Remembering the Tragedy of the USS Indianapolis
August 3, 2025
By: Brandon J. Weichert
The days that followed the Indianapolis’ sinking were a harrowing ordeal that tested the limits of human survival.
Commissioned in 1932, the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a formidable vessel. Armed with nine, 8-inch guns, the iconic warship played key roles in early Pacific Theater campaigns of World War II—including the bombardment of Japanese positions during the Aleutian Islands campaign and the Battle of Tarawa.
A Portland-class heavy cruiser, the ship earned an astonishing ten battle stars for its combat prowess. None of these achievements hold up, though, to the tragic story of her end.
The Calamitous Story of the Indianapolis
Selected for a top-secret mission that would forever seal its fate, the USS Indianapolis transported vital components for one of the two atomic bombs the United States would eventually drop on Japan—a move that ended the war before the need for a massive ground invasion of the Japanese home islands. The Indianapolis carried components for the “Little Boy” atomic bomb to the island of Tinian in the Marianas.
On July 16, 1945, the Indianapolis departed San Francisco with uranium-235 and other bomb parts securely onboard. Traveling at high speed—and without an escort, due to the mission’s urgency and secrecy—the iconic warship arrived at Tinian on July 26, successfully delivering its cargo that would soon be dropped on Hiroshima. After a brief stop at Guam, the ship set course for Leyte in the Philippines, unescorted and without anti-submarine measures, as naval intelligence had deemed the route safe.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/remembering-tragedy-uss-indianapolis-bw
