USS North Carolina (BB-55): History, Patrols, Crews
Commissioning
The USS North Carolina was the lead ship of the North Carolina-class of battleships. Nicknamed “The Showboat,” the North Carolina was the fourth ship in U.S. Navy history to be named in honor of the state of North Carolina.
The contract to build the North Carolina was awarded to the New York Naval Shipyard on Aug. 1, 1937. Her keel was laid down Oct. 27, 1937; she was launched on June 13, 1940. She was commissioned on April 9, 1941, and began her shakedown and training cruise in the Caribbean Sea.
The North Carolina attracted a great deal of attention during her inaugural cruise, as she was the first American battleship built since the World War I era. She was the first American battleship to be armed with 16-inch guns and built using welded construction.
Underway
Even though the North Carolina had completed her shakedown cruise before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and she had been scheduled to head to Hawaii in early 1942, she remained in the Atlantic Ocean for several months after the start of hostilities in the hopes of confronting the German battleship Tirpitz should the Nazi vessel attempt to attack allied shipping. After it became apparent the Tirpitz would remain in the waters off of Norway, the North Carolina was ordered to the Pacific in the summer of 1942.
When the North Carolina arrived at Pearl Harbor on July 11, 1942, she was became the first new battleship to arrive at the port since the war began eight months earlier. She would only stay at Pearl Harbor for four days before leaving with the USS Enterprise battle group for combat operations in the South Pacific.
The North Carolina was the sole battleship in the waters off Guadalcanal when that island and Tulagi were invaded by U.S. Marines on Aug. 7, 1942. She would continue to escort the Enterprise through Aug. 24, when the Battle of the Eastern Solomons erupted. When Japanese attack aircraft bore in on the American fleet, the North Carolina opened fire with her entire arsenal, downing at least seven and perhaps as many as 14 Japanese planes. While the North Carolina escaped damage during the battle, the Enterprise was severely damaged after taking three bomb hits. As a result, the North Carolina was given a new assignment, covering the carrier USS Saratoga.
The North Carolina remained in the waters off Guadalcanal, frequently firing her heavy guns in support of marines attempt to repulse Japanese counterattacks. On Sept. 15,
1942, the Japanese submarine I-19 torpedoed the North Carolina 20 feet below her waterline, killing six crewmembers. Though the ship’s damage control teams worked rapidly to minimize the damage, the North Carolina was forced to head to New Caledonia for temporary repairs, then to Pearl Harbor for more extensive work. After a month in dry dock, the North Carolina headed back to the combat zone for the end of 1942.
After spending most of 1943 providing support for the repaired Enterprise and the Saratoga, the North Carolina took an active role in the Gilbert Islands campaign in November. When U.S forces landed on Makin, Tarawa and Abemama on Nov. 20, the North Carolina provided fire support. On Dec. 8, the North Carolina bombarded the island of Nauru, severely damaging Japanese radio installations, beach defenses and airfields.
When the U.S. invaded Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands on Jan. 29, 1944, the North Carolina bombarded Japanese positions in preparation for the assault. She later attacked Japanese facilities on Namur and Roi, sinking an enemy cargo ship in the process. The North Carolina’s next combat action came at Truk in the Caroline islands, where she supported a huge air campaign against the Japanese stronghold that ended with the destruction of more than 200 Japanese planes and nearly 40 large ships. On Feb. 21, the North Carolina repulsed a Japanese air attack, downing one enemy plane in the process.
When American carriers attacked Palau and Woleai on March 31 and April 1, the North Carolina was in support and downed another Japanese aircraft. She supported the invasion of Hollandia, New Guinea in Mid-April, then downed another Japanese plane during a raid on Truk at the end of the month. On May 1, the North Carolina attacked and destroyed Japanese coastal defense guns, anti-aircraft batteries and the airfield on Ponape.
In June, the North Carolina supported the American invasion of Saipan in the Marianas. She bombarded Japanese installations on the west coast of the island and destroyed fuel, ammunition and supply dumps, as well as several ships, at the harbor of Tanapag. She shot down another Japanese aircraft on June 15. Three days later, she downed two more Japanese planes during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
The North Carolina was in dry dock at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard in October when U.S. forces invaded the Philippines, but returned to the region in December. She supported carrier strikes on Formosa, Indochina and the Chinese mainland, as well as strikes on the Japanese Ryukyu Islands in January. In February, the North Carolina provided coverage during air attacks on the Japanese Home Island of Honshu before moving to Iwo Jima, where the North Carolina supported the pre-invasion bombardment as well as additional fire support for Marines struggling for control of the island.
When the United States invaded Okinawa in early April 1945, the North Carolina was in position to bombard enemy defenses. On April 6, she fought off waves of kamikaze attack aircraft, shooting down three but losing three men killed and 44 wounded when she sustained a hit from a five-inch shell in a friendly fire incident. She shot down another kamikaze on April 7, and two more on April 17. Later that summer, as the Japanese Navy and air force virtually ceased to exist, the North Carolina brazenly bombarded Japan itself. Her targets included several major industrial plants near Tokyo, which suffered heavy damage.
Immediately after the Japanese surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, the North Carolina sent her Marine detachment and a number of her sailors ashore as some of the initial American occupation force. She would return home two months later, arriving in Boston on Oct. 17, 1945. She had received 15 battle stars for her service during the war, the most of any American battleship.
Decommissioning
The North Carolina was decommissioned on June 27, 1947. She remained on the Naval Vessel Register for nearly 13 more years before finally being stricken on June 1, 1960. After the children of North Carolina raised $300,000 to purchase her, the Navy officially released her to the people of North Carolina on Sept. 6, 1961. She was dedicated as a floating museum in Wilmington, N.C. on April 29, 1962, where she remains. The North Carolina was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
Characteristics of the USS North Carolina (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
Class and type: North Carolina-class battleship
Displacement: 37,484 tons standard, 44,377 tons loaded
Length: 728.8 feet (222.1 m)
Beam: 108.3 feet (33.0 m)
Draft: 33.0 feet (10.1 m)
Propulsion: General Electric turbines, four shafts, eight boilers; 121,000 shp
Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h)
Range: 17,450 nautical miles (32,320 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: 2,339 (144 officers and 2,195 enlisted)
Sensors and processing systems: CXAM-1 RADAR[1]
Armament: 9 × 16 inch (406 mm) guns,
20 × 5″3/8 (127 mm) dual-purpose guns,
16 × 1.1″ machine guns; replaced by 20 mm and 40 mm rapid-fire anti-aircraft heavy machine guns
Armor: Maximum 16.0 in (406 mm)
Aircraft carried: 3: Vought OS2U Kingfisher Aviation facilities: 2 trainable catapults on the fantail
Career:
Name: USS North Carolina (BB-55)
Namesake: North Carolina
Ordered: 1 August 1937
Builder: New York Naval Shipyard
Cost: $76,885,750
Laid down: 27 October 1937
Launched: 13 June 1940
Sponsored by: Isabel Hoey
Commissioned: 9 April 1941
Decommissioned: 27 June 1947
Struck: 1 June 1960
Nickname: “Showboat”
Honors and awards:
15 Battle Stars
• American Defense Service Medal
• American Campaign Medal
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
• Philippine Liberation Medal
• Navy Occupation Medal
Fate: Museum ship
Timeline:
August 1937: USS North Carolina ordered
October 1937: Keel of USS North Carolina laid down
June 1940: USS North Carolina launched
April 1941: USS North Carolina commissioned
August 1942: USS North Carolina sees first action during Battle of Guadalcanal; shoots down at least seven Japanese planes during Battle of the Eastern Solomons
September 1942: USS North Carolina torpedoed by Japanese submarine
June 1944: USS North Carolina supports invasion of Saipan
February 1945: USS North Carolina supports invasion of Iwo Jima
April 1945: USS North Carolina shoots down six Japanese kamikazes
June 1947: USS North Carolina decommissioned
Links:
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-n/bb55.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_North_Carolina_(BB-55)
