Reading the Indianapolis court martial as institutional scapegoating

Was the court martial of Indianapolis's captain used to distract from failures by his superiors?

Yes; it is treated as political scapegoating similar to other wartime efforts to redirect blame.

The Indianapolis case is compared with responsibility assigned after Pearl Harbor. The captain's court martial is judged a miscarriage of justice and a means of redirecting blame. That judgment points to wider political problems inside the wartime United States Navy. Responsibility depends on who controlled information and accountability, rather than resting solely on the prosecuted officer.