USS Indianapolis (CA-35)

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was an American warship used by the US Navy during World War II and sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1945. Being a Portland-class heavy cruiser, she was equipped with nine 203-mm (8-inch) and eight 127-mm guns. Like her sister ship of the class, she was a fast and modern vessel that was powered by four Parsons steam geared turbines. She welcomed aboard the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on three different occasions. However, she would become famous for other reason; when she was torpedoed and sunk, almost a third of her compliment were eaten alive by sharks that roamed the Pacific waters. She had participated in several naval engagements and earned ten battle stars.

The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was laid down as a cruiser in 1930. However, on July 7, 1931, she would be re-designated as heavy cruiser. Built by the New York Shipbuilding Co at Camden, New Jersey, she was launched on November 7, 1931, and commissioned on November 15, 1932. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, she was away from the naval base, sailing off Johnson Island, west of Hawaii. In late 1943, she became the flagship of Raymond Spruance, the commander of the Fifth Fleet. Thus, Indianapolis took part in the US invasion of Tarawa, Saipan, Peleliu, and Okinawa, with her guns pounding the beaches to soften the terrain. In June 1944, she also took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

A month and half before the war ended, USS Indianapolis carried out a secret mission. She transported Little Boy atomic bomb from the United States to Tinian. However, on her way to Leyte, Philippines, she was struck by two torpedoes launched from the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945. It took her only fifteen minutes to sink, taking in tons of waters through the torn bow. Most of her crew got killed, drowned or eaten by sharks.

Specifications

Type: Portland-class heavy cruiser

Displacement: 10,258 tons (standard); 12,755 tons (full load)

Length: 185.9 m (610 feet)

Beam: 20.1 m (66 feet)

Draft: 6.4 m (21 feet)

Propulsion: four Parsons geared turbines, with four shafts, and eight White-Forster water-tube boilers, generating 107,000 sHP.

Maximum Speed: 32.7 knots

Range: 10,000 nautical miles, sailing at 15 knots.

Compliment: 1,250 sailors and officers (in 1944)

Armament: nine 203-mm (8-inch) naval guns mounted in three triple turrets (two on bow deck, and one on aft deck) set up at ship center-line; eight 127-mm AA guns.

Above, the USS Indianapolis in May 1945. The circles mark the additions during her last refit.

The heavy cruiser on December 9, 1944, during refit and equipment recalibration.

USS Indianapolis sailing in the Pacific in July 1942.