USS Indianapolis CA-35

[Phantom]

Hope I spelled that right, don't have my copy of Janes's with me. Anyway to the question.

What class was the Indi? I checked my copy of Jane's WWII Ships and couldn't find it.

Anyone out there that can help?

[Perrryyy]

According to this, it was Portland class (I know nothing of battleships & classes, I just happened upon this in a search)

http://www.greatwhitefleet.org/india...5/history.html

[TomMarg]

The 'Indie' is classed as a heavy battlecruiser, I watched the special on the ship last night on discovery showcase.(discovery channel).

And no you spelled it right.

[Cybrludite]

She was one of the two ships of the Portland class. USN Heavy Cruisers at the time were named for cities. Displacement 9,800 tons, 610x66x17 feet. (I'd guesstimate that as a small Size Class 6 in Spacedock... Length & height imply Size Class 7, but she was awfully narrow compared to Trek ships.) Nine 8" guns, eight 5" DP guns, 24 40mm AA guns, and 16 20mm AA guns. Two catapults for four seaplanes. 32+ knots at 107,000 SHP. Crew of 846 during peacetime, 1,200 during war. This from "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II", bottom of page 274. The Indianapolis is listed in the General Notes for the class as a war loss.

[Robert Lai]

From the USS Indianapolis Survivors' site (www.ussindianapolis.org):

Indianapolis was a "treaty cruiser". That is, she was built observing of the strictures laid down by the 1921-'22 Washington Conference Treaty following the First World War. Under that treaty, the United States eventually built eighteen heavy cruisers, (Designated CA under the US Navy System adopted in 1918), in four classes. None of these was to be commissioned until 1930 or later.

The US Navy was the last of the major naval powers to initiate heavy cruiser construction under the terms of the Treaty; because of this it had the advantage of surveying the development of contemporary vessels under construction around the world. The US Navy began its heavy cruiser construction program in the 1930s, and when the war in Europe began in 1939 it had 18 heavy "treaty cruisers", the British 15, the Japanese 12, the French 7, the Italians 7, and the Germans 2.

THE PREWAR HEAVY CRUISER CLASSES
The Pensacola Class -1929.
The first CAs built after the War and under the Treaty.
The Pensacola and the Salt Lake City

The Northhampton Class - 1929-1930
These succeeded the Pensacola Class, with minor changes in basic design, the main ones being a raised upper deck, three main battery turrets, an aircraft hangar amidships, and a more prominent tripod mainmast. Ships of this class were:
The Northhampton, The Chester, The Chicago, The Houston, The Louisville and The Augusta.

The Indianapolis / Portland Class - 1931-32
Only two ships of this "class" were built. The Indianapolis and The Portland embodied all the latest changes and modifications to the basic Northhampton Class.

The Astoria Class - 1933-1936
The final class of heavy cruisers built by the Navy under the Washington Treaty: the Astoria, the New Orleans, the Minneapolis, the Tuscaloosa, the San Francisco, the Quincy and the Vincennes. One additional ship, the Wichita, was authorized under this class, but she was so extensively modified she fell under the design class Brooklyn. a CL, (Light Cruiser). No Brooklyn Class keels were laid before 1935.

Treaty strictures limited "heavy" cruisers to ten thousand tons of displacement. (The treaty categorized warships by displacement--and armament.) To save displacement weight, Indianapolis was designed and built without much of the usual extra thick, heavy, armor plating--from above the plimsol line and covering a good portion of the bottom toward the keel- extending almost the full length of the ship ordinarily employed on capital ships of the line, as protection from mines and torpedoes. Indianapolis's armor, while inches thin, covered only her vital machinery spaces. While she was more vulnerable, she was also capable of great speed.

[Commodore 2]

If you take a look at history of American pre-WW2 cruisers they suffered greatly at the hands of the Japanese Navy in the later part of 1942.

[ghosty]

Mostly due to a lack of training in the gun crews and a lack of torpedoes. Japanese gunners were highly trained to fight at night and they possessed the excellent Long Lance torpedo which had no American equivalent and besides American cruisers had no torpedo tubes. It was only when the Americans obtained radar gun sights and other techno goodies (how else do the Americans win wars) did their gunnery begin to match the Japanese.

[Commodore 2]

Case in point: On the night of Aug 7, 1942, a Japanese task force sortied from Rabaul and took out four allied cruisers and retired without loss.Astoria, Vincennes, Quincey, and Austrailian cruiser Canberra were sunk with heavy loss of life.

[Sarge]

Was Indianapolis the ship that delivered the A-bomb to the western Pacific? The cruiser I'm thinking of was torpedoed by a Japanese sub while returning from that voyage, and the mission was so classified that Search and Rescue didn't realize she was overdue. Many of the crew survived the sinking, but were eaten by sharks.

[Phantom]

You are right. The Indi delivered the Hiroshima Bomb to Tinian (sp?). She was torpedoed on the return stretch by Imperial Submarine I-58. About 350 survived to be rescued. If reports are to be believed the sharks average about 6 sailors an hour.

Capt. Mcvay was hung out to dry by the Navy after the incident (he had not been zig-zagging), even after the Commander of I-58 (who was brought in as an expert at McVays Court Martial) said that the Zig-Zag pattern used by the US Navy was virtually useless. Capt. McVay committed suicide in 1968 (I think that is correct year, I might be wrong.) He was, on pressure from the survivors of the Indi placed on the Navy, exonerated in, I believe, in 1995 of all charges. Good to see, but too little, too late.

[calguard66]

Originally posted by Commodore 2
Case in point: On the night of Aug 7, 1942, a Japanese task force sortied from Rabaul and took out four allied cruisers and retired without loss.Astoria, Vincennes, Quincey, and Austrailian cruiser Canberra were sunk with heavy loss of life.

True, but that had more to do with the training and leadership of the crews than any deficiency of the ships.

They were poorly trained in night fighting, and several questionable command decisions were made before and during the battle.

A carpenter doesn't blame his tools. Any weapons syetem is effective when properly employed, even a rock.

The shortcomings of the US cruisers as compared to their Japanese counterparts were well known, but were not taken into account.

[Sarge]

I'd never heard what happened to Indi's captain. That's an interesting twist. I didn't know that enemy officers were called as witnesses during court martials.

Re: WW2 naval night warfare. The Japanese Navy had another technical advantage. Their gunpowder didn't produce nearly as bright a muzzle flash as American guns. From long range, it was impossible to not see an American ship firing its guns, but the Japanese guns were difficult to find.

[Phantom]

Technically he wasn't an "enemy" officer as the court marital was held after Japan surrendered. Still, he wasn't too popular during his testimony.