Moored along the Cape Fear River, just across from downtown Wilmington, is the WWII battleship USS North Carolina. Preserved as a museum since 1961, the USS North Carolina has not only become Wilmington’s top tourist attraction, but a permanent fixture of the downtown skyline. Laid down in 1937, it was constructed under the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty, which restricted the size, armament, and firepower of battleships. Since the North Carolina was built before the outbreak of WWII, its design was constrained by the limitations of the treaty, and is smaller than battleships built during the war, most noticeably the Iowa Class battleships.
The timing of the North Carolina’s design and construction, gave it a distinct advantage for its second life as a naval museum. After WWII, the USS North Carolina was already obsolete, dwarfed by the Iowa Class battleships. The Navy tossed around ideas on how to repurpose the battleship, but none of them ever came to fruition. The ship was set to be scrapped, when the citizens of North Carolina stepped up with donations to preserve their namesake ship. Since the North Carolina was never repurposed or retrofitted, the ship is preserved in its WWII condition. This in stark contrast to the Iowa Class battleships, which served up until the Gulf War, and were heavily modernized over the years. This makes the USS North Carolina one of the best WWII battleships to visit.
In addition to scoring points for being original to its WWII configuration, the USS North Carolina gets a gold star for the vast parts of the ship open for tours. It’s not uncommon for naval museums to restrict access to only a handful of areas, but the North Carolina is different. Even for self guided tours, all of the most interesting sections of the ship are open and accessible. Odds are if there is a section of the ship you’re interested in, it’s open to tour.
I spent a little over 3 hours touring the North Carolina, and I’m already contemplating a return visit to do an extended guided tour. It was easily the coolest ship tour I’ve ever done, and I’ll surely be back at some point. It also helps that it’s located near downtown Wilmington, which is an underrated city, and a likely candidate for a future post. I could say plenty more about the USS North Carolina, but rather than blather on, I’ll leave you by plainly saying that the battleship is definitely worth a visit.
The North Carolina was originally to be equipped with 14″ guns, but a provision allowed an upgrade to 16″ guns (same size as the Iowa-class battleships) when Japan refused to sign the treaty.
Spent a quick trip to Wilmington a few years ago. I just had time to do a little “photo safari,” walking around the riverfront and some neighborhoods near my hotel — https://braddupray.smugmug.com/Photography/Wilmington-North-Carolina/
I assume you’ve been to the USS Midway in San Diego since you mentioned going to other naval ships. That’s the only one I visited – very cool!
I have done the USS Midway, but it’s just ok compared to some other historic navy ships that I’ve visited. I didn’t originally plan on visiting a bunch of naval museums, but I now make time for pretty much all of them. At some point I’ll probably have to write a post ranking them all.