| On 31 March, the day before the invasion, the ship's sky lookouts
spotted a Japanese single engine fighter plane as it emerged from the morning
twilight and roared at the bridge in a vertical dive. The ship's 2D-millimeter
guns opened fire, but less than 15 seconds after it was spotted the plane
was over the ship. Tracer shells crashed into the plane, causing it to swerve;
but the enemy pilot managed to release his bomb from a height of 25 feet
and crash his plane on the port side of the after main deck. The plane toppled
into the sea, causing little damage; but the bomb plummeted through the deck
armor, the crew's mess hall, the berthing compartment below, and the fuel
tanks still lower before crashing through the bottom of the ship and exploding
in the water under the ship. The concussion blew two gaping holes in the
ship bottom and flooded compartments in the area, killing nine crewmen. Although
Indianapolis settled slightly by the stern and listed to port, there
was no progressive flooding; and the plucky cruiser steamed to a salvage
ship for emergency repairs. Here, inspection revealed that her propeller
shafts were damaged, her fuel tanks ruptured and her water distilling equipment
ruined; nevertheless, the battle-proud cruiser made the long trip across
the Pacific to the Mare Island Navy Yard under her own power in late April
of 1945. |
