Saturday, December 29, 2007

USS Indianapolis

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a Portland-class heavy cruiser of the United States Navy. She holds a place in history due to the notorious circumstances of her demise, which was the worst single at-sea loss of life in the history of the U.S. Navy.
After delivering the first atomic bomb to be used in combat to the United States air base at Tinian Island on July 26, 1945, she was in the Philippine Sea when attacked at 00:14 on July 30, 1945 by a Japanese submarine. Most of the crew was lost to a combination of exposure, dehydration, and shark attacks as they waited for assistance while floating helplessly for several days.
Indianapolis was the second to last US Navy ship sunk by enemy action in World War II (the submarine USS Bullhead was attacked by Japanese aircraft with depth charges and sunk on August 6, 1945).

Displacement: 9,800 tons
Length: 610 ft (186 m)
Beam: 66 ft (20 m)
Draught: 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
Propulsion: 8 White-Forster boilers, single reduction geared turbines (107,000 shp)
Speed: 32.7 knots (59 km/h)
Complement: 629 officers and enlisted (peace), 1,269 officers and enlisted (wartime)
Armament: Nine 8 inch (203 mm), eight 5 inch (127 mm) guns
Aircraft carried: Two OS2U Kingfishers