USS Indiana BB 58
The USS Indiana BB 58 was a South Dakota-class battleship that launched from Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Newport News, Virginia on November 21st, 1941 and sponsored by Mrs. Lewis C. Robbins, the daughter of Indiana Governor Henry F. Schricker. She was commissioned on April 30th, 1942 under the command of Captain A. A. Merrill. Following its shakedown in Casco Bay, Maine the new battleship steamed through the Panama Canal to join U.S. fleet units in the Pacific during the early months of World War II. She joined Rear Admiral Lee's aircraft carrier screening force November 28, 1942. For the next 11 months, Indiana helped protect carriers Enterprise and Saratoga, then supporting American advances in the Solomon Islands.
Indiana steamed to Pearl Harbor on October 21, 1943, and departed November 11 with the support forces designated for the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. The battleship protected the carriers which supported the Marines during the bloody fight for Tarawa. Then late in January 1944 she bombarded Kwajalein for eight days prior to the Marshall Islands landings on February 1. While maneuvering to refuel that night, the Indiana collided with the battleship Washington, killing several men. She returned to Pearl Harbor on February 13 for emergency repair. The captain of the Indiana admitted that his ship was out of position, and he took responsibility for the collision. He was removed from command by Admiral Nimitz and was replaced.
The Battle of the Philippine Sea decided in the American favor, the Indiana resumed her screening duties around the carriers, and remained at sea for 64 consecutive days in daily support of the Marianas invasion. She steamed out on January 10, 1945, and with a fleet of battleships and cruisers, she bombarded Iwo Jima on January 24. The Indiana then supported an air strike on Okinawa, repelling enemy suicide plane attacks as the Japanese tried desperately but vainly to stem the mounting tide of defeat. In early June, the Indiana rode out a terrible typhoon. The veteran battleship arrived in Tokyo Bay on September 5, 1945, and nine days later she steamed for San Francisco, California. The USS Indiana BB 58 received nine battle stars for her service in World War II and was decommissioned on September 11th, 1947.
The USS Indiana BB 58 and her crew performed a wide range of duties during her admirable years of service, but the dangers of enemy attack or violent weather weren’t the only perils that plagued their daily lives. Asbestos was used in the construction of the Indiana, specifically as insulation within her piping systems. Exposure and the inhaling of these deadly airborne asbestos fibers would cause extensive damage to a person and asbestos itself has been linked to a type of cancer known as mesothelioma. Asbestos cancer is a great danger, and any crewmembers that served aboard the USS Indiana BB 58 who are concerned they may have been exposed should carefully monitor their respiratory health conditions and seek immediate medical care for mesothelioma treatment.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
