November 5, 2026
“…AND THEN THERE WERE ONLY EIGHT…”
The Fate of the Final Missing Crew Members of the USS Indianapolis confirmed by the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation.
After delivering critical atomic bomb components from the West Coast to the Pacific island of Tinian, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis CA-35 was struck by Japanese submarine torpedoes and sank shortly after midnight on July 30, 1945.
Approximately 300 of the ship’s 1,194 sailors went down with the ship. It is believed that some 900 men were set adrift and endured 5 days and 4 nights in shark infested waters waiting for help to arrive. Very few had any food and water and were lucky enough to have found the rare lifeboats that were released as the skip was sinking. Most were kept afloat with a life vest, some with inflatable life belts and some had nothing more than the movements of their arms to keep from sinking to their deaths. By the time the US Navy realized Indianapolis had failed to arrive in port as scheduled, it was too late. Only 316 crew members had survived.
With the survivors rescued and transferred to two hospitals in the Pacific, the work began to recover and attempt to identify the bodies floating in the water.
Rescue ships recovered 91 bodies and buried them at sea but many could not be identified and became "Unknowns". In 2022, Foundation investigators were able to definitively identify 13 of the "Unknowns", leading the U.S. Navy to change their classification from "Missing in Action" to "Accounted For – Buried at Sea".
In reconciling the official lists of crew members on the final voyage, the survivors, those identified and known buried at sea, known dead, and the list of the 13 identified by the Foundation in 2022; there remained eight sailors whose fate was still unknown.
Leonard William Barenthin, S1c, from Rock Island, Illinois
Clinton Columbus Cavitt, WT 3c, from Valley Park, Missouri
Alford Edward Cox, GM 3c, from Pueblo, Colorado
Donald William Fleischauer, S1c, from Exeter, Nebraska
Charles Lee Myers Jr., S2c, from Jackson, Michigan
Amos Selman, S2c, from Selma, Alabama
Homer Leroy Smith, F2c, from Mishiwaka, Indiana
Lowell Elvis Speer, RT 3c, from Sacramento, California
Additional investigations by the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation, supported by the Education Committee and Project888.org of the USS Indianapolis Legacy Organization, were able to establish that the remaining eight “Unknowns” had been ultimately identified by fingerprints, sometimes years after their burial at sea by the rescue ships.
While documents in previously unavailable government files established the fingerprint identification of the eight beyond a reasonable doubt, there was no record in any file noting that the family members of any of the eight had been notified.
Chief Stone stated: "This was a spectacular accomplishment by our team and hopefully will now bring final closure to all eight families. In the case of Seaman 1st Class Fleischauer, our investigators even established the exact date, time, specific recovery ship, and the latitude and longitude of his burial at sea. Simply an incredible research and investigative feat over 81 years after his loss!"
Thanks go out to all who worked on these cases, including the staff at the National Archives and the Education Committee and Project888.org of the USS Indianapolis Legacy organization, who helped acquire research documents for the investigation. And, of course, all who provided financial support for our Foundation’s activities.
Family members of these eight men are encouraged to contact Chief Stone so that research finding can be shared with them. Visit www.ChiefRickStone.com for more information on this case or the Foundation’s activities.
For biographical information about these eight crew members, visit Project888.org and contact us for more or to submit additional information. Project 888 is dedicated to remembering and honoring 888 crew members of USS Indianapolis who died in 1945.
