North Carolina
| Country | United States |
| Ship Class | North Carolina-class Battleship |
| Builder | New York Navy Yard |
| Laid Down | 27 Oct 1937 |
| Launched | 13 Jun 1940 |
| Commissioned | 9 Apr 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 27 Jun 1947 |
| Displacement | 35,000 tons standard |
| Length | 729 feet |
| Beam | 108 feet |
| Draft | 35 feet |
| Machinery | General Electric geared turbines with four screws |
| Power Output | 115,000 shaft horsepower |
| Speed | 27 knots |
| Crew | 1,880 |
| Armament | 9x16 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseLaunched in Jun 1940, the USS North Carolina was the first battleship of her class. She was sponsored by Isabel Hoey, daughter of Governor Clyde Hoey of North Carolina. As the first of the Navy's modern battleship program, she received a great deal of attention from the press and earned the nickname "Showboat". She was the first new battleship for the US Navy for nearly 20 years.
ww2dbaseDuring WW2, North Carolina provided naval gun support for the Marine landings as well as escorted carriers during the Solomons campaign. During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, North Carolina shot down between 7 and 14 Japanese aircraft during the 8-minute battle. On 15 Sep, she suffered damage from a torpedo attack either launched by Japanese submarine I-19 or I-15; records were not clear whether the torpedo was a stray from the same salvo from I-19 that sank the carrier Wasp or from I-15 that was also present in the area. The explosion struck 20 feet below the surface and killed five men. The result was a hole 32 feet long by 18 feet high that flooded the number one turret handling room. However, her skilled damage control team minimized the damage; the team even corrected the resulting 5.5 degree list within minutes by counterflooding. Very soon after the torpedo strike she was sailing at a speed of 25 knots for Pearl Harbor for repairs. She returned to Pearl Harbor once again in spring 1943 for fire control and radar upgrades. Subsequent to the upgrades, she supported numerous landings during the island hopping campaign across the Pacific, performing both carrier screening as well as bombarding Japanese positions. She received 15 battle stars for World War II service.
ww2dbaseAfter the war, she saw service in Japan and the Atlantic before being inactivated in 1946. She was decommissioned in 1947 and joined the mothball fleet until 1960. She was dedicated as a memorial at Wilmington, North Carolina, United States on 29 Apr 1962.
ww2dbaseSources: Naval Historical Center, the Struggle for Guadalcanal, Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Mar 2006
Battleship North Carolina Interactive Map
Photographs
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North Carolina Operational Timeline
| 6 Nov 1915 | Piloted by Lieutenant Commander Henry Mustin, a Curtiss AB-2 aircraft made the first US catapult launch from USS North Carolina whilst the vessel was underway. |
| 27 Oct 1937 | The keel of US battleship USS North Carolina (BB-55) was laid down at New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, United States. |
| 13 Jun 1940 | The battleship USS North Carolina was launched at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, United States. |
| 9 Apr 1941 | North Carolina was commissioned into service. |
| 24 Aug 1942 | A Japanese force centered around carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku sailed down into the Solomon Islands with light carrier Ryujo and cruiser tone operating independently south of the main fleet. At 0415, 19 torpedo bombers and 7 seaplanes were launched to search for American ships. At 1250, the search plane from cruiser Chikuma reported sighting USS Saratoga and USS Enterprise; the search plane was quickly shot down, but the Japanese nevertheless gained an idea of the American position. Shokaku launched 18 dive bombers and Zuikaku launched 9 dive bombers starting at 1300 hours. At 1315, two bombers from Enterprise surprised Shokaku, but the torpedo they launched would fail to hit the Japanese carrier. At 1400 hours, a second strike was launched by Shokaku (9 dive bombers and 3 fighters) and Zuikaku (18 dive bombers and 6 fighters). At around the same time, Battle of the Eastern Solomons crew its first casualty when Ryujo was discovered and fatally damaged by several 1,000-pound bombs. At 1440, the first attack wave from the Japanese carriers attacked Enterprise, scoring three bomb hits (70 were killed, 70 were injured), but the Japanese would lose 18 dive bombers and 6 fighters in the engagement. The second wave failed to locate the American carriers and returned before dark. Japanese warships attempted to engage the US fleet after dark, but the force failed to locate the American fleet, and discontinued the search at 2330 hours. |
| 15 Sep 1942 | Japanese submarine I-19 sank USS Wasp (3 Type 95 torpedo hits; 194 were killed, 1,969 survived) in the Coral Sea at 1444 hours; USS North Carolina and USS O'Brien were also damaged in the attack. |
| 16 Dec 1942 | Battleships USS Washington, USS North Carolina, and USS Indiana escorted by destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Farragut, and USS Clarke departed Nouméa, New Caledonia on a patrol cruise around the Coral Sea. |
| 23 Dec 1942 | Battleships USS Washington, USS North Carolina, and USS Indiana escorted by destroyers USS Nicholas, USS Farragut, and USS Clarke, joined by USS Fanning and Maury, returned to Nouméa, New Caledonia. |
| 1 Aug 1944 | USS North Carolina arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. |
| 18 Dec 1944 | Many ships from the United States Third Fleet, Task Force 38 sailed into Typhoon Cobra in the Philippine Sea. Three destroyers and 790 men were lost. |
| 18 Jul 1945 | American battleships USS North Carolina, USS Alabama, USS Iowa, USS Missouri, and USS Wisconsin and British battleship HMS King George V bombarded Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan with 2,000 shells; the Taga Works and Mito Works of Hitachi Manufacturing Company were moderately damaged, and the Yamate Plant and the copper refining plants of Hitachi Mine were lightly damaged; civilian housing areas were also attacked, causing many deaths. Japanese battleship Nagato was damaged in port at Yokosuka, Japan by aircraft from carrier USS Shangri-La; a Japanese destroyer, a submarine, and three smaller vessels were sunk during the attack on Yokosuka. Aircraft from USS Yorktown struck the Tokyo area. P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang aircraft of US Far East Air Forces attacked various targets on Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, focusing largely on communications lines, bridges, shipping, and population centers. |
| 27 Jun 1947 | North Carolina was decommissioned from service. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
30 Sep 2014 03:11:47 AM
I just want to say thanks. I live in Newport, NC about 93 miles from the USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC. I learned a lot of new information on the USS NC from this site.
8 Nov 2017 02:21:33 PM
MY Dad, Halbert D Boss, served on this great ship, an original member of the crew. Would love to know if anyone knew him.
5 Mar 2021 05:38:47 PM
My father James Nesta served on this ship, if anyone knew him could you v contact me. Would be grateful for any information, thanks. My phone # is 786-305- 0294.
19 Jun 2023 11:27:05 AM
My Grandfather Thomas Andrew Ashwell served on the U.S.S. North Carolina and I was wondering how I could find out more information regarding his time served and/or Rank or Class?
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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21 Jan 2009 02:59:01 AM
i'm looking for my granddad jack paul welch, who served as military police volunteer during ww2. he, together with 2 other white officers john and leonard, met my grandmom in mindanao.they were on a raft all the way from cagayan de oro to mambajao, camiguin island(misamis oriental).grandmom is now 83. i hope you can help me. my father was born in 1946, he is now 62 and still searching.
thank you.
mann