USS indianapolis
 

She was tasked to deliver the Hiroshima Atom Bomb to Tinian, after that she left to go to Leyte to join the pre mainland invasion fleet. The Capt asked for full intel on the route and was told nothing was in the area. He specifically asked about subs as he had been ordered there unescorted. Capital ships did not go unescorted. On a pitch dark night nothing could be seen, then the moon came out for a few minutes from behind the dark clouds and the I-58 could not believe it luck. three torps later and 12 minutes and the ship was gone. The Capt was court martialled in a kangaroo court. The heirarchy covering their ass. And was was found guilt of NOT zig zagging. When his orders clearly stated that, because of his speed, and the route, zig zagging was optional.

The captain of the I-58 came to the States, voluntarily, in order to speak FOR Capt McVay. He told the court that there was no way he would have missed, zig zag or not.

After tons of hate mail, he committed suicide. The surviving crew finally got congress and senate to declare the man innocent and Pres Clinton signed a full posthumous pardon. The idiots who hid behind their skirts, nothing. I knew all this as I have a big page on my WW2 site and saw a documentary today on the subject and the finding of the wreck (also the subject of the programme). RIP Capt McVay, one of the best rising Captains in the US Navy, a naval family and son of an Admiral was victimised to hide others shame and left the US Navy permanently sham faced.

The Navy covered up the full details for operational reasons, and the captain definitely took alot of heat. A capital ship had no way of detecting a submarine at night, and zig-zagging simply wouldn't have mattered in those conditions.

A perfect example of unescorted shipping is the Bismarck or Graf Spee.