Battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Kwajalein

Indiana in the South Pacific in December 1942

On 14 November, Indiana was assigned as the flagship for Task Group (TG) 2.6, which included the light cruiser Columbia and the destroyers De Haven and Saufley. The four ships then proceeded to Tonga, arriving on the afternoon of 28 November. After refueling, Indiana transferred to TG 66.6 two days later and continued on to Nouméa, arriving on 2 December. There, she took part in exercises with ships from Task Force (TF) 64.^[3] The ship served as a replacement for her sister South Dakota, which had been badly damaged during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; while operating off Guadalcanal, Indiana provided gunfire support to American forces ashore.^[7]

By January 1943, the ship had been joined by the fast battleships North Carolina and Washington; the three battleships were grouped together as TF 64 under Rear Admiral Willis Lee, and they covered convoys to support the fighting in the Solomons into the next year. These operations included covering a group of seven transports carrying elements of the 25th Infantry Division to Guadalcanal from 1 to 4 January 1943. During another of these convoy operations later that month, the battleships were too far south to come to aid of the American cruiser force during the Battle of Rennell Island at the end of the month.^[8][9] During the invasion of New Georgia, the battleship force, which now included Indiana, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, was assigned to cover the invasion fleet against possible Japanese attacks.^[10] Indiana supported the carrier task force that raided Marcus Island on 31 August – 1 September.^[11] She took part in the invasion of Tarawa on 20–23 November and provided part of the anti-aircraft screen for the aircraft carriers of Task Group 50.2 off Makin Atoll, including Enterprise, Belleau Wood, and Monterey.^[12] During operations in the area, Indiana's anti-aircraft gunners claimed their first Japanese aircraft.^[7] On 8 December, Indiana, four other battleships, and twelve destroyers bombarded Japanese positions on Nauru. Between the five battleships, a total of 810 sixteen-inch shells were fired at the island.^[13]

On 1 January 1944, Indiana was assigned to TG 37.2, and on 16 January she took part in gunnery practice with South Dakota and the destroyers USS Burns, Charrette, and USS Conner. The five ships, joined by North Carolina, Washington, and three more destroyers, then got underway on 18 January for the next major amphibious operation the Pacific, the Marshall Islands campaign. While en route, the ships conducted training with their anti-aircraft batteries. They rendezvoused with the carriers Bunker Hill and Monterey at sea, and after arriving in Funafuti on 20 January the unit was redesignated as TG 58.1. By this time, the group had grown to include the carriers Enterprise, Yorktown, Belleau Wood, and several more cruisers and destroyers. Further training took place from 25 to 28 January, including more anti-aircraft practice; Indiana also served as a target for simulated air attacks from the carrier aircraft. During the operation, Indiana served as the flagship of Battleship Division 8 (BatDiv), commanded by Rear Admiral Glenn B. Davis.^[14]

Indiana in dock in Pearl Harbor showing the temporary repairs after the collision with Washington

In late January, Indiana took part in operations to prepare for the invasion of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. On 29 January, the ship attacked Maloelap Atoll, along with Washington and the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Yorktown, and the following day the ships began bombarding Kwajalein to soften Japanese defenses.^[15] On 30 January, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Washington, escorted by four destroyers, were detached to shell Kwajalein as part of the invasion bombardment. They reached their firing positions early the next morning and Indiana opened fire at 09:56; she and the other ships sank a submarine chaser and five guard ships that were moored in the atoll. Japanese artillery batteries engaged the American ships, but Indiana was not hit. She continued to bombard Japanese positions around the island until 14:48 before departing at 17:15 to return to the carriers. She had fired some 306 shells from her main battery and 2,385 rounds from her 5-inch guns.^[14]

Indiana thereafter withdrew to escort the carrier task force overnight. While operating off the islands in the early hours of 1 February, Indiana collided with Washington.^[15] The ships were blacked out to prevent Japanese observers from spotting them, and in the darkness, Indiana turned in front of Washington. Indiana was badly damaged, with the starboard propeller shaft destroyed and significant damaged inflicted on the belt armor and torpedo defense system. The ship had some 200 ft (61 m) of armor plating torn from her hull, and Washington had a 20 ft (6.1 m) section of her bow ripped away and lodged into Indiana's side. The accident killed three men and injured another six aboard Indiana, one of whom later died. A subsequent inquiry into the accident placed the blame on Indiana, faulting her crew for failing to inform the other ships in the unit about her course changes.^[16][14]

Davis transferred his flag to another vessel and on 2 February, Indiana departed for Majuro for temporary repairs before proceeding on to Pearl Harbor on 7 February in company with the escorting destroyer Remey and the destroyer escort Burden R. Hastings. Four days later, two more destroyers joined the group, which reached Pearl Harbor on 13 February. Indiana was dry-docked the next day for repairs that lasted until 7 April. She then conducted sea trials and test fired her main battery to ensure there were no remaining structural issues from the collision. She spent the next two weeks training her gun crews before departing in late April to rejoin the fleet for the next operation in the central Pacific.^[16][14]

Marianas campaign

Indiana underway in January 1944

Indiana arrived in Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island on 26 April and Davis came back aboard his flagship two days later. That same day, she got underway in company with Massachusetts and four destroyers to join TF 58 for Operation Hailstone, the major attack on Truk Atoll conducted over the course of 29–30 April. On 1 May, Indiana took part in an attack on Pohnpei in the Senyavin Islands, shelling the island for about an hour before disengaging after having difficulty in locating suitable targets. Three days later the American fleet arrived in Majuro, where it began preparations for the invasion of several islands in the Marianas. The fleet sortied on 6 June to embark on the first stage of the campaign, the invasion of Saipan. Indiana, Washington, and four escorting destroyers were designated as Task Unit (TU) 58.7.3, the Western Bombardment Unit; over the course of the pre-invasion bombardment that began on 13 June and continued for two days, Indiana fired 584 shells from her main battery. Late in the day on 15 June, after the ground forces had gone ashore, Japanese air strikes targeted the invasion fleet. Indiana began evasive maneuvers to avoid the attacks, including a torpedo bomber that launched a torpedo at the ship at around 19:10 that failed to explode. Her anti-aircraft gunners shot the aircraft down, along with another bomber three minutes later. The ship was not damaged in the attacks and remained on station.^[14]

A more significant Japanese counterattack came in the form of the 1st Mobile Fleet, the main carrier strike force. In the ensuing Battle of the Philippine Sea from 19 to 20 June, Indiana provided anti-aircraft support to the American carrier fleet. She and South Dakota reported the initial wave of Japanese aircraft early on 19 June, and at 10:48 her anti-aircraft gunners opened fire, quickly shooting down one Japanese aircraft. The ship was forced to take evasive maneuvers at around 11:50, when a torpedo bomber attacked her; the torpedo exploded harmlessly in the ship's wake. As a Japanese fighter approached to strafe Indiana, her guns shot away the plane's tail at 12:13, sending it crashing into the sea. The ship's luck ran out shortly thereafter, as a burning Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bomber crashed into her starboard side, hurling burning debris over the deck. The ship was not damaged in the crash and Indiana remained on station. In the course of the battle, she had fired 416 shells from her secondary guns, 4,832 rounds of 40 mm ammunition and around 9,000 rounds from her 20 mm guns; she suffered five casualties, all men injured by shell fragments from other ships' anti-aircraft guns.^[14]

On 4 July, one of Indiana's Kingfishers picked up two men from the carrier Lexington after their aircraft had gone down. Indiana remained off the Marianas until early August when she was detached to Eniwetok to replenish ammunition and supplies. She got underway on 30 August with TF 34 and met TG 38 on 3 September, which was scheduled to attack the Palau Islands later that month. Indiana developed engine problems, however, and she was sent to Seeadler Harbor for repairs that lasted from 21 September to 4 October. During this period, Davis shifted his flag to Massachusetts. Indiana then joined the battleship Idaho and the cruisers Indianapolis and Cleveland for the voyage to Pearl Harbor. They arrived there on 14 October, and two days later Indiana and Idaho, escorted by two destroyers, left for Puget Sound Navy Yard for a thorough overhaul that was completed on 30 November. Following another round of sea trials, Indiana left on 6 December, bound for Pearl Harbor, where she conducted training exercises and additional repairs that lasted through the end of the year.^[14]

Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Indiana's crew loading propellant charges off Okinawa

Rear Admiral Oscar C. Badger II, the commander of TU 12.5.2, hoisted his flag aboard the ship on 8 January 1945, and she departed Pearl Harbor two days later in company with the destroyer Borie and the destroyer minelayer Gwin. The ships cruised to Eniwetok, and from there, continued on to Saipan where she joined the rest of her unit on 20 January. The unit sortied on 22 January, headed for Iwo Jima and arrived there two days later. On arrival, Indiana, three heavy cruisers, seven destroyers, and Gwin shelled the island in preparation for the invasion of the island a month later. At 13:17, a Nakajima B6N torpedo bomber attacked the ships but was driven off by heavy anti-aircraft fire. Indiana fired a total of 200 shells from her main battery before poor visibility forced her to cease fire at 15:55. She left the area the next morning and steamed to Ulithi, arriving on 26 January. Badger then transferred to the battleship New Jersey and Indiana occupied herself with anti-aircraft training for the rest of the month.^[17]

The ship got underway again on 10 February as part of TG 58.1 for a raid on Tokyo, Japan; a group of carriers launched air strikes on targets in the area on 16 February, followed by a series of strikes on various targets in the Bonin Islands (including Iwo Jima), after which they conducted a second strike on the Tokyo area on 25 February. In addition to providing anti-aircraft defense for the carriers, Indiana also frequently used her Kingfishers to pick up downed aircrews, and on 1 March one of her aircraft picked up the crews of two such aircraft. The fleet returned to Ulithi on 3 March for replenishment. On 14 March, Indiana sortied with South Dakota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Washington, now designated TU 58.1.3, to support another round of strikes on Japan that were conducted three days later. She shot down a Japanese aircraft in the early hours of 19 March before the carriers attacked various points on the island of Kyushu. Later that day, the fleet steamed to strike the Kure Naval Arsenal. The carriers Wasp and Franklin were badly damaged by Japanese air attacks and were forced to withdraw.^[17]

Indiana in heavy seas during the cyclone on 5 June

On 23 March, Indiana steamed to Okinawa to join the preparatory bombardment of the island. She fired 180 main battery shells the next day and then rejoined the fleet. She resumed her air defense role for the next several days while the carriers launched raids on the island. For much of April, Indiana and the rest of TG 58.1 provided support to the marines and soldiers fighting in the Battle of Okinawa. On 7 April, the Japanese launched a major counter-attack on the Allied naval forces, including large-scale kamikaze strikes and Operation Ten-Go with the battleship Yamato, but they were repelled with heavy losses. The kamikaze raids continued throughout the month, and on 12 April two fighters—a Mitsubishi A6M Zero and a Nakajima Ki-43—attempted to crash into Indiana, but her heavy anti-aircraft fire shot both down before they could strike her, though a fragment from one of the kamikazes struck a marine aboard the ship. Two days later, she shot down three more Ki-43s. She accidentally opened fire on a pair of American Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters on 15 April, but did not damage them. Later that day, she met wth replenishment oilers to refuel.^[17]

The ships of BatDiv 8 left Okinawa at the end of the month and returned to Ulithi, where they remained from 1 to 9 May. Indiana then got underway again to escort aircraft carriers for another series of strikes on Kyushu that began on 12 May. Two days later, she shot down an A6M kamikaze and assisted in the recovery of an F6F pilot who had been shot down by Japanese fire. On 27 May, Third Fleet relieved Fifth Fleet as the operational command, and all of the fleet's task forces and subordinate units were renumbered back to 30-series designations, returning Indiana to TG 38.1. In early June, a powerful cyclone formed in the Philippine Sea and moved north toward Okinawa; it struck Third Fleet on 5 June south of the island. Indiana recorded winds as high as 80 knots (150 km/h; 92 mph), which tore one of her Kingfishers from its catapult and hurled it into the sea. The winds also blew seawater into the ventilation intakes for the engine room, shorting out her switchboard and disabling her steering controls for about forty minutes. Thirty-six ships of the fleet were damaged by the storm, though Indiana only superficially so.^[17]

The fleet resumed its normal operations in support of the Okinawa fight on 7 June, including air strikes on Japanese airfields on Kyushu the next day that Indiana supported. With an escort of five destroyers on 9 June, Indiana, Alabama, and Massachusetts steamed to shell Japanese facilities on the island of Minami Daito Jima; they repeated the attack the next day. Indiana was thereafter detached to replenish ammunition and other supplies in San Pedro Bay in the Philippines, arriving there on 11 June.^[17]

Operations off Japan

USS Indiana bombarding Kamaishi, Japan, 14 July 1945

Indiana got underway again in early July and returned to TF 38. She supported carrier strikes on the Tokyo area on 10 July and took part in the first bombardment of the Japanese home islands by capital ships during the war. For the attack, which took place on 14 July, Indiana was assigned to TU 34.8.1, which included Massachusetts and South Dakota, the heavy cruisers Chicago and Quincy, and nine destroyers. The primary target was an industrial complex in Kamaishi that included the Japan Iron Co. and the Kamaishi Steel Works. Indiana fired 271 shells from her 16-inch guns, but smoke hindered the efforts of her spotter aircraft from observing the effects of the shooting, though a destroyer returned the next day and reported that fires were still burning. Indiana then resumed her anti-aircraft support duties with the fast carrier task force until being detached for another bombardment operation with TU 34.8.1 on 29 July. This attack, made in concert with the British TF 37—centered on the battleship HMS King George V—targeted industrial facilities at Hamamatsu. Indiana fired 270 shells during the bombardment.^[17]

On 1 August, BatDiv 8 was detached to form Support Unit 38.1.2; the ships continued their attacks on coastal cities in company with TF 37. One of Indiana's Kingfishers accidentally crashed in the sea on 7 August, killing its crew. The ships of BatDiv 8 conducted a second attack on Kamaishi on 9 August, with Indiana firing a total of 270 shells between 12:46 and 14:45. Poor visibility again hampered the observers, though this proved to be the ship's last offensive operation. Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally on 15 August while Indiana was en route to the coast to support another wave of carrier strikes. Instead of munitions, food and medical supplies were loaded onto the carriers' aircraft to be dropped on prisoner of war (POW) camps. Indiana contributed a landing party to be sent ashore on 30 August, which was part of the initial occupation forces.^[17]

After the formal surrender on 2 September, Indiana steamed into Tokyo Bay on the 5th. Over the course of the next week, Indiana was moored in the harbor and used to process POWs, including 54 USN personnel, 28 marines, 64 civilians, and a number of US Army and Canadian soldiers. On 15 September, she got underway in company with the destroyer Mansfield, bound for California. She was forced to steam at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) since her number 3 shaft had locked up and could not be used. On the way, her crew conducted a variety of shooting drills. The two ships reached Pearl Harbor on 22 September before Indiana continued on the next day for San Francisco, which she reached on 29 September. There, she disembarked 1,013 passengers.^[17]