The third USS Indianapolis (SSN-697), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Indianapolis, Indiana. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 24 January 1972 and her keel was laid down on 19 October 1974. She was launched on 30 July 1977 sponsored by Mrs. William G. Bray, and commissioned on 5 January 1980, with Commander Harry P. Salmon, Jr., in command.
When the submarine Indianapolis was commissioned, many survivors of the cruiser Indianapolis were present for the official ceremony.
A smaller group of survivors of the cruiser were also present when the Indianapolis was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 December 1998 and stored in Pearl Harbor until disposed of by submarine recycling. The last captain of the Indianapolis was William J. Toti, who also wrote the forward and afterward to Thomas Helm's Ordeal by the Sea : The Tragedy of the U.S.S Indianapolis. Because of Captain's Toti willingness to defend Captain Charles Butler McVay III who had been court-martialed for the sinking of the Portland class Cruiser in 1945, Captain Toti has been held in high esteem by the survivors of the 1945 sinking.