The Truth Behind Quint’s Story of the USS Indianapolis in “Jaws”
The tale told by the beleaguered seaman was true. The sinking of the military ship and subsequent shark attacks of survivors really did happen. But how much was embellished for the film?
Author’s Note
1975’s “Jaws,” based on Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel of the same name, remains one of the globe’s top-grossing films when adjusted for inflation. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, “Jaws” placed #7 on the adjusted worldwide list as late as 2020, the last year such numbers were tracked by the website.
The film continues to resonate in the popular culture; since its release, innumerable articles have been published on both the film itself and the truth behind the ill-fated USS Indianapolis, an anecdote shared in the film by Robert Shaw’s Sam Quint (called only by his last name in the movie) with Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) and oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss).
What follows is information attained from several media outlets and websites…
