The God of the Sea: Find the biggest shark attack ever recorded in history!

In the impression of many people, the shark is an extremely dangerous species, and this is not wrong, in history there have been recorded cases of sharks attacking and claiming the lives of at least 150 people.

On July 30, 1945, an American warship was hit by two Japanese torpedoes, and the ship was sunk in just 12 minutes. As a result, 900 sailors survived the disaster, but they still could not breathe a sigh of relief, because now they would have to face a whole school of sharks. Even by the most conservative estimates, at least 150 people lost their lives under the shark's teeth before receiving help and rescue and four days later.

In a shark attack and claimed the lives of at least 150 people.

Let's go back in time to the past. On July 29, the Indianapolis was sailing from Guam without an escort, to join the battleship USS Idaho in the Philippine Leyte Gulf and prepare for war with Japan.

Just after midnight, a Japanese torpedo hit the right bow, where the ship's fuel was stored: about 3,500 gallons (more than 13,200 liters) of which spilled into the water and immediately burst into flames, shooting up. the fire was several tens of meters high.

Hit by a Japanese torpedo, the Indianapolis was torn in half.

Then, a second Japanese torpedo struck close to the center of the ship, causing the fuel tanks and powder storage to explode. The chain reaction couldn't be stopped, Indianapolis was torn in half. Meanwhile, the ship was still moving at high speed, in just a few seconds it was flooded and sank after only 12 minutes. About 900 of the 1196 crew members survived the blasts and were forced to plunge into the water. Many people think they can breathe a sigh of relief, but they don't know that the worst time of their lives is coming.

'When I looked down at myself, I noticed I was covered in oil and the first instinct was to get away from it, you know, if it catches on fire you're really in trouble. So the first thing to do when diving into the water is to swim out of it, so I swam away. And then maybe around 5 or 6 in the morning, I was still swimming. I have nothing. I didn't even have a life jacket, so I swam from midnight to 5:30 a.m.,' Lyle Umenhoffer, Seaman First Class, told History.

When the sun rose on July 30, in addition to the lifeboats, a few pieces of the ship were still floating, dozens of corpses, there were hundreds of survivors tormented by the pain of burns. , or injuries from the explosion, many did not even have life jackets.

The animals were attracted by the sound of the explosion.

In order to maintain order, they tried to pull the injured people who were trapped between the debris and the corpses, whereby they also divided into several small groups and a large group of about 300 people. Soon, however, the sailors had to face two extremely dangerous enemies at sea: thirst and sharks.

The animals are attracted by the noise of the explosion, the sinking ship, the oil spill and of course the blood. Of the many shark species that inhabit the ocean, none is considered as aggressive as the great whitehead shark Carcharhinus longimanus. The first targets of these marine predators were floating carcasses, but then an increasing number of sharks were attracted, and they began to target people who were swimming and struggling to get to the water. exist on water.

According to the recollections of survivors, the men scattered over an area of ​​hundreds of square meters were attacked by dozens or even more than a hundred sharks. They were attracted to blood, so people tried to swim away from the wounded and bleeding sailors.

Men scattered over an area of ​​hundreds of square meters were attacked by sharks.

'All the while, the sharks never gave up. We have a cargo net that has foam stuff attached to it to keep it afloat. There's about 15 sailors up here, and all of a sudden, 10 sharks rush into it until there's nothing left. This goes on and on," Eugene Morgan, Boatswain's Mate Second Class, told History.

Most people feel extremely scared and cannot think logically. Some of them made the mistake of opening a box of Spam - but before they could eat any of it, the meat attracted a school of sharks around them, prompting them to throw away their mouthguards. my food.

As the days passed, despair overcame the sailors: they began to hallucinate from heat and thirst. Many people can't stand it anymore and drink salty sea water - a death sentence due to salt poisoning. These sailors quickly fell into a state of madness, foaming at the mouth, and swollen lips and tongues. Accordingly they also posed a threat to the living, many of whom lost control and dragged their comrades underwater when they died.

'The men started drinking so much salt water that they became delirious. In fact, many of them have weapons like knives, and they will go crazy to the point of fighting with their own teammates for no reason. While there are people who have experienced hallucinations after drinking seawater, they often believe that someone provides fresh water and food in the sea. And they will swim down, which means they will have their lives taken by sharks," survivor Granville Crane told History.

Only 317 of Indianapolis' 1,196 crew survived.

The carnage lasted for four days: although three US Navy radio stations received news of the disaster, none of these stations conveyed the message to their superiors: the commander of a drunken station. , while a commander at another station banned his subordinates from disturbing him. The third commander thought it was a hoax by the Japanese side and also ignored the alarm. Meanwhile, sailors learned that their best chance of survival was to gather in a group, and if possible, in the midst of crowds, since predators could reach them more easily from the seas. edge.

On Wednesday, at 11 a.m., a Navy patrol plane spotted the survivors and signaled for help. A few hours later, a seaplane appeared and released rafts and survival kits to rescue the survivors. Minutes after midnight, the battleship USS Doyle finally rescued all the survivors.

Only 317 of Indianapolis' 1,196 crew survived. It is estimated that at least 150 people died from the sharks, while the rest died from hallucinations, thirst and exhaustion. It was the worst shark attack of all time, and also the deadliest maritime disaster in the history of the US Navy.