I finally realize that I have heard this story before, wasn’t this the ship where the crew had to pass the notice that the ship was sinking by word of mouth? Very sad indeed.
If I remember correctly the ship had just delivered the A bomb to Tinian Island and was on its way home. What a horrible story. Hard to believe people send hate mail over these tragedies. Kimmel and Short got the same after they were pinned with responsibility for Pearl Harbor.