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Indianapolis and Portland
were the only ships in this class built
for the US Navy. Indianapolis
first deployment during World War Two was
to provide cover for aircraft carriers
operating in the South Pacific. A patrol
to the Alaska area in 1943 led to her
first success in the war, the sinking of
a Japanese transport ship. Later in 1943,
Indianapolis was operated as the
flagship of the Fifth Fleet supporting
landings at the Gilbert Islands, Marshall
Islands, Marianas and Peleliu. In March
1945, Indianapolis supported the
landings at Iwo Jima, Japanese Home
Islands and the Ryukyus. During the
battle for the Ryukyus, a Kamikaze
aircraft damaged her to an extent she had
to be returned to America for
repairs.
Following her re-entering service late
in 1945, Indianapolis set out from
San Francisco bound for the Pacific
Island of Tinian carrying components of
atomic weapons intended for use on the
Japanese mainland. After successfully
delivering the weapons to the US base at
Tinian, Indianapolis was
dispatched to Guam and from there ordered
to join up with the battleship
Idaho at Leyte Gulf. Whilst on
route to Leyte, at 12.14 am July 30th
1945, one torpedo fired from the Japanese
submarine I-58 slammed into
her side. Indianapolis went down
within 12 minutes taking around 330 of
the crew with her, this leaving about 900
in the sea. Due to a blunder in
communications, the sinking of
Indianapolis went unnoticed until
US aircraft spotted survivors on August
2nd. After nearly five days in the shark
infested sea, only 321 survivors were
picked up, four of which died in hospital
soon after.
USS Portland scrapped
1959
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