Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Wednesday, February 13, 2008
(INDIANAPOLIS) - A silver service that had been on board the USS Indianapolis is back home again.
First Lady Cheri Daniels unveiled the Tiffany silverware, which has spent the last 31 years on board the aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz. Commander Ken McNeal says the original 39-piece service is the oldest silverware in the Navy, dating back to 1896. The punch bowl was damaged by an enemy shell in the Spanish-American War. It's now considered a war relic and has an inscription about the incident engraved on the inside.
Portions of the service are displayed at the governor's mansion and the USS Indianapolis Museum at the Indiana War Memorial.
Jeff Nance with the museum says people ask him how the silverware survived the sinking in 1945. He says the service and the ship's bell had been removed four years earlier when the cruiser returned to Pearl Harbor from a mission.
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