page_title: USS Indiana (BB-58)
section_title: Battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Kwajalein
hierarchical_section_title: USS Indiana (BB-58) / Service history / Pacific Theater operations / Battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Kwajalein
caption_attribution_description: USS Indiana (BB-58) at Pearl Harbor on 13 February 1944, showing damage to her starboard side received in collision with USS Washington (BB-56) on 1 February 1944.
context_page_description: USS Indiana (BB-58) was the second of four South Dakota-class fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1930s. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s, they took advantage of an escalator clause that allowed increasing the main battery to 16-inch guns, but refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons. A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships, a problem that was exacerbated as wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries significantly increased their crews.
  Indiana entered service in April 1942, by which time the United States was engaged in World War II, and the ship was immediately pressed into action in the Pacific War against Japan. Her first combat came in late 1942 when she supported marines fighting during the Guadalcanal campaign.
context_section_description: On 14 November, Indiana was assigned as the flagship for Task Group (TG) 2.6, which included the light cruiser Columbia and the destroyers De Haven and Saufley. The four ships then proceeded to Tonga, arriving on the afternoon of 28 November. After refueling, Indiana transferred to TG 66.6 two days later and continued on to Nouméa, arriving on 2 December. There, she took part in exercises with ships from Task Force (TF) 64. The ship served as a replacement for her sister South Dakota, which had been badly damaged during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; while operating off Guadalcanal, Indiana provided gunfire support to American forces ashore.
  By January 1943, the ship had been joined by the fast battleships North Carolina and Washington; the three battleships were grouped together as TF 64 under Rear Admiral Willis Lee, and they covered convoys to support the fighting in the Solomons into the next year. These operations included covering a group of seven transports carrying elements of the 25th Infantry Division to Guadalcanal from 1 to 4 January 1943. During another of these convoy operations later that month, the battleships were too far south to come to aid of the American cruiser force during the Battle of Rennell Island at the end of the month. During the invasion of New Georgia, the battleship force, which now included Indiana, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, was assigned to cover the invasion fleet against possible Japanese attacks. Indiana supported the carrier task force that raided Marcus Island on 31 August – 1 September. She took part in the invasion of Tarawa on 20–23 November and provided part of the anti-aircraft screen for the aircraft carriers of Task Group 50.2 off Makin Atoll, including Enterprise, Belleau Wood, and Monterey. During operations in the area, Indiana's anti-aircraft gunners claimed their first Japanese aircraft. On 8 December, Indiana, four other battleships, and twelve destroyers bombarded Japanese positions on Nauru. Between the five battleships, a total of 810 sixteen-inch shells were fired at the island.
  On 1 January 1944, Indiana was assigned to TG 37.2, and on 16 January she took part in gunnery practice with South Dakota and the destroyers USS Burns, Charrette, and USS Conner. The five ships, joined by North Carolina, Washington, and three more destroyers, then got underway on 18 January for the next major amphibious operation the Pacific, the Marshall Islands campaign. While en route, the ships conducted training with their anti-aircraft batteries. They rendezvoused with the carriers Bunker Hill and Monterey at sea, and after arriving in Funafuti on 20 January the unit was redesignated as TG 58.1. By this time, the group had grown to include the carriers Enterprise, Yorktown, Belleau Wood, and several more cruisers and destroyers. Further training took place from 25 to 28 January, including more anti-aircraft practice; Indiana also served as a target for simulated air attacks from the carrier aircraft. During the operation, Indiana served as the flagship of Battleship Division 8 (BatDiv), commanded by Rear Admiral Glenn B. Davis.
  In late January, Indiana took part in operations to prepare for the invasion of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. On 29 January, the ship attacked Maloelap Atoll, along with Washington and the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Yorktown, and the following day the ships began bombarding Kwajalein to soften Japanese defenses. On 30 January, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Washington, escorted by four destroyers, were detached to shell Kwajalein as part of the invasion bombardment. They reached their firing positions early the next morning and Indiana opened fire at 09:56; she and the other ships sank a submarine chaser and five guard ships that were moored in the atoll. Japanese artillery batteries engaged the American ships, but Indiana was not hit. She continued to bombard Japanese positions around the island until 14:48 before departing at 17:15 to return to the carriers. She had fired some 306 shells from her main battery and 2,385 rounds from her
caption: Indiana in dock in Pearl Harbor showing the temporary repairs after the collision with Washington
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