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HISTORY
USS Indianapolis (CL/CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of
the United States Navy, named for the city of Indianapolis, Indiana.
The vessel served as the flagship for the commander of Scouting
Force 1 for eight pre-war years, then as flagship for Admiral
Raymond Spruance, in 1943 and 1944, while he commanded the Fifth
Fleet in battles across the Central Pacific in World War II.
In 1945, the sinking of Indianapolis led to the greatest single loss
of life at sea, from a single ship, in the history of the US Navy.
The ship had just finished a high-speed trip to United States Air
Force Base at Tinian, to deliver parts of the first atomic bomb ever
used in combat (the United States' Little Boy atomic bomb), and was
on training duty. At 0015 on 30 July 1945 the ship was torpedoed by
the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58. The ship, on her way to
the Philippines, sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crewmen aboard,
approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 900 faced
exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while
floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy
learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later
by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 317 survived.
On 19 August 2017, a search team financed by Paul Allen located the
wreckage of the sunken cruiser in the Philippine Sea lying at a
depth of approximately 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
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