IU obtains prow of USS Indiana

IU will formally welcome the original prow from the battleship USS Indiana Sept. 7 to its new home at Memorial Stadium. The prow will be reunited with the mainmast and two of the ship’s gun mounts which have been on display outside the stadium’s west entrance since May 1966, according to a press release.

The prow will be welcomed at IU with a rededication ceremony when IU plays Navy in a home football game that day, according to the release. Representatives from the U.S. Navy and the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center in Martin County, representatives from IU, and local, state and federal lawmakers are expected to be at the ceremony.

“Indiana University is an appropriate home for this treasured vestige of naval history and tradition from the last warship named in honor of our great state,” IU President Michael A. McRobbie said in the release. “The fact that we have an opportunity to preserve a physical piece of this legacy and provide a lasting home for it at the state’s flagship public university is a source of immense pride that I share with all Hoosiers.”

The USS Indiana served in the Pacific during World War II, according to the release. It was the last ship to be named for Indiana. The ship was a 35,000-ton South Dakota class battleship and was commissioned in April 1942.

The ship developed an affluent history of service, starting with the invasion of the Gilbert Islands November 1943 and ending with participation in the invasion of Iwo Jima in January 1945, according to the release. The ship earned nine battle stars for its service in World War II before being decommissioned in September 1947 and sold for scrap in 1963.

The prow came to the attention of IU officials last year after it had been on display for decades in the parking lot of the Frank Spenger family’s seafood restaurant in Berkeley, California, according to the release. The family agreed to donate the prow to IU after IU officials and alumni reached out to them.

“This generous gift from the Spenger family allows Indiana University to honor the contributions of its alumni and all Hoosiers by displaying the prow of this namesake ship that served so proudly in the Pacific theater during World War II,” Kirk White, IU’s assistant vice president for strategic partnerships and military liaison for the Office of the President, said in the release.

White said south-central Indiana has “long enjoyed a strong relationship with the U.S. Navy through the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center and installing this piece of history at Memorial Stadium will further recognize the men and women from our state who have served in all branches of the military.”

The prow is expected to arrive at the Stadium in July, where it will be mounted on a platform near its guns and mast, according to the release.

-Makenzie Holland