Portland class heavy cruiser

The Portland class was another one of the many American cruiser classes built during the inter war period.They were originally to have six ships but three of them were built on a modified design and later became their own class and one was never completed so only 2 ships of the class(the Portland and the Indianapolis)were ever completed.The Indianapolis had the president on board three times before the war started.The Portland saw action in many battles during the pacific was and so did the Indianapolis.Towards the end of the war the Indianapolis was used for a top secret and very important mission.She was to transport a piece of uranium,the key element in one of the Atomic bombs(the other one used plutonium),to the island of Tinan.She got to Tinan and delivered her cargo without any problems but on the return trip she was hit by torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-58 and sank,becoming the last major American warship to be sunk during WWII.



This photo of the Indianapolis was taken just days before she was sunk.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_class_cruiser




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