USS Indianapolis served as the flagship for Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commander of the Fifth Fleet. Captain Charles B. McVay, III, had taken command of Indy three months before he steamed toward Okinawa to take part in the scheduled operation against the island. (1)
En route, beginning on March 18, 1945, enemy planes were a constant threat to Indy and the other ships of Task Group. On March 19th, Indy downed an enemy plane as it circled overhead. Her 5" shells blew off its tail and it crashed off the port quarter. One hour later she commenced firing on a "Judy" dive bomber as it dove on another ship of the group and probably assisted in the kill. Only 13 minutes later another dive bomber appeared almost directly overhead and was shot down by other ships in the group.
Air alerts were common in the following days. The crew was in a constant state of readiness. However, the enemy planes maintained their distance from the formation and no attacks developed.
Indianapolis arrived off Okinawa on the 23rd, but a strike against the island was delayed due to bad weather and low visibility. Air Alerts continued but no attacks materialized.
On the 27th the formation was attacked by three enemy planes. One of the planes, believed to be a fighter, took aim on Indy but was shot down close aboard on the port bow. At the same time, the crew was firing on one of the other enemy planes.
On March 31, 1945, the day before the official battle began, the enemy again emerged from the sky. A Japanese kamikaze pilot chose Indianapolis as his target. There was little time to react to the attack as the blaring sun obscured the plane as it made a last minute turn and dove into the ship. Indy's eight 20mm guns opened fire immediately but it was too late. The destruction caused the death of nine crew members and wounded 20 other men. (Read The Kamikaze Attack)
After the Kamikaze attack Admiral Spruance and his staff transferred from Indianapolis to USS New Jersey. (2)
Indianapolis limped home for repairs at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA, where she arrived May 5th. While en route, the crew learned of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945.
Harry S. Truman assumed the presidency and responsibility for America's involvement in World War II. He would make a decision that would seal the fate of Indianapolis.
At Mare Island, Indy was put in dry dock where the damage was accessed. Repairs were expected to take at least three months along with an overhaul. During this time, many of the experienced crewmembers were replaced with 225 mostly inexperienced men not long out of basic training or service school.
While in dry dock, many of the enlisted crew members, new crew members and Marines were moved to the barracks at the navy yard. Some married enlisted men found local housing or a hotel where their wives could join them during the extended time in port.
Quonset huts on the naval base were available for married officers and several wives welcomed the chance to be reunited with their husbands. Unmarried officers remained on board Indy.
To the crew's relief, Captain McVay granted many men a 22-day leave, also known as furlough, so they could return home to visit family.
The crew who remained at Mare Island looked forward to enjoying Liberty - the time when sailors were granted time ashore. Vallejo was filled with all the entertainment and food a sailor could wish for. They could never have imagined this would be their Last Liberty.
Eldridge Bowles, S1c reunited with his wife in Indiana in time for the birth of his daughter, Sandra. (See biography of Eldridge Bowles)
Lt. Commander Earl Henry traveled to Mayfield, KY rather than have his wife Jane make the grueling trip to Mare Island. Jane was to deliver their first child soon. (See biography of LCDR Earl Henry)
Click or tap to enlarge
Knowing that repairs would take several months, many crew sent word to their wives to join them.
Both recently married, Theodore Ott (Y1) contacted his wife Peggy (L); LCDR Kasey Moore contacted his wife Catherine (R).
During her stay on Mare Island, young Peggy Ott sent a letter to her mom providing insight into
life at Mare Island during the kamikaze repairs.
Postmarked June 16, 1945
Monday Eve
June 11, 1945
As I told you Mom we're living in a little hut in the Navy Yard* here at Mare Island. It's really a very cozy little comfortable place. Have one large room with a studio couch & chair, one floor lamp, a stand with another lamp, coffee table, sort of a built in book case in one corner and also in this room is a table with chairs like a dinette has. Have a gas heater too. The kitchenette has a nice stove, large Philco frig, and built in cupboards. Off the kitchenette is the bathroom. No tub but a shower. There are two bedrooms. Ours has twin beds (of course one bed is enough for us). Have a nice big closet & a chest of drawers. The other bedroom is the same only it has a single bed. Ginny & Gene Killman, the couple we share the hut with have it. Gene is Deanie's buddy off the ship.
All the furniture is new. Everything is furnished. Laundry is called for if you want to pay for it, milk is delivered every day. There's a canteen for the village a few doors away. They have bread & milk, ice cream, candy and hamburgers, etc. The yard bus goes right in front of our door. Runs every 12 minutes. The commissary is the yard marketing place or grocery store. I go on the average of every other day. Of course I have a yard identification card & also a pass for the commissary. Every time you enter or leave the yard you show your card at the gate. The commissary has about everything. You can get any kind of meat, if you have the points. We're running awfully low now but will get more the 21st. Getting a good taste of housekeeping again Mom & sure loving every minute of it. Meal planning is my big trouble but my hubby never complains. How I love that man! Deanie's ship isn't more than five blocks away. It's in dry dock. Gee, what a beauty of a ship! I meet him sometimes at 3:30. I feel so strange, standing along side the ship. It's really big. I wouldn't give anything for the things I've seen these last three weeks. Tomorrow will make my third week here. How the time flies. I go over to Vallejo, a little waterfront town. Usually go by ferry. 5¢ each way. San Francisco is about 35 miles away. We went yesterday for dinner & a show. We don't go often as it's a long tiresome trip. Have to go by bus. . .in Vallejo & on the buses. That isn't pronounced Valley-joe, it's Va-lay-oh. Ginny & Gene are on a 22 day leave so they are at Long Beach. We are all alone. Really heavenly too. Wished we didn't have to think of Deanie leaving again but I am so very thankful & happy over all the time we're having together. There are three theaters in the yard. We go almost every night. Only 5¢ and real good movies, too . . . The news of Gib Harding killed was quite shocking. . .The old town is really feeling there's a war on isn't it? Quite a number of gold stars so far. So hard to understand it all isn't it Mom?June 14-
Sorry dear, a few days have passed since I started writing this. I'll try & finish it tonight. I just can't settle down to writing when Deanie's home. . . About this time seven months ago Deanie and I were standing in front of Rev. Langford. We were married seven months ago tonight. Does it seem possible? Not to me. The end of the first year will soon be here. I hope we will always be as happy as we are now. I've been away from home a long time haven't I Mom? Seems terribly, terribly long sometimes. . Well my dear bye for now. We're always thinking of you. Be a good girl, ha? We love you, Yours kidsNote: The tragic story of Theodore and Peggy can be read in The Cost of War written by Dawn Ott Bollhoefer, granddaughter of Theodore G. Ott.
Officers aboard Indianapolis invited their wives to join them at Mare Island. Accommodations and activities were different from those of enlisted men.
At his invitation Katherine Moore joined her husband LCDR K. C. Moore, damage control officer. Since V-E Day, May 8th marking the end of WWII in Europe, the states had gone crazy with celebrations. Using her resourcefulness, Katherine nabbed a train ticket to San Francisco arriving the 10th of May.
Katherine describes her time with K. C. on Mare Island in her book Goodbye Indy Maru :
Kasey welcomed Katherine into their Quonset hut home in the Navy Yard. Everything was furnished. However, the first task upon arrival for Katherine was a visit to Lt. Commander Dr. Earl Henry aboard Indianapolis to get her tooth fixed. He had waited for her to arrive. Dr. Henry, the ship's dentist, was ready to fly home to see his wife, Jane, due to deliver their first child in late June.
The Moore's spent their first night together listening to their favorite music Schubert's 5th Symphony and just being together, a very leisurely Sunday. Later in the week, they were invited to Captain McVay's party - formal dress required - so Katherine wore "stockings" which she had brought along - silk hose could not be purchased in the ship's store; only make-up for applying to legs to mimic silk hosiery.
Katherine sent a photo to her sister of their half of the Quonset hut describing their living room with an eating area, small kitchen, a very small bathroom with shower - no tub, and two decent size bedrooms with closets. The walls, she wrote, were so well insulated you cannot hear the family sharing the hut. The huts, she wrote, will be dismantled after the war since they are built on the Officer Golf Club course. Katherine planned to secure one to rebuild somewhere in Knoxville, TN.
Katherine noted that cameras were not allowed on Mare Island but that K. C. who had been one of McVay's photographers had escaped that rule taking a picture of our "house".
Katherine also noticed that rank influenced housing assignments and tasks. Higher rank officers lived in the village closer to an Admiral. Captain McVay's meals were prepared by a Stewards Mate who also did housework and shopped for the family at the commissary.
Although Katherine enjoyed being with her husband, she sensed his concern for the repairs of his beloved ship - which Katherine called "the other woman".
Then on July 12 McVay received devastating news. Being in charge of all repairs Kasey was informed --Indy would sail July 16th, that Pensacola failed its speed run, and Indy will carry a weapon that will end the war. (3)
(1) Goodbye Indy Maru, A Navy Wife Remembers, The War Diaries 1942-1945, Moore, Katherine, April, 1991, p 211.
(2) Goodbye Indy Maru, A Navy Wife Remembers, The War Diaries 1942-1945, Moore, Katherine, p. 214.
(3) Goodbye Indy Maru, A Navy Wife Remembers, The War Diaries 1942-1945, Moore, Katherine, p. 138.
ABBOTT, George Stanley 
FRONTINO, Vincent Fred 
AMICK, Homer Irwin