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Apparently the story about U.S.S. Indianapolis in Jaws is just that, a story. The radio room DID send a distress call. It was received by three vessels, none of which acted on it. The mission to deliver parts of The Bomb was over, and this was something else. The Navy did have a record of the sailing. A different number of men went into the water. Sharks got some of the casualties, but not all.

Figures.

Loss at the Battle of Tassafaronga

Northampton attempting to tow Hornet during the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October 1942
Northampton next operated with a cruiser-destroyer force, to prevent the Japanese from reinforcing their troops on Guadalcanal. The Battle of Tassafaronga began 40 minutes before midnight on 30 November, when three American destroyers made a surprise torpedo attack on the Japanese. All American ships then opened fire, which the startled enemy did not return for seven minutes. Two of the American cruisers took torpedo hits within the space of a minute, and 10 minutes later, another was hit, all being forced to retire from the action. Northampton and Honolulu, with six destroyers, continued the fierce action.[5]

Close to the end of the engagement, Northampton was struck by two torpedoes, which tore a huge hole in her port side, ripping away decks and bulkheads. Flaming oil sprayed over the ship; she took on water rapidly and began to list. Three hours later, as she began to sink stern-first, she had to be abandoned. So orderly and controlled was the process that loss of life was surprisingly light. Most of the survivors were picked up within an hour by destroyers of Task Force 67. About 40 crewmen spent the rest of the night in two life rafts. Those survivors were later rescued by torpedo boat PT 109 and landed on Tulagi Island. U. S. Navy archives contain a photo of PT 109 entering the anchorage at Tulagi, her topside crowded by Northampton survivors, some of them seriously wounded or dying. Five months after this battle PT 109 got a new skipper: Lt.jg John F. Kennedy. [5] While it was a tactical defeat, as three cruisers had been severely damaged and Northampton lost[5] in exchange for the loss of only one Japanese destroyer, nevertheless the Japanese had been denied a major reinforcement.[5]

The senior officer killed on Northampton during the battle of Tassafaronga was Chief Engineer, Commander (select) Hilan Ebert of Alliance, Ohio. Ebert was awarded the Navy Cross. In honor of Commander Ebert, the destroyer escort USS Ebert was launched 11 May 1944 by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Tampa, Florida; sponsored by the widow of Commander Ebert; Mrs. Hilan Ebert.[8]

Northampton plays a prominent role in Herman Wouk's novel War and Remembrance as Victor Henry's first seagoing command in many years. The ship's operations in the book are identical to those in its real life. The novel includes a discussion of the design compromises imposed on the Northampton-class by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.

See also
Jason Robards, crewman aboard Northampton when it was lost

Apparently the story about U.S.S. Indianapolis in Jaws is just that, a story. The radio room DID send a distress call. It was received by three vessels, none of which acted on it. The mission to deliver parts of The Bomb was over, and this was something else. The Navy did have a record of the sailing. A different number of men went into the water. Sharks got some of the casualties, but not all.

Figures.

This happened to my dad and his ship. By this I mean the sharks, sinking, etc. He told me how long he was in the water, dont recall now. May have only been an hour or two, dont recall. I see below it says within an hour, that sounds about right. He was Chief Petty Officer, Quartermaster.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Northampton_(CA-26)

he obviously survived after sometime in the water...

My dad was a Navy fighter pilot in the Pacific during WWII. He flew off the U.S.S. Enterprise and is written up in a number of books. He told me he was shot down and he was able to get into his life raft after ditching his plane. He said while he was in the raft he saw a shark fin coming up to his raft so he pulled out his pistol and shot at it. He said he almost put a hole in the raft. He eventually drifted up to an island and he didn't know if it was held by the Japanese or Americans so he came up with a plan. Since he was a first generation American, his father was German, he was fluent in German so he stripped down to his scivies and held his dog tags in his hand. As he waded ashore, if there were Japanese he drop his dog tags into the water, start speaking German, and pass himself off as a German sailor. Fortunately, he landed on an American held island.