Hometown: New Haven, CT
Branch: U.S. Navy
Unit:  USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
Military Honors: Silver Star, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: July 30, 1945 - KIA at sea, Philippine Sea 
Age: 40
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

“Joe” Flynn grew up in New Haven, Connecticut—an east coast port city on Long Island Sound. His grandparents emigrated from Ireland, and his father, Charles, was a café proprietor. His mother, Ellen, was a homemaker who raised four boys: Charles, Harold, Joe, and Francis.

After Joe graduated from New Haven High School in 1922, he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. There he was known for his fiery red hair, his lightheartedness, his pride in being Irish, and for being “a rabble-rouser.” A boxer and football player while at the Academy, Flynn graduated with the class of 1927 and received his commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Navy.

While assigned as a lieutenant on the battleship USS Texas (BB-35), Flynn married Anna Wayne on July 12, 1930, in Los Angeles, California. The two would later welcome two daughters, Anne Marie and Carleen.

By 1940, the family was living in Long Beach, California. Everything changed—for America and for the Flynn family—when Imperial Japan executed a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.

The next day, at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Congress declared war on the Empire of Japan. Germany and Italy, who were allied with Japan, responded by declaring war on the United States. America had officially entered World War II.

At the time of the attack, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35), was performing bombing exercises at Johnston Island, a tiny island 720 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor. The ship hurried east toward Pearl Harbor, preparing for the response to the devastating attack.

Assigned to the Indianapolis

Now Commander Flynn would serve as executive officer aboard Indianapolis as the ship joined major battles in World War II’s Pacific Theater. According to the National Museum of the Pacific War:

Indianapolis began racking up battle stars for her valiant service, beginning with the Bougainville campaign and Salamaua-Lae Raid in February and March 1942. After her service in the Aleutian Islands area, for which she received another battle star, Indianapolis became the flagship of the Fifth Fleet, commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance, an Indianapolis native. Indy’s other battle stars included action in the Marshall and Mariana Islands, including the capture of Tinian, and the preinvasion and support operations for the Iwo Jima campaigns. She played a vital role in the assault and occupation of the island before being called away to participate in the bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands. After several days, the Indianapolis was again pulled out for yet another mission, the preinvasion bombardment of Okinawa.

The day before the planned invasion of Okinawa, on March 31, 1945, Indianapolis was hit by a Japanese “kamikaze” attack. Six attacking planes were shot down, but one pilot’s bomb pierced the ship’s steel decks and detonated underwater. The crew managed to seal the ship’s hatches and prevent flooding. Wounded but not sunk, Indianapolis returned to the Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California, for a complete overhaul.

Top-secret mission

While the ship spent weeks being repaired, Indianapolis was chosen personally by President Roosevelt for a top-secret mission. Although its mysterious cargo was unknown to the crew and even to its captain, Charles B. McVay III, Indianapolis would deliver critical components for “Little Boy” to Tinian Island. Little Boy was the nickname for an atomic bomb that would be dropped on Japan.

Indianapolis set sail on July 16, 1945, and completed its mission by reaching Tinian Island ten days later. The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945—the first of two atomic bombs that would break the resolve of Imperial Japan and bring an end to the war, without a much costlier invasion of the Japanese home islands.

After delivering the weapon, on July 28, 1945, Indianapolis set sale for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, where the crew was to receive combat training for a possible invasion of the Japanese mainland. Two days later, two torpedoes from a Japanese cruiser submarine tore into the starboard side of the Indianapolis.

Within five minutes, the vessel was listing at 12 degrees. As executive officer, CDR Joseph Flynn went up to the bridge and told CPT McVay, “We are definitely going down and I suggest that we abandon ship.” The order was given. Within minutes, the ship listed at 90 degrees, where it stayed for a full minute. CPT McVay climbed the rail and walked on the hull until Indianapolis slipped below the surface.

As the ship sank, CDR Flynn dove into a flooding compartment in hopes or rescuing trapped crewmen.

Largest at-sea disaster in Navy history

Of the 1,196 sailors and Marines aboard the Indianapolis, it is estimated that some 300-400 went down with the ship. In all, 880 died at sea, with 316 surviving. Captain McVay was among the survivors and later provided a detailed accounting of what took place.

Many who survived the attack were lost in the next four days. One of the torpedoes had hit near the ship’s communication room, and the U.S. Naval Institute speculates that “the loss of electrical power coupled with damaged and grounded antennas likely prevented the transmitters from putting the keyed SOS with coordinates out onto the air.”

The Navy was unaware of the Indianapolis’ sinking until days later, when an Army Air Forces plane spotted survivors in the ocean. Hundreds of men who escaped the sinking Indianapolis died from saltwater poisoning, dehydration, or shark attacks before 316 survivors were rescued. The 880 men lost was the worst disaster at sea in the history of the United States Navy.

CDR Joseph Ambrose Flynn, at age 40, was among those believed to have gone down with the ship.

In a 2020 article published by the Navy, Flynn’s great-grandson, Paul Everts, said that CDR Flynn had plans for his future, “He was actually getting out of the military and planned on moving into a career in law enforcement, and training to be an FBI agent.”

Three generations later, Paul Everts—with the same fiery red hair as his great grandfather—would also serve his country in the Pacific with the U.S. Navy.

Posthumously promoted to the rank of captain, Joseph Ambrose Flynn is listed as missing in action/non-recoverable. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig City, the Philippines, on the memorial rotunda at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and on the USS Indianapolis National Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On August 19, 2017, the wreckage of the Indianapolis was discovered by civilian researchers, on the floor of the Philippine Sea.

Sources
Details submitted by Mr. Paul D. Everts, CAPT Flynn’s grandson
United States Naval Academy: 1927 Lucky Bag, p. 377
USNA Memorial Hall: Joseph A. Flynn, CAPT, USN
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: CAPT. Joseph A Flynn
U.S. Navy: The Ultimate Sacrifice: A Sailor Remembers Great Grandfather KIA Aboard USS Indianapolis
The Times-Herald, September 11, 1945: Local Officer Is Missing Off Indianapolis
U.S. Department of Defense: Worst Navy Disaster at Sea Led to Safety Changes
National Museum of the Pacific War: The Life and Death of the USS Indianapolis
U.S. Naval Institute: Dispelling the Myths of the Indianapolis
Together We Served: Flynn, Joseph Ambrose, CAPT
Find a Grave: Captain Joseph Ambrose “Joe” Flynn