4th USS Indianapolis commissioned at northern Indiana port

BURNS HARBOR, Ind. (AP) — The Navy has commissioned its new USS Indianapolis combat vessel at Burns Harbor along Lake Michigan.

The ceremony Saturday drew dignitaries, Navy officials, four survivors of the ship’s namesake sunk during World War II and family members of current crew members.

Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Navy veteran, noted the Freedom-class littoral ship was made with Indiana steel. He also says the ship carries a “historic legacy” of the second USS Indianapolis that was sunk by a Japanese submarine in July 1945 while returning from delivering key components for the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Only 317 of its nearly 1,200 crewmen survived the sinking and days in shark-infested waters.

The new ship will be based near Jacksonville, Florida. It’s designed to be highly maneuverable for missions such as mine-clearing and anti-submarine warfare.

Featured image: BURNS HARBOR, Ind. (Oct. 23, 2019) The crew of the future littoral combat ship USS Indianapolis (LCS 17) man the rails during a pre-commissioning rehearsal. Indianapolis is the 19th littoral combat ship to enter the fleet and the ninth of the Freedom-variant. It will be the fourth ship named for Indianapolis, Indiana’s capital city. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Timothy Haggerty/Released)