1945-07-30
Sinking of Indianapolis
Philippine Sea, on the way from Guam to Leyte
Indianapolis had unloaded components of the Little Boy bomb at Tinian on 26 July 1945. She was not carrying the finished bomb, and she was not Minneapolis. After a stop at Guam she sailed for Leyte alone. Just after midnight on 30 July, I-58 hit her with two torpedoes. She sank in about twelve minutes. Of 1,199 men, 316 were rescued days later. No other ship was in this action.
Sunk in this fight
One ship.
Chart of the western Pacific showing Indianapolis' track from Guam to her reported sinking position, with a dashed line for her intended route to the Philippines. U.S. Navy photograph 80-G-702117, National Archives. Public domain. The handwritten position is 12-02 N, 134-48 E. The Navy court of inquiry gives the same position. The scan is small. The track is the one on the Navy's chart, and it was not redrawn.
