Books: Death of a Ship

ABANDON SHIP! (305 pp.)—Richard F. Newcomb—Holf ($3.95).

A truly proud ship was the heavy cruiser Indianapolis. Before World War II, she had served as an ocean-going White House for Franklin Roosevelt. She had flown the four-star flag of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and had fought in many a Pacific battle. As July 1945 drew to a close, Indy had just steamed 2,091 miles from the Farallons to Diamond Head at a record-breaking, rivet-loosening 28 knots. Reason for the haste: she was on her way to the Marianas with an unprecedented cargo—the components of the...