| Indiana (BB-58) was launched by Newport News Shipbuilding
& Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, 21 November 1941; sponsored by
Mrs. Lewis C. Robbins, daughter of Indiana governor Henry F. Schricker;
and commissioned 30 April 1942, Captain A. S. Merrill in command. |
| Following shakedown in Casco Bay, Maine, the new battleship steamed
through the Panama Canal to bolster U.S. fleet units in the Pacific during
the critical early months of World War II. She joined Rear Admiral Lee's
carrier screening force 28 November 1942. For the next 11 months,
Indiana helped protect carriers Enterprise and Saratoga, then supporting
American advances in the Solomons. |
| Indiana steamed to Pearl Harbor 21 October 1943, and departed
11 November with the support forces designated for the invasion of the Gilbert
Islands. The battleship protected the carriers which supported the marines
during the bloody fight for Tarawa. Then late in January 1944 she bombarded
Kwajalein for 8 days prior to the Marshall Islands landings, 1 February.
While maneuvering to refuel destroyers that night, Indiana collided
with battleship Washington. Temporary repairs to her starboard side
were made at Majuro, and she arrived Pearl Harbor 13 February for additional
work. |
| Indiana joined famed Task Force 58 for the Truk raid 29-30
April and bombarded Ponape Island 1 May. In JUne the battlewagon proceeded
to the Marianas with a giant American fleet for the invasion of that strategic
group. She bombarded Saipan 13-14 June and brought down several enemy aircraft
while fighting off concentrated air attacks June 15. As the Japanese fleet
closed the Marianas for a decisive naval battle, Indiana steamed out
to meet them as part of Rear Admiral Lee's battle line. The great fleets
approached each other 19 June for the biggest carrier engagement of the war,
and as four larger air raids hit the American formations, Indiana
aided by other ships in the screens and carrier planes, downed hundreds of
the attackers. With able assistance from submarines, Mitscher sank two Japanese
carriers in addition to inflicting fatal loses on the enemy naval air arm
during the "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot." |
| Indiana shot down several planes, and sustained only two
near torpedo misses. The issue decided, the battleship resumed her screening
duties around the carriers, and stayed at sea 64 days in daily support of
the Marianas invasion. |
| In August the battleship began operations as a unit of Task Group
38.3, bombarding the Palaus, and later the Philippines. She screened strikes
on enemy shore installations 12-30 September 194, helping to prepare for
the coming invasion of Leyte. Indiana departed for Bremerton, Washington,
arriving 23 October. |
| Reaching Pearl Harbor 12 December, the battleship immediately
began underway training preparedness. She sailed 10 January 1945 and with
a fleet of battleships and cruisers bombarded Iwo Jima 24 January.
Indiana then joined Task Force 58 at Ulithi and sortied 10 February
for the invasion of that strategic island, next step on the island road to
Japan. She supported the carriers during a raid on Tokyo 17 February and
again on 25 February, screening strikes on Iwo Jima in the interval.
Indiana arrived Ulithi for replenishment 5 March 1945, having just
supported a strike on the next target -- Okinawa. |
| Indiana steamed out of Ulithi 14 March for the massive
Okinawa invasion, and until June 1945 steamed in support of carrier operations
against Japan and Okinawa. These devastating strikes did much to aid the
ground campaign and lower Japanese moral at home. During this period she
often repelled enemy suicide planes attacks as the Japanese tried desperately
but vainly to stem the mounting tide of defeat. In early June she rode out
a terrific typhoon, and sailed to San Pedro Bay, Philippines, 13 June. |
| As a member of Task Group 38.1 Indiana operated from 1
July to 15 August supporting air strikes against Japan and bombarded coastal
targets with her big guns. The veteran battleship arrived Tokyo Bay 5 September
and 9 days later sailed for San Francisco, where she arrived 29 September
1945. She was placed in reserve in commission at Bremerton 11 September 1946.
She decommissioned 11 September 1947, and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
She was stricken from the Navy List 1 June 1962 and sold for scrap.
Indiana's mast is erected at the University of Indiana at
Bloomington; her anchor rests at Fort Wayne; and other relics are on display
in various museums and schools throughout the State. |
| Today her mainmast and two twin mount 40 mm guns of the have been
enshrined near the football stadium at Indiana University in Bloomington,
Indiana. An anchor is on view at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and more that a thousand
other relics have been placed in schools, museums, and exhibits throughout
the State. Some 210 tons of her 12-inch armor plate form a lead-lined laboratory
for radiation research under the lawn of the Salt Lake City's medical center
in the Utah State Capital. Another 65 tons serve a similar purpose at the
VA Hospital, Hines, Illinois. |
|
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| USS Indiana, Battleship (BB-58)
Specifications |
 |
1942
-
Length Overall: 680'
-
Extreme Beam: 108'2"
-
Normal Displacement:
-
Tons: 35,000
-
Mean Draft: 29'3"
-
Designed Complement:
-
Officers: 115
-
Enlisted: 1,678
-
Armor:
-
Belt: 12.25"
-
Turrets: 18"
-
Deck:
-
Main: 1.5
-
2nd: 6"
-
3rd: .33"
-
Conning Tower: 15"
-
Designed Speed: 27
-
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 130,00
-
Engines:
-
Manufacturer: Wstgh.
-
Type: Turbine, geared drive
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Screws: 4
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Boilers:
-
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Fuel :
-
Drive: TRD
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Class: Indiana
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Armament:
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Main:
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Secondary:
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(20) 5"/38 AA
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(16) 20 mm.
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(6) quad 40 mm.
-
Torpedo Tubes: none
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Catapults: (2) aft.
|
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Bibliography
 |
Larry W. Jewell, Who's Who of United States
Battleships, (Internet publication), edition: 30 August, 1993. |
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1968, Repring 1977), Vol.3: G-K, p. 430-432 & 709 |
|
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