May 2018 Auction Ends Thursday, May 31st, 5pm Pacific

Lot #28:

Franklin D. Roosevelt Document Signed as President -- FDR Signs a Certificate of Honor in 1936 for the USS Indianapolis, the Ship That Famously Sunk 9 Years Later in the Navy's Worst Maritime Disaster

Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Certificate of Honor for a crewman on the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the ship that carried FDR on his ''Good Neighbor'' mission to South America shortly after his successful 1936 election. The Indianapolis, of course, was the ship famously sunk by the Japanese in July 1945 at the close of WWII while en route on a secret mission to deliver the atomic bomb, with many of its crewmen left defenseless for days in fending off sharks. Roosevelt boldly signs the document at lower left, ''Franklin D Roosevelt'', dated 24 November 1936. With red-ribboned gold foil seal and colorful vignette of Neptune at top, document measures 21'' x 15''. Some discoloration from moisture exposure, overall in good plus condition.