 North Carolina underway on 3 June 1946. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | North Carolina |
| Namesake | North Carolina |
| Ordered | 1 August 1937 |
| Builder | New York Naval Shipyard |
| Laid down | 27 October 1937 |
| Launched | 13 June 1940 |
| Commissioned | 9 April 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 27 June 1947 |
| Stricken | 1 June 1960 |
| Nickname(s) | "Showboat"[1] |
| Status | Museum ship since 29 April 1962 inWilmington, North Carolina |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | North Carolina-classbattleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 728 ft 9 in (222.12 m) |
| Beam | 108 ft 4 in (33.02 m) |
| Draft | 32 ft 11.5 in (10.046 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 28knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 17,450 nmi (32,320 km; 20,080 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 1,800 |
| Armament | |
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | 3 ×Vought OS2U Kingfisherfloatplanes |
| Aviation facilities | 2 × trainablecatapults on herfantail |
USSNorth Carolina,hull numberBB-55, is thelead ship of theNorth Carolina class offast battleships, the first vessel of the type built for theUnited States Navy. Built under theWashington Treaty system,North Carolina's design waslimited in displacement and armament, though the United States used a clause in theSecond London Naval Treaty to increase the main battery from the original armament of twelve 14-inch (356 mm) guns in quadruple turrets to nine 16 in (406 mm) guns in triple turrets. The ship waslaid down in 1937 and completed in April 1941, while the United States was still neutral duringWorld War II.
Following the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor in December,North Carolina mobilized for war and was initially sent to counter a possible sortie by the German battleshipTirpitz, though this did not materialize andNorth Carolina was promptly transferred to the Pacific to strengthen Allied forces during theGuadalcanal campaign. There, she screenedaircraft carriers engaged in the campaign and took part in theBattle of the Eastern Solomons on 24–25 August 1942, where she shot down several Japanese aircraft. The next month, she wastorpedoed by a Japanesesubmarine but was not seriously damaged. After repairs, she returned to the campaign and continued to screen carriers during the campaigns across the central Pacific in 1943 and 1944, including theGilberts and Marshall Islands and theMariana and Palau Islands, where she saw action during theBattle of the Philippine Sea.
The ship was undergoing a refit during the invasion of the Philippines but took part in the later stages of thePhilippines campaign and was present when the fleet was damaged byTyphoon Cobra. She took part in offensive operations in support of theBattles of Iwo Jima andOkinawa in 1945, including numerous attacks on Japan. Following thesurrender of Japan in August, she carried American personnel home duringOperation Magic Carpet.North Carolina operated briefly off the east coast of the United States in 1946 before beingdecommissioned the next year and placed in reserve. Stricken from theNaval Vessel Register in 1960, the ship was saved from thebreaker's yard by a campaign to preserve the vessel as amuseum ship in her namesake state. In 1962, theNorth Carolina museum was opened inWilmington, North Carolina.
TheNorth Carolina class was the first new battleship design built under theWashington Naval Treaty system; her design was bound by the terms of theSecond London Naval Treaty of 1936, which added a restriction on hermain battery of guns that they be no larger than 14 inches (356 mm). TheGeneral Board evaluated a number of designs ranging from traditional 23-knot (43 km/h; 26 mph) battleships akin to the"standard" series orfast battleships, and ultimately a fast battleship armed with twelve 14-inch guns was selected. After the ships were authorized, however, the United States invoked the escalator clause in the treaty that permitted an increase to 16 in (406 mm) guns in the event that any member nation refused to sign the treaty, which Japan refused to do.[2]
North Carolina is 728 feet 9 inches (222.12 m)long overall and has abeam of 108 ft 4 in (33.02 m) and adraft of 32 ft 11.5 in (10.046 m). Herstandard displacement amounted to 35,000long tons (35,562 t) and increased to 44,800 long tons (45,519 t) atfull combat load. The ship was powered by fourGeneral Electricsteam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by eight oil-firedBabcock & Wilcox boilers. Rated at 121,000shaft horsepower (90,000 kW), the turbines were intended to give a top speed of 28knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 17,450nautical miles (32,320 km; 20,080 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). She carried threeVought OS2U Kingfisherfloatplanes for aerial reconnaissance, which were launched by a pair ofaircraft catapults on herfantail. Her peace time crew numbered 1,800 officers and enlisted men, but during the war the crew swelled to 99 officers and 2,035 enlisted.[3][4]
The ship is armed with a main battery of nine16 in /45 caliber Mark 6 guns[a] in a trio of three-gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in asuperfiring pair forward, with the third aft. Thesecondary battery consisted of twenty5 in (127 mm) /38 caliberdual-purpose guns mounted in twin turrets clusteredamidships, five turrets on either side. As designed, the ship was equipped with an anti-aircraft battery of sixteen1.1 in (28 mm) /75-caliber guns and eighteen .50-caliber (12.7 mm)M2 Browning machine guns,[b] but her anti-aircraft battery was expanded greatly during her career.[3][4]
The mainarmored belt is 12 in (305 mm) thick, while the main armored deck is up to 5.5 in (140 mm) thick. The main battery gun turrets have 16 in (406 mm) thick faces, and they were mounted atopbarbettes that were protected with the same thickness of steel. Theconning tower had 14.7 in (373 mm) thick sides. The ship's armor layout was designed with opponents equipped with 14-inch guns in mind, but since the treaty system broke down just before construction began, her design could not be revised to improve the scale of protection to defend against heavier guns. Despite this shortcoming, theNorth Carolina class proved to be more successful battleships than the better-armored but very crampedSouth Dakota class.[3]
North Carolina received a number of upgrades over the course of her career, primarily consisting of radar and improved anti-aircraft batteries. By November 1942, the ship had received three Mark 3fire-control radar sets for the main battery, four Mark 4 radars for the secondary guns, aCXAM air-search radar, and anSG surface-search radar. During her early 1944 refit, she received anSK air-search radar in place of the CXAM and a second SG radar; her Mark 3 radars were replaced with more advanced Mark 8 sets, though she retained one of the Mark 3s as a backup. In September, the SK radar was replaced with an SK-2 set, and her Mark 4 radars were replaced with a combination of Mark 12 and Mark 22 sets. After the war, she received a secondary SR air search radar and an SCR-720 search radar.[5]
During her refit in late 1942,North Carolina's anti-aircraft battery was replaced with ten quadruple-mount40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns (forty guns), and forty-six20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon autocannon in single mounts. By June 1943, her anti-aircraft armament had been increased with four more 40 mm quadruple mounts, and in November, an additional mount was added atop the rear main battery turret, giving her 60 Bofors guns in 15 quad mounts. Two more 20 mm cannon were added by late 1944, and another eight were installed in April 1945. By the end of the war in August, her 20 mm battery had been reduced to eight twin mounts and twenty single mounts.[6]
Thekeel forNorth Carolina waslaid down at theNew York Naval Shipyard on 27 October 1937. Her completedhull waslaunched on 13 June 1940 and the ship wascommissioned into the fleet on 9 April 1941[7] in a ceremony attended byGovernor of North CarolinaJ. Melville Broughton.[8] The ship's first commanding officer was CaptainOlaf M. Hustvedt.North Carolina embarked on hershakedown cruise in theCaribbean Sea and spent the rest of the year working up while the United States remained neutral duringWorld War II. Following the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December,North Carolina began extensive battle training to prepare for combat in thePacific War.[7]
Her first operation came in April 1942, when she was deployed toNaval Station Argentia on 23 April as part of a force intended to block a potential sortie by the German battleshipTirpitz if she attempted to break out into theconvoy lanes of the North Atlantic.Tirpitz remained in Norway, however, andNorth Carolina was quickly replaced by the battleshipSouth Dakota, allowingNorth Carolina to get underway for the Pacific in mid-1942. She passed through thePanama Canal on 10 June in company with theaircraft carriersWasp andLong Island and ninedestroyers. On 15 June,North Carolina was assigned to Task Force (TF) 18, centered onWasp, along with four cruisers and nine destroyers, under the command ofRear AdmiralLeigh Noyes.[9]
North Carolina was sent to join the Guadalcanal campaign as part ofTF 16, which also included the aircraft carrierEnterprise, theheavy cruiserPortland, thelight cruiserAtlanta, and six destroyers.[10] The unit was part ofTF 61, commanded byVice AdmiralFrank Fletcher, and sent to cover the landing of the1st Marine Division onGuadalcanal to seize the airfield being constructed there by the Japanese. TF 61 also included the carriersSaratoga andWasp.North Carolina coveredEnterprise on the first day of the invasion of Guadalcanal andTulagi on 7 August, and thereafter remained in company withEnterprise to protect the carrier from Japanese air attacks. Fear of Japanese land-based torpedo bombers prompted Fletcher to withdraw the carrier groups the next day. The initial landing met little resistance, but a Japanese cruiser squadron attacked the invasion fleet on the night of 9 August, inflicting a major defeat on Allied naval forces in theBattle of Savo Island.[7][11] The Navy briefly considered forming a surface combat force to counter the Japanese cruisers that would have been centered onNorth Carolina, with five heavy and one light cruiser and four destroyers, but it was determined that the need to protect the carrier task forces was too great to strip away their heavy units.[12]
In this role, she participated in theBattle of the Eastern Solomons on 24–25 August. American forces had detected a group of Japanese carriers on the 24th and immediately launched attacks fromSaratoga that sank thelight carrierRyūjō. A Japanese counterattack struck the American fleet, andNorth Carolina was the first to detect it, shortly after 16:00, using her air-search radar.[13] The Japanese initially concentrated onEnterprise, andNorth Carolina contributed her anti-aircraft fire to her defense.Enterprise increased speed to 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), causingNorth Carolina to drop back, ultimately falling to around 4,000 yards (3,700 m) astern. A group of sevenAichi D3Adive bombers attackedNorth Carolina at 16:43 but they all missed.North Carolina emerged from the battle unscathed, though one man was killed by astrafing aircraft.Enterprise was hit by three bombs but aircraft fromSaratoga severely damaged theseaplane tenderChitose in return.[14][15][16]
North Carolina's anti-aircraft claimed to have shot down between 7 and 14 aircraft,[7] though evaluation of the gunners' effectiveness is mixed. The historianRichard B. Frank noted that the Japanese lost a total of eighteen D3As and creditedEnterprise'sGrumman F4F Wildcatfighters with half of them, with the rest shot down by the ships, "with the lion's share to gunners aboardEnterprise.[17] The naval analystNorman Friedman highlighted the effectiveness of the 5-inch guns aboardEnterprise andNorth Carolina, but noted that the ship had difficulty tracking targets with her fire control radar, owing to a combination of rapid maneuvering to avoid attacks, excessive vibration from steaming at high speed, and the number of friendly and hostile aircraft aloft. Contemporary observers took an optimistic view of the ship's performance; her captain credited her with shooting down five to seven aircraft, AdmiralChester W. Nimitz, theCommander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, noted that her 5-inch fire was particularly effective in dissuading Japanese attacks.[18]
WhileEnterprise withdrew for repairs,North Carolina was transferred toTF 17 to coverSaratoga, along withAtlanta and a pair of destroyers.[19] The ships operated off Guadalcanal for the next several weeks, during which time Japanesesubmarines attempted to torpedoNorth Carolina twice. The first, on 6 September, passed some 300 yd (270 m) off herport side, but the second, from the submarineI-19 on 15 September, damaged the ship.I-19 had fired a spread of six torpedoes atWasp in TF 18, two or three of which hit. Two of theType 95 torpedoes continued on to the ships of TF 17, some 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) away. One hit the destroyerO'Brien, and a fourth hitNorth Carolina. The hit onNorth Carolina struck the ship 20 ft (6.1 m) below thewaterline on her port side and tore a 32-by-18-foot (9.8 by 5.5 m) hole in the plating. Five men were killed in the attack, but the torpedo inflicted little serious damage, apart from the shock of the blast that disabled the forward turret. Flooding occurred andNorth Carolina took on alist of 5.5 degrees to port, but this was quickly corrected with counter-flooding and she was able to remain on station withSaratoga, cruising at a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). The other two ships were not so lucky, withWasp beingscuttled that evening andO'Brien eventually foundering a month later when her hull finally buckled from the damage.[20][21][22] After withdrawing from the area,North Carolina was detached toPearl Harbor to make repairs, which lasted from 30 September to 17 November.[23]
After returning to the South Pacific,North Carolina resumed screeningSaratoga andEnterprise, which had also completed repairs by this time. The American fleet had been strengthened byNorth Carolina'ssister shipWashington, which served as theflagship of Rear AdmiralWillis Lee.[24] The two battleships were grouped together as TF 64 under Lee's command.[25] The ships covered convoys carrying soldiers and supplies to theSolomon Islands for the rest of 1942 and into 1943 as the Guadalcanal campaign ground on.[7] These operations included covering a group of seven transports carrying elements of the25th Infantry Division to Guadalcanal from 1 to 4 January 1943. During another of these convoy operations later that month, the battleships, which by this time had been reinforced by the battleshipIndiana, were too far south to be able to reach the American cruiser force during theBattle of Rennell Island at the end of the month.[26][27]
North Carolina returned to Pearl Harbor in March for a refit that lasted for more than a month and included the installation of radars and improved fire control equipment.[7] On returning to the South Pacific, she joined the battleship group of TF 36, now commanded by Rear AdmiralGlenn B. Davis and consisting ofIndiana andMassachusetts. The battleship and carrier groups covered amphibious assault forces duringOperation Cartwheel, the campaign to isolate the Japanese stronghold atRabaul, in late June and early July. They did not see action during the campaign, as fighting was limited to both sides' light forces.[28] In September, she made another trip to Pearl Harbor to make preparations for the attack on theGilbert Islands.[7]
_underway_in_the_Gilbert_islands%2c_November_1943.jpg)
For the assault on the Gilberts, the fleet was organized into TF 50, which was divided into several task groups (TG). The ship sortied on 10 November, once again in company withEnterprise as part of TG 50.2 to support theGilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, which began with assaults onMakin,Tarawa, andAbemama. The group also includedMassachusetts andIndiana and a pair of light carriers and six destroyers.North Carolina covered the carriers while they raided the islands beginning on 19 November. On 8 December,North Carolina was detached to form TG 50.8 with the other battleships of the fleet—Massachusetts,Indiana,South Dakota, andWashington—again under Lee's command. The ships bombarded the island ofNauru while the fleet prepared for the next operation in the campaign in theMarshalls.North Carolina then escorted the carrierBunker Hill during a series of strikes onKavieng on the island ofNew Ireland in late December.[7][29]
On 6 January 1944, TF 58, thefast carrier task force, was created under the command of Rear AdmiralMarc Mitscher;North Carolina continued in her role as an escort for the fleet's carriers with the unit as part of TG 58.2. During theBattle of Kwajalein,North Carolina initially remained with the carriers during the pre-invasion bombardment, but was then detached to close with the island and join the bombardment group targetingRoi-Namur, which also includedWashington,Indiana, andMassachusetts. During the attack, she sank acargo ship in the harbor. After the islands were conquered in four days of heavy fighting, TF 58 departed to raidTruk, which had been Japan's primary staging area in the central Pacific. By this time,North Carolina had been transferred to TG 58.3. The attack, codenamedOperation Hailstone, inflicted serious damage, sinking or destroying 39 ships, destroying 211 aircraft and damaging another 104 planes.[7][30]
With the Marshalls and Gilberts secured, the fast carrier task force embarked on a series of raids in the central Pacific to prepare for the upcoming attack on theMariana Islands. The fleet sortied fromMajuro, its new base in the Marshalls, in late March to begin the first attack onPalau andWoleai, conducted from 31 March to 1 April. During these operations,North Carolina shot down a Japanese aircraft. The fleet then sailed south to support the US Army'slanding at Hollandia during theNew Guinea campaign from 13 to 24 April. Another attack on Truk followed on 29–30 April;North Carolina shot down another Japanese aircraft during the attack. Two of her Kingfisher floatplanes were sent to rescue a downed pilot who had crashed off thereef; one of themcapsized on landing and the second was unable to take off with the additional weight from the first plane's crew and the pilot they had gone to pick up, so the submarineTang picked up the men instead. On 1 May,North Carolina and six other battleships organized as TG 58.7 bombardedPohnpei, destroying Japanese artillery batteries, anti-aircraft guns, and damaging the airfield on the island. TF 58 then returned to its bases in Majuro andEniwetok on 4 May; from there,North Carolina departed to Pearl Harbor for repairs to herrudder.[7][31]
_firing_broadside_c1944.jpg)
After completing repairs,North Carolina rejoined the fleet at Majuro while it was preparing for the attack on the Marianas. On arriving, she returned to TG 58.7, which was distributed between the four carrier task groups. She and the rest of TF 58 sortied on 6 June to launch the first assault in the campaign, targeting the island ofSaipan. In addition to screening the carriers,North Carolina also bombarded the island to cover theminesweepers as they cleared paths to the invasion beach. She shelledTanapag Harbor, sank several small vessels, and destroyed several supply dumps. On 15 June, themarines went ashore and a Japanese counterattack struck the fleet, though all but two of the aircraft were shot down by the carriers'combat air patrol; of those two,North Carolina shot one down. The landing was a breach of Japan's inner defensive perimeter that triggered the Japanese fleet to launch a major counter-thrust with the1st Mobile Fleet, the main carrier strike force.[7][32]
As the Japanese fleet approached,North Carolina and the rest of TF 58 steamed to meet it on 18 June, leading to theBattle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June.North Carolina and the other battleships, with four cruisers and thirteen destroyers, were deployed some 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) west of the carrier groups to screen the likely path of approach. The Japanese launched their aircraft first, and as they probed the American fleet's defenses,North Carolina andWashington were the first battleships to open fire on the attacking Japanese aircraft. During the action, which was fought primarily by the carriers, the US fleet inflicted serious losses on the Japanese, destroying hundreds of their aircraft and sinking three carriers. In the course of the battle,North Carolina shot down two Japanese aircraft.North Carolina remained on station off the Marianas for the next two weeks before being detached for an overhaul at thePuget Sound Navy Yard.[7][33]
_in_heavy_seas%2c_December_1944.jpg)
Repairs lasted through October, keepingNorth Carolina from participating in much of thePhilippines campaign, and she rejoined the fleet at its new forward base atUlithi on 7 November. There, she joined TG 38.3, the fast carrier task force having passed fromFifth Fleet toThird Fleet command and accordingly being renumbered from 50-series to 30-series designations. The carriers then embarked on a series of strikes on Japanese positions onLeyte,Luzon, and theVisayas to support Army operations ashore. During these operations,North Carolina shot down akamikaze suicide aircraft. The attacks continued into mid-December and intensified during theinvasion of Mindoro on 15 December. Three days later, the fleet was cruising off the Philippines when it was hit byTyphoon Cobra.North Carolina was not seriously damaged, but three destroyers were sunk in the storm.[7][34]
After returning to Ulithi, the fast carrier task force began a series of strikes on targets onFormosa, the coast ofFrench Indochina, occupied China, and theRyukyu Islands in January 1945.North Carolina remained in TG 38.3 for the operation, and her carrier group struck northern Formosa on 3–4 January, but poor weather hampered flight operations. Further attacks struck targets on Luzon on 6 and 7 January to destroy reserves of kamikazes there. On 10 January, the carrier groups entered theSouth China Sea to strike targets in French Indochina on the assumption that significant Japanese naval forces were present, but only merchant ships and a number of minor warships were caught and sunk there. During these raids, other elements of the Allied fleetinvaded Lingayen Gulf on Luzon.[35]
In February, she escorted carriers during attacks on the Japanese island ofHonshu to disrupt Japanese air forces that might interfere with the plannedinvasion of Iwo Jima in theBonin Islands. Fifth Fleet had re-assumed command of the fast carrier task force by this point, andNorth Carolina was now part of TG 58.4. The fleet sortied from Ulithi on 10 February, and after conducting training exercises offTinian on the 12th, refueled at sea on 14 February and continued on north to launch strikes on the Tokyo area two days later. The raids continued through 17 February and the next day, the fleet withdrew to refuel and TG 58.4 was sent to hit other islands in the Bonin chain to further isolateIwo Jima. During the preparatory bombardment for that attack,North Carolina,Washington, and the heavy cruiserIndianapolis were detached from the task group to reinforce TF 54, the assault force for the invasion; she remained on station during the marine assault and provided fire support as they fought their way across the island through 22 February. The next day, the carrier groups reassembled and refueled on 24 February for further operations against the Japanese mainland.[7][36]
After leaving Iwo Jima, the fleet resumed air attacks on theHome Islands to prepare for the next amphibious assault onOkinawa in the Ryukyus. The first of these, on 25 and 26 February, hit targets in the Tokyo area, followed by another attack on Iwo Jima the next day. The fleet refueled on 28 February and on 1 March raided Okinawa, thereafter returning to Ulithi on 4 March.[37] While in Ulithi, the fleet was reorganized andNorth Carolina was transferred to TG 58.3. The fleet sortied on 14 March for additional attacks on Japan; the ships refueled on 16 March on the way and they launched their aircraft two days later to hit targets onKyushu. The attacks continued into the next day, causing significant damage to Japanese facilities on the island and sinking or damaging numerous warships. The task groups withdrew to refuel and reorganize on 22 March, as several carriers had been damaged by kamikaze and air attacks. The carriersWasp andFranklin were badly damaged by bombs, andNorth Carolina was assigned to the group of ships tasked with escorting them back to Ulithi for repairs.[38]
_underway_at_sea_on_3_June_1946_(NH_97267).jpg)
Carrier raids on the Home Islands and the Ryukyus continued after thelanding on Okinawa on 1 April. WhenNorth Carolina returned to the fleet, she was assigned to TG 58.2. Five days later,North Carolina shot down three kamikazes. In the furious anti-aircraftbarrage, another ship accidentally hitNorth Carolina with a 5-inch shell, killing three and wounding forty-four. On 7 April, the Japanese launched a major air–naval counterattack on the landing centered on the battleshipYamato, which was largely defeated by the carriers, thoughNorth Carolina shot down one Japanese bomber. Another major kamikaze attack struck the fleet on 11 April. She shot down two more on 17 April, and two days later she was sent to support infantry attacks on Okinawa before departing for another overhaul at Pearl Harbor.[7][39]
North Carolina returned to the fleet inLeyte Gulf in late June before it embarked on another series of attacks on Japan on 1 July. By this time, the fast carrier task force had been transferred to Third Fleet, so the battleship joined TG 38.3. The air attacks began on 10 July, with over a thousand aircraft hitting airfields around Tokyo. The strikes continued for more than a week, until a typhoon approached and forced the fleet to withdraw to avoid it on 19 July. During these operations, one of her Kingfishers picked up a downed pilot inTokyo Bay under heavy fire. Following theJapanese surrender on 15 August,North Carolina contributed men for the initialoccupation force and enteredSagami Bay on 27 August with the rest of the fleet. She thereafter patrolled the coast until 5 September, when she steamed into Tokyo Bay to reembark the men. The next day, she was assigned to TF 11 along with the threeNew Mexico-class battleships, a pair of light carriers, and a squadron of destroyers to return to the United States. From there, she sailed south to Okinawa to take on men bound for home as part ofOperation Magic Carpet.[7][40] The ship suffered a total of 10 crew dead and 67 wounded during her wartime service.[41] The ship received fifteenbattle stars during her wartime service. The most of any battleship in the US Fleet.[42]
She transited the Panama Canal on 8 October and arrived inBoston on 17 October. Subsequently she underwent an overhaul in theBrooklyn Navy Yard and thereafter conducted training operations off the east coast, including a training cruise formidshipmen from theUS Naval Academy in the Caribbean in mid-1946.[7]North Carolina was the only Americantreaty battleship to see any significant service after the end of the war.[3]
The ship was decommissioned on 27 June 1947 in New York and placed in reserve.[7] While she was out of service, the Navy considered several plans to modernize or convert the ship for other purposes. The first series of studies in 1954 revolved around improving the ship's speed to 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph), which would require a significant reduction in displacement and a much more powerful propulsion system. The displacement issue could be solved by the removal of the rear turret, but there was not enough room in the hull to place a power plant necessary to reach the desired speed. The Navy also evaluated a proposal to convertNorth Carolina into ahelicopter carrier; the plan would have involved removing all of her main and secondary guns (though the forward turret would be retained to keep the ship balanced properly) in exchange for a flight deck and facilities for twenty-eighthelicopters and a battery of sixteen 3-inch (76 mm) guns. The Navy ultimately decided that a new, purpose-built helicopter carrier would be cheaper and so the project was abandoned.[43]
She remained in the Navy's inventory until she was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 June 1960, slated to bebroken up forscrap.[7] A North Carolina man, James Craig, founded a campaign to save the vessel modeled on the BattleshipTexas Commission that had successfully acquired the old battleshipTexas for preservation as amuseum ship. He convinced GovernorLuther H. Hodges to ask the Navy to delay the scrapping of the ship, and then led a campaign to raise the $250,000 necessary to prepare a site to host the vessel, to tow her there, and work to prepare her for visitors. With the help of theWRAL TV station—which broadcast a "Save Our Ship" advertisement campaign—and numerous state newspapers, Craig was able to secure more than $330,000 for the project. Next were considerations of the site to be used; three cities were considered:Southport,Morehead City, andWilmington. The latter was selected, since it was further inland and thus more protected from hurricanes.[44]
USSNorth Carolina (Battleship) | |
 USSNorth Carolina Battleship Memorial | |
| Location | Wilmington, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°14′11″N77°57′15″W / 34.23639°N 77.95417°W /34.23639; -77.95417 |
| Built | 1941 |
| Architect | Brooklyn Navy Yard |
| NRHP reference No. | 82004893 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 10 November 1982 |
| Designated NHL | 14 January 1986[45] |
_being_towed_to_Wilmington_in_1961.jpg)
On 6 September 1961,North Carolina was transferred to the state.[7] The ship was towed out ofBayonne, New Jersey, bound for Wilmington, by a group of ninetugboats on 25 September.[46] At one point during the trip, on 2 October, the tugs lost control of the ship in theCape Fear River and she collided with a floating seafood restaurant, though surprisingly causing only minor damage.[47] After her berth – located across the Cape Fear River from downtown Wilmington, about 28 miles (45 km) from the river's confluence with the Atlantic Ocean[48] — was completed and repairs to the ship effected, she was formally opened on 29 April 1962[7] as a memorial to more than 11,000 North Carolinians who died while serving in theUnited States armed forces during World War II.[48]
In 1964, a Kingfisher that had crashed inBritish Columbia, Canada, during the war and then subsequently been salvaged was donated to the museum.
In the early 1980s, when the Navy reactivated the fourIowa-class battleships, parts were cannibalized fromNorth Carolina and the other preserved battleships, includingAlabama andMassachusetts, to restore theIowas to service. Engine room components that were no longer available in the Navy's inventory accounted for most of the material removed from the ships.[49] The battleship was declared aNational Historic Landmark on 10 November 1982; the application noted that the ship was in almost excellent condition and remained in its wartime configuration.[50][51][52]
Work to maintain the ship and improve the facility is an on-going effort. In 1998, the museum's operators ran Operation Ship Shape, a donation drive to secure funds to make repairs to the vessel, including the ship'steak deck, which was replaced with teak fromMyanmar. Funds from the campaign were also allocated to repair the ship's hull, which by the early 2000s had deteriorated significantly; in some places, corrosion had reduced the thickness of the hull plating from its original 0.625-to-0.75-inch (15.9 to 19.1 mm) thickness to as thin as 0.15 inches (3.8 mm). After considering moving the ship to a drydock for the work, which would have been prohibitively expensive, the ship's caretakers decided to use the same method used to refurbish the battleshipAlabama: erect acofferdam around the hull and pump it dry. In addition to replacing damaged hull plates, the hull also received a new coat of paint to better protect it from the elements. In 2018, a walkway was erected around the ship to allow visitors to view the ship from all sides, with funding provided by theSECU Foundation. The walkway sits atop the cofferdam necessary for the ship's repairs.[51][53][54] Repairs to the ship's hull were completed in 2021.[55]
As of the beginning of 2024, the memorial and museum is one of North Carolina's most-visited tourist sites.[48] In 2022, the museum had nearly 250,000 visitors and enjoyed the most financially successful year in its history.[48]
During the early 21st century, flooding due to aclimate change-related rise in sea level became an increasing problem at the museum site. ANational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationtidal gauge 0.5-mile (0.8 km) from the museum recorded a 9-inch (23 cm) rise in sea level between its installation in 1935 and 2023, and the museum's leaders documented a 7,000 percent increase in flooding incidents between 1961 and 2023, with 20 flooding incidents at the site during 2011. After 2013, flooding problems accelerated dramatically: In 2020, the site experienced flooding during about half of the year, and flooding continued to accelerate after that, with 200 days of flooding during 2022. By the beginning of 2024, waters from the Cape Fear River routinely overtoppedseawalls, flooding hundreds of spaces in the museum's parking lot as well as sidewalks and grassy areas, killingoak trees on the property, and occasionally forcing the museum to close when its only access road became submerged.[48]
To increase drainage, improve both water quality, and enhance safety of visitors, the museum's leaders decided to embark on aUS$4.1 million construction project – expected to last from January to September 2024 – which would allow the museum to accommodate the changing landscape rather than attempt to prevent the intrusion of water. Plans called for the removal of about 800 feet (244 m) of concrete and rock barriers and their replacement with a "living shoreline" of earthen berms and native vegetation that would reduce erosion and attract a variety of animals includingshrimp andblue crabs; the removal of several acres of the parking lot prone to flooding and restoring the tidal creek andwetland that existed there before 1961, to hold back water and redirect it into the river; raising the remaining portion of the parking lot above the high tide level; and planting 100 trees and shrubs in the parking lot and 130,000 native marsh plants to filter storm water runoff and create a habitat for migratory and nesting birds. The project will be funded with nearly US$2 million fromUnited States Government and North Carolina state grants, more than US$1 million from the North Carolina state budget, and funding from theNorth Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.[48]
With sea level rise at the site expected to increase by about 1 foot (0.3 m) between 2024 and 2050, the 2024 construction project is expected to address drainage problems until sometime between 2039 and 2044, when additional measures may become necessary to address flooding. The 2024 project is designed to accommodate additional changes that probably will be required in the mid-21st century.[48]
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