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From the Archives

A new brew for the USS Indianapolis crew

A new brew for the USS Indianapolis crew

Pale Ale

A bottle of Survivor's Tale Pale Ale sits atop an American flag. Mare Island Brewery made the specialty beer to honor the survivors of the USS Indianapolis at their annual reunion in Indianapolis from July 23-26, 2015. Six cases of the beer were to be distributed to the survivors and their families during a banquet Saturday night.

A Way Out Productions

Those who survived the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis tell some pretty incredible tales – unembellished accounts of four hellish days spent adrift in shark-infested waters, where 880 sailors died.

This tall one – Survivor’s Tale Pale Ale produced by Mare Island Brewery in California – is for them.

Two years ago, organizers of the annual USS Indianapolis Survivors Reunion were searching for themes – other than the ship’s sinking – to commemorate. Peggy McCall Campo, the reunion coordinator and secretary for the Survivors organization, asked her father, Donald McCall, for some happier history on the ship.

The Navy veteran – a petty officer 2nd class when the Indy sunk July 30, 1945, after being hit by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine – was one of 317 sailors to survive the ordeal, which resulted in the most casualties at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.

McCall told her of his time at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, where the Indy took refuge after it was hit by a kamikaze bomb during the Battle of Okinawa. Nine sailors were killed in the March 31, 1945, attack that forced the ship to leave the battle and limp back to the states.

“I asked my dad what he did at Mare Island,” Campo, 65, said. “He said they lived on the ship while it was in dry dock, but would take a bus to wherever for liberty. They went to San Francisco, to dance clubs. They’d have beers in town.”

Mare Island would prove to be the last stateside port the Indy would see before it was sent on a top-secret mission to Tinian Island carrying the components of the atomic bomb that  was dropped on Hiroshima. After that mission, the Indy was on its way to the Philippines when it was sunk.

Campo did online research on Mare Island and discovered a brewery that specialized in making beers with nautical-themed names. She contacted the company and made a pitch to have a beer made for the Indy survivors.

Ryan Gibbons, co-founder of Mare Island Brewery, said he was “flabbergasted” when Campo informed him that the Indy spent time at Mare Island.

“My dad was big into Navy history,” said Gibbons. “I knew about the Indy but not that it was at Mare Island.”

The information surprised Gibbons all the more because his brewery, which launched its first beer in 2013, was intended to help preserve the history of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, which Congress shuttered in 1996.

Based on that rich naval heritage, Gibbons said he has “more ideas for beers than he has recipes.”

The company has unveiled six specialty beers that it delivers to local establishments: “Saginaw Golden Ale,” “Coal Shed Stout,” “Hydraulic Sandwich IPA,” “Shipwright’s Porter,” “Farragut’s Farmhouse Ale” and “Angles and Dangles American Blonde Ale.” Each beer reflects a naval theme with famous ships, personages or terms. The company’s website gives a brief description of each and what the names mean. It also contains interesting historical information and photos of the Navy's presence at the shipyard founded in 1854.

On Saturday, during the Indy’s reunion banquet, Gibbons was to present six cases of his new concoction, “Survivor’s Tale.” He said he will leave it to Campo to decide who gets the beer.

Campo said they’ll serve one cold beer to each of the 14 survivors who are registered to attend the event, which got underway Thursday and ends Sunday. She said the rest of the beer will be given to the survivors or their families. Of the 317 sailors who survived the sinking, only 36 are still alive, including her father, who is 90.

“We’ll give each survivor a couple to take home, and we’ll give flyers to the families to order some,” Campo said.