Reunions, remembrances continue 80 years after sinking of USS Indianapolis
Eighty years ago on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was sunk by a Japanese submarine firing six torpedoes at the heavy cruiser, hitting the ship with two and sinking it in 12 minutes. With a crew of 1,195 aboard, some 900 made it into the water about 280 miles from the nearest land. Only 316 survived. Today only one is still living, 98-year-old Harold Bray of Benicia, California. He’s the chairman of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Survivors Organization.
Three of the survivors were from the Champaign-Urbana area: Sailors Don McCall of Champaign, and Art Leenerman of Mahomet (both of whom had served on Indianapolis for two years and participated in eight major battle campaigns), and Marine Earl Riggins of Oakland. Earl had just been assigned to the ship in San Francisco as Little Boy, the world’s first atomic bomb, was loaded for delivery and still being considered whether to use to end the war with Japan. That part of the cargo was unknown to anyone on board, including ship Capt. Charles B. McVay III.
USS Indianapolis National Memorial is located along its namesake city’s downtown Canal Walk
As pointed out in the organization’s July 2025 fact sheet, because the war effort was by then (July 1945) focused on the home island of Japan, the South Pacific was considered safe, and therefore the Indianapolis was not provided an escort ship to fend off enemy submarines. This was despite the fact that “several senior officers were aware that four Japanese attack subs were headed south into the Philippine Sea, at least one on an intercept course with Indy.”
And that submarine, the Imperial Japanese submarine I-58, did surface in the center of the Philippine Sea and Lt. Cmdr. Mochitsura Hashimoto not only intercepted the ship but sank it just after midnight on July 30. Thankfully, Little Boy had already been dropped off at Tinian.
After four days in the shark-infested water, a Navy pilot miraculously spotted an oil slick and the waving men, and notified nearby ships who came to their rescue. All were loaded aboard ship except Leenerman, who was thought to be dead and left covered in a small boat on the water below. When he was lifted aboard the next morning, the cover came off when he coughed, startling everyone—including him, he said. He survived and died at 95 on Nov. 4, 2019; McCall died at 92 on June 21, 2017; and Riggins died at 90 on Aug. 14, 2015.
These men and their families and others started having reunions in Indianapolis in 1960, 15 years after the sinking of the ship. This year’s anniversary of the sinking and the 65th year of the reunion are coordinated by the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Legacy Organization. Its mission is to promote and perpetuate the memory of all who served on USS Indianapolis (CA-35). It will be held in Indianapolis July 27-29. And on July 30, there will be an Honor Watch at the USS Indianapolis monument on the canal in downtown Indianapolis.
These reunions and services have continued through the years with only one major mistake or hiccup. The Navy blamed Capt. McVay for the sinking of the ship and was “the only American skipper to be court-marshaled after losing his ship to enemy action during World War II. Believing the captain to be innocent, the survivors of the disaster fought for 50 years to clear McVay’s name.” That finally happened in 2001 when Congress passed “a joint resolution declaring that McVay was not culpable for the loss of Indianapolis.”
Don McCall’s daughter, Peggy McCall Campo, who is the secretary of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Survivors Organization, said, “We, as sons and daughters of the crew of Indianapolis, feel it is important to remember and honor those who served and sacrificed.”
Through the years, the organization and the city of Indianapolis have not only continued honoring those who died and those who survived, but dedicated the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) National Memorial at the north end of the Canal Walk in 1995. And the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) museum gallery was opened inside the Indiana War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis. Operational replicas of the Indianapolis’ radio room and many artifacts are included.
After 72 years, the crew of research vessel Petrel, funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, located the wreckage of the Indianapolis at the bottom the Philippine Sea, still “in pristine condition.” And in 2018, President Donald Trump signed a bill honoring the crew of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) with a Congressional Gold Medal that was presented on July 30, 2020, in a virtual ceremony and is permanently on display at the Indiana War Memorial and Museum in Indianapolis.
It has been said that the sinking of the Indianapolis “may be considered the bookend to Pearl Harbor. Just as Pearl Harbor marked the beginning of American involvement in World War II, Indianapolis, the last major vessel sunk, marked its end.” But the reunions and honor for those who died and those who survived continue.
For more information about reunion events, contact Peggy McCall Campo at 217 377-9783 or pcampo4@yahoo.com.