Indianapolis (Cruiser)

USS Indianapolis (CL/CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy, named for the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Launched in 1931, it was the flagship for the commander of Scouting Force 1 for eight years, then flagship for Admiral Raymond Spruance in 1943 and 1944 while he commanded the Fifth Fleet in battles across the Central Pacific during World War II.

In July 1945, Indianapolis completed a top-secret high-speed trip to deliver uranium and other components for "Little Boy", the first of two nuclear weapons ever used in combat, to the Tinian Naval Base, and subsequently departed for the Philippines on training duty. At 0015 on 30 July, the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship.[4] The remaining 890 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while stranded in the open ocean with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy only learned of the sinking four days later, when survivors were spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. A PBY seaplane (which the USN had at the time) crew landed to save those in the water. Only 316 survived.[4]

The sinking of Indianapolis resulted in the greatest loss of life at sea from a single ship in the history of the US Navy.[a] On 19 August 2017, a search team financed by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen located the wreckage in the Philippine Sea lying at a depth of approximately 18,000 ft (5,500 m).[5] On 20 December, 2018, the crew of the Indianapolis was collectively awarded a Congressional Gold Medal