USS Indianapolis (CA-35)

The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. She served in the Pacific Theater of World War II and is best known for her tragic sinking in the final weeks of the war after successfully delivering components of the "Little Boy" atomic bomb to Tinian Island.

Commissioned in 1932, the Indianapolis served as the flagship of the Scouting Force until 1941, and later as flagship for the Fifth Fleet under Admiral Raymond Spruance. She participated in numerous campaigns, including the Aleutian Islands Campaign, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign, the Marianas Islands Campaign, and the Battle of Okinawa. She earned ten battle stars for her service during the war.

Following a high-speed run to deliver the atomic bomb components to Tinian, the Indianapolis was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-58 in the early morning hours of July 30, 1945. The ship sank in approximately 12 minutes, leaving hundreds of survivors in the shark-infested waters of the Philippine Sea. Due to communication errors and a lack of distress signals being received, the survivors were not rescued for nearly five days. Of the nearly 1,200 crewmen aboard, only 316 survived.

The sinking of the USS Indianapolis resulted in significant loss of life and sparked controversy regarding the Navy's handling of the situation, including the delay in rescue efforts and the subsequent court-martial of the ship's captain, Charles B. McVay III. McVay was exonerated years later, and the tragedy remains a poignant reminder of the human cost of war. The wreckage of the USS Indianapolis was discovered in 2017 at a depth of over 18,000 feet in the Philippine Sea.