Indianapolis, USS (CA-35)

by David Tagg

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About the Vessel

Indianapolis was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, launched in 1931. She served as the flagship for the commander of Scouting Force 1 for eight years, then as flagship for Admiral Raymond Spruance in commanded of the Fifth Fleet in the Pacific.

On 30 July 1945, Indianapolis was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-58, and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The rest were left with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy did not learned of the sinking until four days later, when survivors were spotted by a plane on routine patrol. Only 316 men survived. The sinking of Indianapolis resulted in the greatest single loss of life at sea, from a single ship, in the history of the US Navy.

Model Images

Indianapolis is in the foreground.

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