Indiana (1942) Indiana (1942)The second ship of four in the South Dakota class, Indiana and its sister ships saw extensive action during World War II, all of it in Pacific Ocean campaigns.
A South Dakota class had been planned after World War I but cancelled under the Washington Treaty. This was a new design, incorporating numerous new features. Indiana (BB58) was laid down at Newport News on 20 November 1939, launched on 21 November 1941 and completed on 30 April 1942, at a cost of around $77 million. Completion was speeded up after Pearl Harbor, when new battleships were vitally needed.
The South Dakota class was relatively compact in form – 210m (680ft) long compared to the preceding North Carolina’s 222.1m (728ft 8in) – but of almost the same beam, and capable of considerably greater speed.
Nine 406mm (16in) guns were carried in three triple turrets. These guns, Mark VI, had been designed in 1936 and were already installed on the preceding North Carolina and Washington. Each triple turret weighed 1549 tonnes (1708 tons). Calibre was L/50, the barrels weighed 86 tonnes (94.7 tons) and had a range of 38,700m (42,320yd) elevated to 45 degrees. Indiana’s secondary armament was 20 127mm (5in) guns in twin turrets, 24 40mm (1.6in) four-barrelled AA guns (a further eight were installed in 1943) and 50 20mm (0.79in) single-mount guns (reduced to 40 from 1943). With North Carolina, the US Navy ceased to instal torpedo tubes on its battleships.
The South Dakota class were the first US battleships to have a single funnel from the beginning, made possible by redesign of the engine space, which was 17m (55ft) shorter than in North Carolina though the engines were more powerful. The ships were also shorter than their predecessors, though with the same beam, giving them a compact look that was accentuated by a higher freeboard and the mounting of the 127mm (5in) guns a deck above than the flush deck.
USS Indiana at anchor in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 8 September 1942. Work appears to be in hand on the 406mm (16in) guns.
These were the first American ships to be given inclined internal side armour, reaching from the armoured deck to the inner bottom and 310mm (12.2in) thick, tapering to 25mm (1in). This layout gave the ships a long indented inward-angled stretch of the central hull, just below the flush deck, rather reminiscent of the old casemate structure. Torpedo bulges were not fitted to this class, but a splinter protection deck placed 80cm (2ft 7in) below the main armour deck was a new feature. The combination of bridge, tower, mast and funnel, though similar, varied on each ship and was changed on several occasions. Initially all carried a rotatory rangefinder on the conning tower, and a Type Sra radar antenna was mounted just abaft. The after mast, mounted on a tripod base, was heightened in 1945. By the end of the war Indiana was fitted with SG radar (aft), and SK-2 forward.
South Dakota’s AA batteries in action against Japanese torpedo bombers in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942.
Indiana’s war service was all with the Pacific Fleet. From August 1942 it was involved in the fighting at Guadalcanal, and from 28 November it was engaged on carrier escort duties, which required relatively high speed. It supported the US landings on the Gilbert Islands and in January 1944 bombarded Kwajalein prior to the landings on the Marshall Islands. On the night of 1 February it collided with the battleship USS Washington, killing four men. Damage control parties went into action and some compartments were flooded to counteract a 4 degree list. Makeshift repairs were supplemented at Pearl Harbor. On 29–30 April Indiana was back on duty, joining Task Force 58 for the Truk Atoll raids, and on 19 June was hotly involved in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, essentially a carrier battle, in which it shot down several enemy aircraft. It then returned to escort and landing support, at one time remaining at sea for 64 consecutive days.
Ship building
The four ships of the class were all built within three years, a notably short time for capital ships. Co-operation between the four building yards, New York Shipbuilding, Newport News Shipbuilding, Bethlehem and Norfolk Navy Yard, helped, as did a sense of urgency about the rapidly deteriorating international situation even before the Pearl Harbor emergency. Two ships only were planned at first, but a further two were authorised on 25 June 1938. The original design had envisaged a speed of 41.7km/h (22.5 knots) but by 1939 the US Naval command had accepted that speed was also a requisite for a modern battleship (spurred on by reports of fast battleships under construction in Japan). This was fortunate, as so much of Indiana’s wartime duties consisted in escorting aircraft carriers at full speed.
In October 1944 it went to Bremerton in Washington State for refit and was not involved in the Leyte Gulf battles. Back at Pearl Harbor in December it resumed its former duties and also bombarded shore targets, including Japanese mainland sites. In May 1945 it fought off kamikaze attacks off Okinawa.
Indiana claimed the downing of 18 enemy aircraft. It participated in 10 shore bombardments and earned 12 battle stars for its various operations and engagements in the war years. It was part of the Allied fleet in Tokyo Bay on 5 September, and returned to the USA at San Francisco on 29 September, moving on to Puget Sound Navy Yard for overhaul. In September 1946 it was placed on the reserve list and was the last of the South Dakota class to be decommissioned in September 1947. It was stricken on 1 June 1962 and sold for scrapping on 6 September 1963.
Specification
Dimensions |
Length 210m (680ft), Beam 32.9m (107ft 8in), Draught 8.9m (29ft 3in), Displacement 34,446 tonnes (37,970 tons); 40,387 tonnes (44,519 tons) full load |
Propulsion |
8 Foster Wheeler boilers, 4 Westinghouse geared turbines developing 96,941kW (130,000hp) |
Armament |
9 406mm (16in) guns, 20 127mm (5in) guns, 24 40mm (1.6in) and 50 20mm (0.79in) AA guns |
Armour |
Belt 310–22mm (12.2–0.87in), Bulkheads 279mm (11in), Barbettes 439–287mm (17.3–11.3in), Turrets 457–184mm (18–7.25in), Deck 152–146mm (6–5.75in), Tower 406–184mm (16–7.25in) |
Range |
27,750km (15,000nm) at 15 knots |
Speed |
27 knots |
Complement |
1793 |
