There is no doubt that the loss of life was many. After reading a few books on the Indy and recalling what my uncle told me of her (he was not on the Indy but on Tinian Island when she came in) heres another way of looking at The Indys legacy. My Uncle was a lowly sailor on Tinian when the Indy came in, he noticed "an incredible amount of security, I just knew something big was going on" Well he figured it out when the US dropped the atomic bomb. As my first sentence said, the loss of life occuring from the sinking was many, the Indy having delivered the vital parts of the bomb saved many many lives. Japan was planning to fight to the last man, a full scale invasion would have cost many American and Japanesse lives. The Indy saved more lives than any other ship in World (yes World) history. Because of the role  the Indy played, many young men were able to come home from the Pacific theater with their limbs intact their lives saved all due to a mighty ship, that did its duty even when others did not.