This National Memorial is the climax of a 50 year dream by the crew members who survived the sinking of the cruiser USS Indianapolis in 1945. They worked continually to erect a fitting memorial to their missing shipmates. The Memorial is located at the North end of the Canal Walk. The Memorial is an outdoor site and is available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Engraved on the South face of the monument are the names of the ship's company and one passenger who made up her final crew.

The USS INDIANAPOLIS (CA-35) National Memorial was designed, erected and paid for by The USS INDIANAPOLIS (CA-35) Survivors Memorial Organization, Inc., a not-for-profit (501-c-19) established in Indianapolis, IN., in 1990 for that purpose. No government funds per se were used. The Organization raised slightly more than eight hundred thousand dollars for the purpose. The Memorial was designated a National Memorial by an act of Congress in 1995, one of only 26 such memorials. The USS INDIANAPOLIS National Memorial was dedicated on August 2, 1995.