triangle area
The first written boundaries date from an article by Vincent Gaddis in a 1964 issue of the pulp magazine Argosy,[7] where the triangle's three vertices are in Miami, Florida peninsula; in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and in the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda.[4] But subsequent writers did not follow this definition.[4] Some writers give different boundaries and vertices to the triangle, with the total area varying from 1,300,000 to 3,900,000 km2 (500,000 to 1,510,000 sq mi).[4] Consequently, the determination of which accidents have occurred inside the triangle depends on which writer reports them.[4] The United States Board on Geographic Names does not recognize this name, and it is not delimited in any map drawn by US government agencies.[4]
The area is one of the most heavily traveled shipping lanes in the world, with ships crossing through it daily for ports in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships are also plentiful, and pleasure craft regularly go back and forth between Florida and the islands. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and private aircraft heading towards Florida, the Caribbean, and South America from points north.
History
Origins
The earliest allegation of unusual disappearances in the Bermuda area appeared in a September 17, 1950 article published in The Miami Herald (Associated Press)[8] by Edward Van Winkle Jones.[9] Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea Mystery at Our Back Door",[10] a short article by George X. Sand covering the loss of several planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission. Sand's article was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where the losses took place. Flight 19 alone would be covered again in the April 1962 issue of American Legion magazine.[11] In it, author Allan W. Eckert wrote that the flight leader had been heard saying, "We are entering white water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white." He also wrote that officials at the Navy board of inquiry stated that the planes "flew off to Mars."[12] Sand's article was the first to suggest a supernatural element to the Flight 19 incident. In the February 1964 issue of Argosy, Vincent Gaddis' article "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" argued that Flight 19 and other disappearances were part of a pattern of strange events in the region.[7] The next year, Gaddis expanded this article into a book, Invisible Horizons.[13]
Others would follow with their own works, elaborating on Gaddis' ideas: John Wallace Spencer (Limbo of the Lost, 1969, repr. 1973);[14] Charles Berlitz (The Bermuda Triangle, 1974);[15] Richard Winer (The Devil's Triangle, 1974),[16] and many others, all keeping to some of the same supernatural elements outlined by Eckert.[17]
Larry Kusche
Lawrence David Kusche, a research librarian from Arizona State University and author of The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved (1975)[18] argued that many claims of Gaddis and subsequent writers were often exaggerated, dubious or unverifiable. Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants, and others involved in the initial incidents. Kusche noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Another example was the ore-carrier recounted by Berlitz as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents that sparked allegations of the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it. Often his research was simple: he would review period newspapers of the dates of reported incidents and find reports on possibly relevant events like unusual weather, that were never mentioned in the disappearance stories.
Kusche concluded that:
The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean.
In an area frequented by tropical storms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious;
Furthermore, Berlitz and other writers would often fail to mention such storms or even represent the disappearance as having happened in calm conditions when meteorological records clearly contradict this.
The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat's disappearance, for example, would be reported, but its eventual (if belated) return to port may not have been.
Some disappearances had, in fact, never happened. One plane crash was said to have taken place in 1937 off Daytona Beach, Florida, in front of hundreds of witnesses; a check of the local papers revealed nothing.
The legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery, perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism.[18]
Further responses
When the UK Channel 4 television program The Bermuda Triangle (1992)[19] was being produced by John Simmons of Geofilms for the Equinox series, the marine insurance market Lloyd's of London was asked if an unusually large number of ships had sunk in the Bermuda Triangle area. Lloyd's determined that large numbers of ships had not sunk there.[20] Lloyd's does not charge higher rates for passing through this area.[3] United States Coast Guard records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft that pass through on a regular basis.[18]
The Coast Guard is also officially skeptical of the Triangle, noting that they collect and publish, through their inquiries, much documentation contradicting many of the incidents written about by the Triangle authors. In one such incident involving the 1972 explosion and sinking of the tanker SS V. A. Fogg, the Coast Guard photographed the wreck and recovered several bodies,[21] in contrast with one Triangle author's claim that all the bodies had vanished, with the exception of the captain, who was found sitting in his cabin at his desk, clutching a coffee cup.[14] In addition, V. A. Fogg sank off the coast of Texas, nowhere near the commonly accepted boundaries of the Triangle.
The NOVA/Horizon episode The Case of the Bermuda Triangle, aired on June 27, 1976, was highly critical, stating that "When we've gone back to the original sources or the people involved, the mystery evaporates. Science does not have to answer questions about the Triangle because those questions are not valid in the first place ... Ships and planes behave in the Triangle the same way they behave everywhere else in the world."[22]
David Kusche pointed out a common problem with many of the Bermuda Triangle stories and theories: "Say I claim that a parrot has been kidnapped to teach aliens human language and I challenge you to prove that is not true. You can even use Einstein's Theory of Relativity if you like. There is simply no way to prove such a claim untrue. The burden of proof should be on the people who make these statements, to show where they got their information from, to see if their conclusions and interpretations are valid, and if they have left anything out."[22] Skeptical researchers, such as Ernest Taves[23] and Barry Singer,[24] have noted how mysteries and the paranormal are very popular and profitable. This has led to the production of vast amounts of material on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle. They were able to show that some of the pro-paranormal material is often misleading or inaccurate, but its producers continue to market it. Accordingly, they have claimed that the market is biased in favor of books, TV specials, and other media that support the Triangle mystery, and against well-researched material if it espouses a skeptical viewpoint. Finally, if the Triangle is assumed to cross land, such as parts of Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, or Bermuda itself, there is no evidence for the disappearance of any land-based vehicles or persons.[citation needed] The city of Freeport, located inside the Triangle, operates a major shipyard and an airport that handles 50,000 flights annually and is visited by over a million tourists a year.[25]
Supernatural explanations
Triangle writers have used a number of supernatural concepts to explain the events. One explanation pins the blame on leftover technology from the mythical lost continent of Atlantis. Sometimes connected to the Atlantis story is the submerged rock formation known as the Bimini Road off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, which is in the Triangle by some definitions. Followers of the purported psychic Edgar Cayce take his prediction that evidence of Atlantis would be found in 1968 as referring to the discovery of the Bimini Road. Believers describe the formation as a road, wall, or other structure, though geologists consider it to be of natural origin.[26]
Other writers attribute the events to UFOs.[27] This idea was used by Steven Spielberg for his science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which features the lost Flight 19 aircrews as alien abductees.
Charles Berlitz, author of various books on anomalous phenomena, lists several theories attributing the losses in the Triangle to anomalous or unexplained forces.[15]
Natural explanations
Compass variations
Compass problems are one of the cited phrases in many Triangle incidents. While some have theorized that unusual local magnetic anomalies may exist in the area,[28] such anomalies have not been found. Compasses have natural magnetic variations in relation to the magnetic poles, a fact which navigators have known for centuries. Magnetic (compass) north and geographic (true) north are only exactly the same for a small number of places – for example, as of 2000 in the United States only those places on a line running from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico.[29] But the public may not be as informed, and think there is something mysterious about a compass "changing" across an area as large as the Triangle, which it naturally will.[18]



 False-color image of the Gulf Stream flowing north through the western Atlantic Ocean. (NASA)
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is a deep ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and then flows through the Straits of Florida into the North Atlantic. In essence, it is a river within an ocean, and, like a river, it can and does carry floating objects. It has a surface velocity of up to about 2.5 metres per second (5.6 mi/h).[30] A small plane making a water landing or a boat having engine trouble can be carried away from its reported position by the current.
Human error
One of the most cited explanations in official inquiries as to the loss of any aircraft or vessel is human error.[31] Human stubbornness may have caused businessman Harvey Conover to lose his sailing yacht, the Revonoc, as he sailed into the teeth of a storm south of Florida on January 1, 1958.[32]
Violent weather
Tropical cyclones are powerful storms, which form in tropical waters and have historically cost thousands of lives lost and caused billions of dollars in damage. The sinking of Francisco de Bobadilla's Spanish fleet in 1502 was the first recorded instance of a destructive hurricane. These storms have in the past caused a number of incidents related to the Triangle.
A powerful downdraft of cold air was suspected to be a cause in the sinking of the Pride of Baltimore on May 14, 1986. The crew of the sunken vessel noted the wind suddenly shifted and increased velocity from 32 km/h (20 mph) to 97–145 km/h (60–90 mph). A National Hurricane Center satellite specialist, James Lushine, stated "during very unstable weather conditions the downburst of cold air from aloft can hit the surface like a bomb, exploding outward like a giant squall line of wind and water."[33] A similar event occurred to the Concordia in 2010 off the coast of Brazil.
Methane hydrates
Main article: Methane clathrate



 Worldwide distribution of confirmed or inferred offshore gas hydrate-bearing sediments, 1996.
 Source: USGS
An explanation for some of the disappearances has focused on the presence of large fields of methane hydrates (a form of natural gas) on the continental shelves.[34] Laboratory experiments carried out in Australia have proven that bubbles can, indeed, sink a scale model ship by decreasing the density of the water;[35][36][37] any wreckage consequently rising to the surface would be rapidly dispersed by the Gulf Stream. It has been hypothesized that periodic methane eruptions (sometimes called "mud volcanoes") may produce regions of frothy water that are no longer capable of providing adequate buoyancy for ships. If this were the case, such an area forming around a ship could cause it to sink very rapidly and without warning.
Publications by the USGS describe large stores of undersea hydrates worldwide, including the Blake Ridge area, off the coast of the southeastern United States.[38] However, according to the USGS, no large releases of gas hydrates are believed to have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle for the past 15,000 years.[20]
Notable incidents
Main article: List of Bermuda Triangle incidents
Ellen Austin
The Ellen Austin supposedly came across a derelict ship, placed on board a prize crew, and attempted to sail with it to New York in 1881. According to the stories, the derelict disappeared; others elaborating further that the derelict reappeared minus the prize crew, then disappeared again with a second prize crew on board. A check from Lloyd's of London records proved the existence of the Meta, built in 1854 and that in 1880 the Meta was renamed Ellen Austin. There are no casualty listings for this vessel, or any vessel at that time, that would suggest a large number of missing men were placed on board a derelict that later disappeared.[39]



Schooner Carroll A. Deering, as seen from the Cape Lookout lightvessel on January 29, 1921, two days before she was found deserted in North Carolina. (US Coast Guard)
USS Cyclops
Main article: USS Cyclops (AC-4)
The incident resulting in the single largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy not related to combat occurred when the collier USS Cyclops, carrying a full load of manganese ore and with one engine out of action, went missing without a trace with a crew of 309 sometime after March 4, 1918, after departing the island of Barbados. Although there is no strong evidence for any single theory, many independent theories exist, some blaming storms, some capsizing, and some suggesting that wartime enemy activity was to blame for the loss.[40][41] In addition, two of Cyclops's sister ships, Proteus and Nereus were subsequently lost in the North Atlantic during World War II. Both ships were transporting heavy loads of metallic ore similar to that which was loaded on Cyclops during her fatal voyage. In all three cases structural failure due to overloading with a much denser cargo than designed is considered the most likely cause of sinking.
Carroll A. Deering
Main article: Carroll A. Deering
A five-masted schooner built in 1919, the Carroll A. Deering was found hard aground and abandoned at Diamond Shoals, near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on January 31, 1921. Rumors and more at the time indicated the Deering was a victim of piracy, possibly connected with the illegal rum-running trade during Prohibition, and possibly involving another ship, SS Hewitt, which disappeared at roughly the same time. Just hours later, an unknown steamer sailed near the lightship along the track of the Deering, and ignored all signals from the lightship. It is speculated that Hewitt may have been this mystery ship, and possibly involved in the Deering crew's disappearance.[42]
Flight 19
Main article: Flight 19



 US Navy Avengers, similar to those of Flight 19
Flight 19 was a training flight of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared on December 5, 1945, while over the Atlantic. The squadron's flight plan was scheduled to take them due east from Fort Lauderdale for 141 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 140-mile leg to complete the exercise. The flight never returned to base. The disappearance is attributed by Navy investigators to navigational error leading to the aircraft running out of fuel.
One of the search and rescue aircraft deployed to look for them, a PBM Mariner with a 13-man crew, also disappeared. A tanker off the coast of Florida reported seeing an explosion[43] and observing a widespread oil slick when fruitlessly searching for survivors. The weather was becoming stormy by the end of the incident.[44] According to contemporaneous sources the Mariner had a history of explosions due to vapour leaks when heavily loaded with fuel, as for a potentially long search and rescue operation.
Star Tiger and Star Ariel
Main articles: BSAA Star Tiger disappearance and BSAA Star Ariel disappearance
G-AHNP Star Tiger disappeared on January 30, 1948, on a flight from the Azores to Bermuda; G-AGRE Star Ariel disappeared on January 17, 1949, on a flight from Bermuda to Kingston, Jamaica. Both were Avro Tudor IV passenger aircraft operated by British South American Airways.[45] Both planes were operating at the very limits of their range and the slightest error or fault in the equipment could keep them from reaching the small island. One plane was not heard from long before it would have entered the Triangle.[18]
Douglas DC-3
Main article: 1948 Airborne Transport DC-3 (DST) disappearance
On December 28, 1948, a Douglas DC-3 aircraft, number NC16002, disappeared while on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami. No trace of the aircraft or the 32 people on board was ever found. From the documentation compiled by the Civil Aeronautics Board investigation, a possible key to the plane's disappearance was found, but barely touched upon by the Triangle writers: the plane's batteries were inspected and found to be low on charge, but ordered back into the plane without a recharge by the pilot while in San Juan. Whether or not this led to complete electrical failure will never be known. However, since piston-engined aircraft rely upon magnetos to provide spark to their cylinders rather than a battery powered ignition coil system, this theory is not strongly convincing.[46]
KC-135 Stratotankers
On August 28, 1963, a pair of US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft collided and crashed into the Atlantic. The Triangle version (Winer, Berlitz, Gaddis[7][15][16]) of this story specifies that they did collide and crash, but there were two distinct crash sites, separated by over 160 miles (260 km) of water. However, Kusche's research[18] showed that the unclassified version of the Air Force investigation report stated that the debris field defining the second "crash site" was examined by a search and rescue ship, and found to be a mass of seaweed and driftwood tangled in an old buoy.
Connemara IV
A pleasure yacht was found adrift in the Atlantic south of Bermuda on September 26, 1955; it is usually stated in the stories (Berlitz, Winer[15][16]) that the crew vanished while the yacht survived being at sea during three hurricanes. The 1955 Atlantic hurricane season shows Hurricane Ione passing nearby between the 14th and 18th of that month, with Bermuda being affected by winds of almost gale force.[18] In his second book on the Bermuda Triangle, Winer quoted from a letter he had received from Mr J.E. Challenor of Barbados:[47]

On the morning of September 22 Connemara IV was lying to a heavy mooring in the open roadstead of Carlisle Bay. Because of the approaching hurricane, the owner strengthened the mooring ropes and put out two additional anchors. There was little else he could do, as the exposed mooring was the only available anchorage.
...
In Carlisle Bay, the sea in the wake of Hurricane Janet was awe-inspiring and dangerous. The owner of Connemara IV observed that she had disappeared. An investigation revealed that she had dragged her moorings and gone to sea.
Influence on culture
The Sea World amusement park on the Gold Coast (Australia) operated a ride called Bermuda Triangle.
Composer Isao Tomita released an album, Bermuda Triangle, inspired by the region.
Fleetwood Mac released the song "Bermuda Triangle" on their 1974 album Heroes are Hard to Find.
Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow's single, "Bermuda Triangle" (released in 1981), was taken from his album Barry (1980).
The first film based on the Bermuda Triangle was the 1975 TV movie Satan's Triangle. Later films include The Bermuda Triangle (1978), The Triangle (2001) and the TV miniseries The Triangle (2005).
In Search of... season 1 episode 4 (1977) is dedicated to the Bermuda Triangle.
The 1977 disaster film Airport '77 involves an airliner crashing and sinking in the Bermuda Triangle.
See also
List of Bermuda Triangle incidents
List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
Devil's Sea (or Dragon's Triangle)
Sargasso Sea
SS Cotopaxi
Vile Vortices
Notes
1.Jump up ^ "USCG: Frequently Asked Questions". Uscg.mil. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
2.Jump up ^ Cochran-Smith, Marilyn (2003). "Bermuda Triangle: dichotomy, mythology, and amnesia". Journal of Teacher Education 54 (4): 275. doi:10.1177/0022487103256793.
3.^ Jump up to: a b "Bermuda Triangle". History.navy.mil. 2003-07-13. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Bermuda Triangle". History.navy.mil. 1996-05-12. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
5.Jump up ^ "USCG: Frequently Asked Questions". Uscg.mil. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
6.Jump up ^ "Study finds shipwrecks threaten precious seas". BBC News/science. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Gaddis, Vincent (1964), "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle", Argosy
8.Jump up ^ [1]
9.Jump up ^ E.V.W. Jones (September 16, 1950). "Same Big World, Sea's Puzzles Still Baffle Men In Pushbutton Age". Associated Press.
10.Jump up ^ George X. San (October 1952). "Sea Mystery at Our Back Door". Fate.
11.Jump up ^ Allen W. Eckert (April 1962). "The Mystery of The Lost Patrol". American Legion Magazine. Cited in James R. Lewis (editor), Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture, page 72, segment by Jerome Clark (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2001). ISBN 1-57607-292-4
12.Jump up ^ Diana Formisano Willett, Paranormal Fright, page 9 (AuthorHouse, 2013), ISBN 978-1-4817-3268-0
13.Jump up ^ Vincent Gaddis (1965). Invisible Horizons.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Spencer, 1969.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c d Berlitz, 1974.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c (Winer 1974)
17.Jump up ^ "Strange fish: the scientifiction of Charles F. Berlitz, 1913–2003". Skeptic (Altadena, CA). March 2004.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Kusche, 1975.
19.Jump up ^ "Equinox: The Bermuda Triangle". Retrieved 2012-12-06.
20.^ Jump up to: a b "Bermuda Triangle". Gas Hydrates at the USGS. Woods Hole. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
21.Jump up ^ "V A Fogg" (PDF). USCG. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
22.^ Jump up to: a b "The Case of the Bermuda Triangle". NOVA / Horizon. 1976-06-27. PBS.
23.Jump up ^ Taves, Ernest (1978). The Skeptical Inquirer 111 (1): pp. 75–76.
24.Jump up ^ Singer, Barry (1979). The Humanist. XXXIX (3): pp. 44–45.
25.Jump up ^ "CIA World Factbook – Bahamas, The". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
26.Jump up ^ "A Geologist's Adventures with Bimini Beachrock and Atlantis True Believers". Skeptical Inquirer. January 2004.[dead link]
27.Jump up ^ "UFO over Bermuda Triangle". Ufos.about.com. 2008-06-29. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
28.Jump up ^ "Bermuda Triangle". US Navy. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
29.Jump up ^ "National Geomagnetism Program | Charts | North America | Declination" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
30.Jump up ^ Phillips, Pamela. "The Gulf Stream". USNA/Johns Hopkins. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
31.Jump up ^ "Bermuda Triangle: Behind the Intrigue". National Geographic. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
32.Jump up ^ Scott, Captain Thomas A. Histories & Mysteries: The Shipwrecks of Key Largo.
33.Jump up ^ Downdraft likely sank clipper, The Miami News, May 23, 1986, p. 6A
34.Jump up ^ "Office of Scientific & Technical Information, OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy, DOE". OTSI. OSTI 616279.
35.Jump up ^ "Could methane bubbles sink ships?". Monash Univ.
36.Jump up ^ Jason Dowling (2003-10-23). "Bermuda Triangle mystery solved? It's a load of gas". The Age.
37.Jump up ^ Terrence Aym (2010-08-06). "How Brilliant Computer Scientists Solved the Bermuda Triangle Mystery". Salem-News.com.
38.Jump up ^ Paull, C.K. and W.P., D., 1981, (1981). "Appearance and distribution of the gas hydrate reflection in the Blake Ridge region, offshore southeastern United States". Gas Hydrates at the USGS. Woods Hole. MF-1252.
39.Jump up ^ "Ellen Austin". Bermuda Triangle .org.
40.Jump up ^ "Bermuda Triangle". D Merrill.
41.Jump up ^ "Myths and Folklore of Bermuda". Bermuda Cruises.
42.Jump up ^ "Carroll A Deering". Graveyard of the Atlantic.
43.Jump up ^ "The Loss of Flight 19". [2].
44.Jump up ^ "The Disappearance of Flight 19". Bermuda Triangle .org.
45.Jump up ^ "The Tudors". bermuda-traingle.org.
46.Jump up ^ "Airborne Transport, Miami, December 1948" (PDF). Aviation Safety.
47.Jump up ^ (Winer 1975, pp. 95–96)
References
The incidents cited above, apart from the official documentation, come from the following works. Some incidents mentioned as having taken place within the Triangle are found only in these sources:
Berg, Daniel (2000). Bermuda Shipwrecks. East Rockaway, N.Y.: Aqua Explorers. ISBN 0-9616167-4-1.
Berlitz, Charles (1974). The Bermuda Triangle (1st ed.). Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-04114-4.
Group, David (1984). The Evidence for the Bermuda Triangle. Wellingborough, Northamptonshire: Aquarian Press. ISBN 0-85030-413-X.
Jeffrey, Adi-Kent Thomas (1975). The Bermuda Triangle. ISBN 0-446-59961-1.
Kusche, Lawrence David (1975). The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved. Buffalo: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-971-2.
Quasar, Gian J. (2003). Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery. International Marine / Ragged Mountain Press. ISBN 0-07-142640-X. Reprinted in paperback in 2005; ISBN 0-07-145217-6.
Spencer, John Wallace (1969). Limbo Of The Lost. ISBN 0-686-10658-X.
Winer, Richard (1974). The Devil's Triangle. ISBN 0-553-10688-0.
Winer, Richard (1975). The Devil's Triangle 2. ISBN 0-553-02464-7.
Further reading

Newspaper articles
ProQuest has newspaper source material for many incidents, archived in Portable Document Format (PDF). The newspapers include The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlanta Constitution. To access this website, registration is required, usually through a library connected to a college or university.
Flight 19
"Great Hunt On For 27 Navy Fliers Missing In Five Planes Off Florida", The New York Times, December 7, 1945.
"Wide Hunt For 27 Men In Six Navy Planes", The Washington Post, December 7, 1945.
"Fire Signals Seen In Area Of Lost Men", The Washington Post, December 9, 1945.
SS Cotopaxi
"Lloyd's posts Cotopaxi As 'Missing'", The New York Times, January 7, 1926.
"Efforts To Locate Missing Ship Fail", The Washington Post, December 6, 1925.
"Lighthouse Keepers Seek Missing Ship", The Washington Post, December 7, 1925.
"53 On Missing Craft Are Reported Saved", The Washington Post, December 13, 1925.
USS Cyclops (AC-4)
"Cold High Winds Do $25,000 Damage", The Washington Post, March 11, 1918.
"Collier Overdue A Month", The New York Times, April 15, 1918.
"More Ships Hunt For Missing Cyclops", The New York Times, April 16, 1918.
"Haven't Given Up Hope For Cyclops", The New York Times, April 17, 1918.
"Collier Cyclops Is Lost; 293 Persons On Board; Enemy Blow Suspected", The Washington Post, April 15, 1918.
"U.S. Consul Gottschalk Coming To Enter The War", The Washington Post, April 15, 1918.
"Cyclops Skipper Teuton, 'Tis Said", The Washington Post, April 16, 1918.
"Fate Of Ship Baffles", The Washington Post, April 16, 1918.
"Steamer Met Gale On Cyclops' Course", The Washington Post, April 19, 1918.
Carroll A. Deering
"Piracy Suspected In Disappearance Of 3 American Ships", The New York Times, June 21, 1921.
"Bath Owners Skeptical", The New York Times, June 22, 1921. piera antonella
"Deering Skipper's Wife Caused Investigation", The New York Times, June 22, 1921.
"More Ships Added To Mystery List", The New York Times, June 22, 1921.
"Hunt On For Pirates", The Washington Post, June 21, 1921
"Comb Seas For Ships", The Washington Post, June 22, 1921.
"Port Of Missing Ships Claims 3000 Yearly", The Washington Post, July 10, 1921.
Wreckers
"'Wreckreation' Was The Name Of The Game That Flourished 100 Years Ago", The New York Times, March 30, 1969.
S.S. Suduffco
"To Search For Missing Freighter", The New York Times, April 11, 1926.
"Abandon Hope For Ship", The New York Times, April 28, 1926.
Star Tiger and Star Ariel
"Hope Wanes in Sea Search For 28 Aboard Lost Airliner", The New York Times, January 31, 1948.
"72 Planes Search Sea For Airliner", The New York Times, January 19, 1949.
DC-3 Airliner NC16002 disappearance
"30-Passenger Airliner Disappears In Flight From San Juan To Miami", The New York Times, December 29, 1948.
"Check Cuba Report Of Missing Airliner", The New York Times, December 30, 1948.
"Airliner Hunt Extended", The New York Times, December 31, 1948.
Harvey Conover and Revonoc
"Search Continuing For Conover Yawl", The New York Times, January 8, 1958.
"Yacht Search Goes On", The New York Times, January 9, 1958.
"Yacht Search Pressed", The New York Times, January 10, 1958.
"Conover Search Called Off", The New York Times, January 15, 1958.
KC-135 Stratotankers
"Second Area Of Debris Found In Hunt For Jets", The New York Times, August 31, 1963.
"Hunt For Tanker Jets Halted", The New York Times, September 3, 1963.
"Planes Debris Found In Jet Tanker Hunt", The Washington Post, August 30, 1963.
B-52 Bomber (Pogo 22)
"U.S.-Canada Test Of Air Defence A Success", The New York Times, October 16, 1961.
"Hunt For Lost B-52 Bomber Pushed In New Area", The New York Times, October 17, 1961.
"Bomber Hunt Pressed", The New York Times, October 18, 1961.
"Bomber Search Continuing", The New York Times, October 19, 1961.
"Hunt For Bomber Ends", The New York Times, October 20, 1961.
Charter vessel Sno'Boy
"Plane Hunting Boat Sights Body In Sea", The New York Times, July 7, 1963.
"Search Abandoned For 40 On Vessel Lost In Caribbean", The New York Times, July 11, 1963.
"Search Continues For Vessel With 55 Aboard In Caribbean", The Washington Post, July 6, 1963.
"Body Found In Search For Fishing Boat", The Washington Post, July 7, 1963.
SS Marine Sulphur Queen
"Tanker Lost In Atlantic; 39 Aboard", The Washington Post, February 9, 1963.
"Debris Sighted In Plane Search For Tanker Missing Off Florida", The New York Times, February 11, 1963.
"2.5 Million Is Asked In Sea Disaster", The Washington Post, February 19, 1963.
"Vanishing Of Ship Ruled A Mystery", The New York Times, April 14, 1964.
"Families Of 39 Lost At Sea Begin $20-Million Suit Here", The New York Times, June 4, 1969.
"10-Year Rift Over Lost Ship Near End", The New York Times, February 4, 1973.
SS Sylvia L. Ossa
"Ship And 37 Vanish In Bermuda Triangle On Voyage To U.S.", The New York Times, October 18, 1976.
"Ship Missing In Bermuda Triangle Now Presumed To Be Lost At Sea", The New York Times, October 19, 1976.
"Distress Signal Heard From American Sailor Missing For 17 Days", The New York Times, October 31, 1976.
Website links
The following websites have either online material that supports the popular version of the Bermuda Triangle, or documents published from official sources as part of hearings or inquiries, such as those conducted by the United States Navy or United States Coast Guard. Copies of some inquiries are not online and may have to be ordered; for example, the losses of Flight 19 or USS Cyclops can be ordered direct from the United States Naval Historical Center.
Text of Feb, 1964 Argosy Magazine article by Vincent Gaddis
United States Coast Guard database of selected reports and inquiries
Website of historian & Bermuda Triangle researcher Gian Quasar
U.S. Navy Historical Center Bermuda Triangle FAQ
U.S. Navy Historical C/ The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets, Sci Fi Channel documentary (November 2005)
Navy Historical Center: The Loss Of Flight 19
on losses of heavy ships at sea
Bermuda Shipwrecks
Association of Underwater Explorers shipwreck listings page
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
List of lost aircraft
Books
Most of the works listed here are largely out of print. Copies may be obtained at your local library, or purchased used at bookstores, or through eBay or Amazon.com. These books are often the only source material for some of the incidents that have taken place within the Triangle.
Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery by Gian J. Quasar, International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press (2003) ISBN 0-07-142640-X; contains list of missing craft as researched in official records. (Reprinted in paperback (2005) ISBN 0-07-145217-6).
The Bermuda Triangle, Charles Berlitz (ISBN 0-385-04114-4): Out of print, however it's commonly available second-hand.
The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved (1975). Lawrence David Kusche (ISBN 0-87975-971-2)
Limbo Of The Lost, John Wallace Spencer (ISBN 0-686-10658-X)
The Evidence for the Bermuda Triangle, (1984), David Group (ISBN 0-85030-413-X)
The Final Flight, (2006), Tony Blackman (ISBN 0-9553856-0-1). This book is a work of fiction.
Bermuda Shipwrecks, (2000), Daniel Berg(ISBN 0-9616167-4-1)
The Devil's Triangle, (1974), Richard Winer (ISBN 0-553-10688-0); this particular book sold well over a million copies by the end of its first year; to date there have been at least 17 printings.
The Devil's Triangle 2 (1975), Richard Winer (ISBN 0-553-02464-7)
From the Devil's Triangle to the Devil's Jaw (1977), Richard Winer (ISBN 0-553-10860-3)
Ghost Ships: True Stories of Nautical Nightmares, Hauntings, and Disasters (2000), Richard Winer (ISBN 0-425-17548-0)
The Bermuda Triangle (1975) by Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey (ISBN 0-446-59961-1)
External links
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bermuda Triangle.
"Database of selected reports and inquiries". United States Coast Guard.
"Bermuda Triangle Mystery". Gian Quasar, author of Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery.
"Bermuda Triangle FAQ". US Navy Historical Center.
"Selective Bibliography". US Navy Historical Center.
"The Loss Of Flight 19". US Navy Historical Center.
"On losses of heavy ships at sea".
"Bermuda Shipwrecks".
Barnette, Michael C.. "Shipwreck listings page". Association of Underwater Explorers.
SigmaDocumentaries. "The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle". Sigma Documentaries.


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Coordinates: 25°N 71°W

 


Categories: Bermuda Triangle
Earth mysteries
Geography of Miami, Florida
Nautical lore
Paranormal triangles
UFO-related locations
Unexplained disappearances
Urban legends
World War II sites of the United States













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