Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991)

True story of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, its crew's struggle to survive the sharks and exposure, and the captain's scape-goat court-martial.

Director:

Robert Iscove

Writer:

Alan Sharp

Stars:

Stacy Keach, Richard Thomas, Steve Landesberg

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stacy Keach	...	Capt. Charles Butler McVay
Richard Thomas	...	Lieutenant Steven Scott
Steve Landesberg	...	Lipscombe
Don Harvey	...	Kinderman
Robert Cicchini	...	D'Angelo
David Caruso	...	Wilkes
Bob Gunton	...	Chaplain
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Hashimoto
Jeffrey Nordling	...	Tasker
Tim Guinee	...	Dobson
Neil Giuntoli	...	Goldstein
Gordon Clapp	...	Elias
Joseph Carberry	...	Spilner (as Joe Carberry)
Dale Dye	...	Major Green
Eddie Frias	...	Cortes

Storyline

True story of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, its crew's struggle to survive the sharks and exposure, and the captain's scape-goat court-martial.

---

Plot Keywords:

court martial | shark | 1940s | ship sinking | north pacific | 

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

29 September 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mission of the Shark

Filming Locations:

Mobile, Alabama, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fries Entertainment, Richard Maynard Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the scene where a seaplane lands at sea to rescue the crew, the plane used is a Grumman Albatross. However, this aircraft was not put into service until 1949. The real life aircraft that rescued the crew, was a Catalina PBY.

---

Connections

Edited from Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980)

User Reviews

Fans of S.S.'s Jaws should check this one out.

Remember the boys out on Quint's boat? At night, down below, swapping seagoing yarns, showing their scars, knowing the shark is out there, waiting in the watery night, guys talk of exploits and escapes. Joining in, the Roy Schieder character naively questions, "What's that one?" noticing another tattoo on Quint's forearm, The USS Indianapolis. Quint tells the tragic story of that WWII ship and crew. His personal motivation as a shark hunter.

Well, if you want more of the story, that's what Mission of the Shark delivers. It is a nicely crafted historical drama with high marks for historical accuracy. Stacy Keach is wonderful as the captain, a tragic figure with biblically bad luck.