1945 USS Indianapolis at Mare Island 22 Days before she was Sunk Atomic Bomb

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USS Indianapolis T-Fz cancel dated July 8, 1945. At this time (see her final paragraphs from DANFS below) she was undergoing repairs at Mare Island before leaving for Tinian with the A-Bomb components used in the bombing of Japan. I've only seen a couple covers from Indianapolis in July. The sender Ensign Ernst A Triemer and the censor Ensign Thomas D'Arcy Brophy were both lost. Cover with faint soil at top and has been minutely reduced at bottom. From DANFS: Preinvasion bombardment of Okinawa began 24 March and for 7 days Indianapolis poured 8-inch shells into the beach defenses. Meanwhile, enemy aircraft repeatedly attacked the ships; and Indianapolis shot down six planes and assisted in splashing two others. On 31 March, the day before the invasion, the ship's sky lookouts spotted a Japanese single-engined fighter plane as it emerged from the morning twilight and roared at the bridge in a ver tical dive. The ship's 20-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 re lease his bomb from a height of 25 feet and crash his plane on the port side of the after main deck. The plane top pled 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. Al though 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, 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. After repairs and overhaul, Indianapolis received orders to proceed at high speed to Tinian, carrying parts and nuclear material to be used in the atomic bombs which were soon to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Due to the urgency of her mission, Indianapolis departed San Francisco on 16 July, foregoing her postrepair shake down period. Touching at Pearl Harbor 19 July, she raced on unescorted and arrived Tinian 26 July, having set a record in covering some 5000 miles from San Fran cisco in only 10 days. After delivering her top-secret cargo at Tinian, Indi anapolis was dispatched to Guam where she disembarked men and reported for onward routine to Leyte. From there she was to report to Vice Adm. Jesse B. Oldendorf for further duty off Okinawa. Departing Guam 28 July, Indianapolis proceeded by a direct route, unescorted. Early in the morning, 12:15 a.m., 30 July 1945, 2 heavy explosions occurred against her starboard side forward, and she capsized and sank in 12 minutes, at 12°02' N., 134°48' E. Indianapolis had been hit by two torpedoes from Japanese submarine /-58, Commander Machitsura Hashimoto in command. The seas had been moderate; the visibility, good; Indianapolis had been steaming at 17 knots. When the ship did not reach Leyte on the 31st, as scheduled, no report was made that she was overdue. This omission was due to a misunderstanding of the Move ment Report System. Thus it was not until 1025 on 2 August that the survivors were sighted, mostly held afloat by life jackets, although there were a few rafts which had been cut loose before the ship went down. They were sighted by a plane on routine patrol; the pilot immediately dropped a life raft and a radio transmitter. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once, and the surrounding waters were thoroughly searched for survivors. Upon completion of rescue operations, 8 August, a radius of 100 miles had been combed by day and by night, saving 316 of ... read more

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