Actually Sorcha, the captain of the Indianapolis did make an executive decision NOT to zig-zag as per standing orders and was court martialed for that offense. The Captain of the Japanese sub that torpedoed the Indianapolis testified at the trial and stated that he would have made the shot whether or not the cruiser was zig-zagging or not, but in the part of the testimony that was emphasized he stated that the ship was tracking straight. He had seen the Indianapolis outbound for Tinian and laid in wait in its path on the return.

Your point however is well taken as the US had NO IDEA that the ship was missing for several days because of the secrecy of the mission. No one ever really shouldered the blame for that error and the loss of most of the men was due to the extra days spent in the water.

Spaw