The Lake Shore Chapel will open on Sunday, July 6th, 2025, for our 121st season!
Paul Elliott Ullmann
Paul Elliott Ullmann grew up spending summers along the shores of Lake Michigan with his parents, Herbert and Eleanor Ullmann, and sisters, Priscilla Ullmann Mueller and Claire Ullmann Nutting. Paul's grandparents, Herbert and Clara Ullmann, were among the first summer residents of the shore.
Paul was a Second Lieutenant aboard the USS Indianapolis during WWII. The ship had just finished a trip to the island of Tinian where it had delivered components of Little Boy, the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Shortly after leaving Tinian, 30 July 1945, the USS Indianapolis was hit by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 sunk with the ship. The remaining 900 faced extreme sun exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks. There were few lifeboats and almost no food or water.
Due to communication issues, the Navy did not learn of the Indianapolis' sinking until survivors were spotted four days later by the crew of a passing American bomber on routine patrol.
Of the 900 sailors who escaped the wreckage, only 316 survived. Eyewitness testimony places Paul in the water with the other 900 crewmembers after the ship went down, but he was never found by the Navy rescue team.
Paul Ullmann pictured with his younger cousin, Herb Ullmann, prior to deploying to the Pacific in WWII. Friendship Porch was built in Herb's memory after his death in 1981.