INDIANAPOLIS CA 35

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Portland Class Heavy Cruiser
Keel Laid 31 March 1930 as Light Cruiser (CL)
Redesignated Heavy Cruiser (CA) 1 July 1931
Launched 7 November 1931


1. USS INDIANAPOLIS CA-35
Commissioned 15 November 1932
SUNK (Torpedoed) 30 July 1945 by Japanese Submarine I-58 in the Philippine Sea

Stricken from the NVR 1 September 1945
Only 316 of 1,199 crew members survived.
Located 18 August 2017, resting at 18,000 feet in the Philippine Sea by R/V Petrel.

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Indianapolis CA-35 Covers Page 1    (1933-1944, 2004-2021)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type FDC 3(B-BBT) "NAVY YARD / PHILA. PA."

1932-11-15

First Day in Commission, stamped cachet, signed by the CO. NMC Lawrence Iverson also signed the cover. From the David Pallante collection.

 

Locy Type 2z

1943-06-03

Note:

 

Locy Type 2z*

1943-10-19

Official Business, WWII use. From the David Pallante collection.

 

Locy Type 3 (B-BBT) "NAVY YARD / PHILADELPHIA"

1933-06-13

Postal message card with a message from the Navy Mail Clerk. The reverse side of this card, and text, are shown here Covers Page 1

 

Locy Type 3 (B-BTT) "REVIEWING / U.S. FLEET"

1934-05-31

Fleet Review, cachet by Admiral Farragut Chapter No. 3, USCS

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BTB) "CROSSING / THE EQUATOR"

1936-11-24

Pan-American Presidential Cruise cachet. From the David Pallante collection.

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT) "PEARL HARBOR / T. H."

1940-07-29

Cachet by C. Stephen Anderson. From the David Pallante collection.

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT)

194--04-09

Official Mail - MAILGRAM. Year in postmark is missing.

 

Locy Type 7

1939-09-02

Cachet by Walter G. Crosby

 

Locy Type 9v USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. I-6

1939-09-02

Cachet by Walter G. Crosby

 

Locy Type 9v USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. I-6a

1943-12-13

Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 9efw USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. I-6d

1939-09-01

Cachet by Walter G. Crosby

 

Locy Type 9x USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. I-6b

1939-09-01

Cachet by Walter G. Crosby

 

Locy Type SLKb (48x3)

1935-07-04

US Fleet Scouting Force Duplex. Cachet by Leonard Rogers

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USPS Pictorial Postmark

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark Indianapolis, IN

2004-08-21

USCS Convention postmark honors the USS Indianapolis. Cachet by Roger A. Wentworth

 

Other Information

USS INDIANAPOLIS earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the American Defense Service Medal w/Fleet Clasp, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 10 battle stars and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Indianapolis, IN

The ships sponsor was Miss Lucy Taggart, daughter of the late Senator Thomas Taggart, a former mayor of Indianapolis, IN.

Four ships of the US Navy have borne the name INDIANAPOLIS - USS Indianapolis ID-3865, USS Indianapolis CA-35, USS Indianapolis SSN-697 and USS Indianapolis LCS-17.

 

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