After reading about the silver service of this vessel, I decided to do some reading about it. I'd never heard of this ship, despite having a distinct fondness for battleships, the most beautiful ships ever in the US Navy, or anybody's navy for that matter.
The USS Indiana BB-58 was the fourth US naval ship to bear that name. It was a South Dakota-class battleship and one of the last battleships ever constructed. It was launched 16 days before Pearl Harbor was attacked and commissioned on April 30, 1942.
It took part in action at the Solomon Islands, Tarawa, Battle of the Philippine Sea, Palau Island, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
The ship was decommissioned September 11, 1947 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register June 1, 1962, when it was demolished for scrap.
Parts of the vessel are over, including the silver service now at the USS Indianapolis Museum (a very sad story about this ship). The mainmast is at the campus of Indiana University, anchor in Fort Wayne, and prow, for some reason, in a parking lot in Berkely, Ca., across from Springer's Restaurant on Fourth Street. That would be an interesting story to know how it got to be there.
The first USS Indiana BB-1 would be the very first US battleship and took part in the Spanish American War. The second USS Indiana served as a tender for the first one? This doesn't make any sense to me. The 3rd one, the USS Indiana BB-50 was canceled by the Washington Naval Treaty between the world wars.
It is too bad the state of Indiana didn't purchase it. Had they been able to get it through to Lake Michigan, it would have made a great WWII War Memorial.
And Now You Know the Rest of the Story. --Old Cooter
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