Indiana War Memorial will be location for new USS Indianapolis museum

INDIANAPOLIS -- One of Indiana's largest war memorials will house a museum recounting the story of the USS Indianapolis, the cruiser sunk by Japanese torpedoes in shark-infested waters during the closing days of World War II.\nGov. Mitch Daniels announced during his Veterans Day address Saturday that the Indiana War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis would become home to a museum recounting the 13-year story of the USS Indianapolis, its crew, accomplishments and tragic end.\nHe said the exhibit is expected to be ready in late July 2007 as a part of the USS Indianapolis Survivors' biannual reunion.\n"We've long needed a home to tell the story of the USS Indianapolis. I'm glad the survivors still with us now know there's a place where generations will learn about this heroic event in our country's history," Daniels said.\nThe USS Indianapolis was sunk in shark-infested waters by two torpedoes a Japanese submarine fired in the Philippine Sea on July 30, 1945. By the time rescuers arrived four days later, only 317 of its crew of 1,196 men had survived, as many of them were eaten by sharks.\nThe ship's sinking and aftermath killed nearly 900 servicemen and was one of the country's worst naval disasters.\nAt the time of its sinking, the USS Indianapolis was headed from Guam to the Philippines after delivering to the Pacific island of Tinian the uranium-235 and other components of the atomic bomb later dropped on Hiroshima.\nMembers of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization have been searching for years for a location for a museum dedicated to the ship's story. Earlier this year, the group expressed interest in the building that once housed the Indiana State Museum.\n"They're thrilled to death about this," said Jeffrey Nance, vice president of the USS Indianapolis Museum's board of directors, a nonprofit that was formed to help the survivors find a permanent home for documents, artifacts and memorabilia from the ship and the crew.\nThe governor recently approved an agreement reached between the board with support from the survivors' organization and the state's Indiana War Memorials Commission to create the museum within the War Memorial.