She fought with bravery and saved countless lives. She was bombed. She won more WWII medals than any other battleship. She was almost scrapped 15 years later but was saved by courageous North Carolinians.

The beloved “Showboat” North Carolina has been welcoming visitors for the last 50 years. Harbored on the Cape Fear River near downtown Wilmington the majestic Battleship is now a perennial tribute to our heroes.

“Wherever we went, we were North Carolina sailors. We always carried that with us. It had a spirit, an infectious spirit.” - Rear Admiral Julian T. Burke, Jr., USN (Ret)

During World War II North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific and earned 15 Battle Stars. She became the first of 10 fast battleships to join the fleet in WWII.

Heroic Combat Stories:
• August 1942 - The Battleship’s anti-aircraft barrage helped save the carrier Enterprise, in the Battle of the Eastern Solomon’s Islands.

• September 1942 – A Japanese torpedo slammed into the Battleship’s hull. A quick response on the part of the crew allowed the ship to keep up with the fleet. As a side note, during the war the Japanese announced six times that North Carolina had been sunk! But the mighty “Showboat” kept on going…

• A mini-sub encounter: “…We located a mini-sub about half mile outside the harbor entrance…Lt. Wogan suggested to fly over the little ship and convince the crew to surrender. As word got out about the sub…along came a flight of TMB and blew him up with .50 caliber fire. So ended our plan to capture an enemy submarine.”

• April 1944 - One of North Carolina’s Kingfisher pilots heroically rescued ten downed Navy during the strike on Truk.

• A Kamikaze plane encounter: “…He kept coming down and then veered down towards Wake Island carrier, so we thought ‘Oh, it’s not coming for us, he’s going for the carrier.’ Then he swerved…and we realized he is coming for us! All the guns that could were firing at him but none of the guns of the main deck could turn that far. Then at the last second, he turned and started going right after the Wake Island and right as he was about to suicide into the carrier, one of the 40mm from the North Carolina hit him and he just disintegrated.”

Intimate Crew Memories about Life on the Battleship

Mess Hall - Chow Lines - The chow lines started at the port and starboard quarters of the main deck. The lines extended from the float plane aft, onto the deck through a large hatch, and down the ladder to the mess halls below. Aluminum trays were hard to hold as they came steaming hot out of the Scullery. So were the blistering coffee cups made without handles for easier storage.

“When I had mess duty and served meat, I would get dirty looks if I did not served a hefty portion”

“The first one served was the Officer of the Deck. He had to come down and look at the chow and eat it. If it was suitable to him, then the chow line starts.”

Try Runner - “You’d take the metal trays… and emptied them to the Scullery, and then take clean ones back in the rack for the people who would come through the chow line to pick up. It was awfully hard work and hot. I will break out in prickly heat.”

Boiler Room - “It was terrible, terrible hot down there…I had guys dropping out all around me, sweating so much water was running out of their shoes.”

“We had what we called a smoke watch. Smoke was a dead giveaway for submarines. They could plot it a minute later and they got you nailed…a man was sitting way up in the tower who could look down in those stacks and tell you which boiler was smoking so you could clear it up immediately.”

“We used to get a piece of beef from the cook and some new potatoes and onions and we’d take - some sheet metal and make this thing like a pan – and sit there for an hour and a half. It was just like roasting and it use to be delicious.”

Admission and Operation Hours:

Admission is $12 adults, $10 seniors and military, $6 children 6-11 and FREE for children 5 and under. North Carolina is open daily year round. Memorial Day through Labor Day from 8AM to 8PM (4th of July until 6PM to prepare for fireworks). All other days the ship is open 8AM to 5PM (December 25th it opens at noon).

The self-guided tour is usually takes approximately 2 hours to complete. Only the main deck (and some of its interior) is handicap accessible. Phase III Restoration Project should increase accessibility to most of the interior main deck and exhibit areas

Military enthusiasts drive south to Charleston, SC and visit “The Fighting Lady”, the mighty USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier.

Relive history and honor our patriots at the magnificent Battleship NC!

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