USS North Carolina (BB-55)

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 in Wilmington, North Carolina
General characteristics
Class and type	North Carolina-class battleship
Displacement	Standard: 35,000 long tons (35,562 t) Full load: 44,800 long tons (45,519 t)
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	8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 121,000 shp (90,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × General Electric steam turbines 4 × screw propellers
Speed	28 knots (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	9 × 16 in (406 mm)/45 caliber Mark 6 guns 20 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose guns 16 × 1.1 in (28 mm) anti-aircraft guns 18 × .50-cal machine guns
Armor	Belt: 12 in (305 mm) Gun turret: 16 in (406 mm) Deck: 5.5 in (140 mm) Conning tower: 14.7 in (373 mm)
Aircraft carried	3 × Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes
Aviation facilities	2 × trainable catapults on her fantail

USS North Carolina (BB-55) is the lead ship of the North Carolina class of fast battleships, the first vessel of the type built for the United States Navy. Built under the Washington Treaty system, North Carolina's design was limited in displacement and armament, though the United States used a clause in the Second 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 was laid down in 1937 and completed in April 1941, while the United States was still neutral during World War II.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, North Carolina mobilized for war and was initially sent to counter a possible sortie by the German battleship Tirpitz, though this did not materialize and North Carolina was promptly transferred to the Pacific to strengthen Allied forces during the Guadalcanal campaign. There, she screened aircraft carriers engaged in the campaign and took part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24–25 August 1942, where she shot down several Japanese aircraft. The next month, she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine 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 the Gilberts and Marshall Islands and the Mariana and Palau Islands, where she saw action during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The ship was undergoing a refit during the invasion of the Philippines but took part in the later stages of the Philippines campaign and was present when the fleet was damaged by Typhoon Cobra. She took part in offensive operations in support of the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945, including numerous attacks on Japan. Following the surrender of Japan in August, she carried American personnel home during Operation Magic Carpet. North Carolina operated briefly off the east coast of the United States in 1946 before being decommissioned the next year and placed in reserve. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1960, the ship was saved from the breaker's yard by a campaign to preserve the vessel as a museum ship in her namesake state. In 1962, the North Carolina museum was opened in Wilmington, North Carolina.