Tag Archives: USS North Carolina (BB-55)

Showboat Arrives

Posted on by Leave a comment

Some 85 years ago today, Brooklyn Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. The first American battleship commissioned in 18 years.

On the 1st anniversary of the German invasion of neutral Denmark and Norway, across the ocean in New York, a class-leading super battleship came to life. And, of note, she had a Chicago-born skipper, the son of Norwegian immigrants.

USS North Carolina (BB 55), the third ship to carry the name in the U.S. Navy, was commissioned this day in 1941, with her plank owner skipper, Capt. Olaf Mandt Hustvedt (USNA 1909), taking command of the most modern battlewagon in the fleet– packed with so much new technology that she was quickly dubbed “The Showboat.”

USS North Carolina during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. NH 44717

USS North Carolina commissioning ceremony, at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. Photographed by M. Rudolph Vetter. NH 96673-KN

USS North Carolina quarterdeck scene, during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. NH 44718

USS North Carolina officers and crew salute as the flag is raised for the first time, during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard on 9 April 1941. NH 44719

Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox shakes hands with Captain Olaf M. Hustvedt, ship’s CO, during North Carolina’s commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. At right is North Carolina Governor J.M. Broughton. NH 44721

USS North Carolina via 1938 Janes

North Carolina completed her shakedown in the Caribbean before the Pearl Harbor attack and, after intensive war exercises, entered the Pacific on 10 June 1942, with a long war ahead of her. Although fighting across the Pacific and being officially reported as sunk at least six times by the Japanese, she was a lucky vessel, suffering just 53 casualties.

North Carolina received 12 battle stars for her World War II service (15 campaigns according to her War History) and, in mothballs for 15 years after the conflict, was donated to the people of her home state and opened as a memorial and floating museum.

Hustvedt, who was on Admiral King’s staff by Pearl Harbor and then on Ingersoll’s, went on to become Commander, Battleships, Atlantic Fleet, in 1943, then commanded Battleship Division 7 in the Pacific. He retired from the Navy in 1946 as a vice admiral, completing 41 years of service. He passed in 1978, aged a ripe 92, and is buried at Arlington, Section 7, Site 9044.

Did you Know the North Carolina-class Battleships had Remotely Controlled Search Lamps?

Posted on by Leave a comment

I, for one, did not. Not bad for a circa 1937 battlewagon.

Ryan Szimanski, the curator for Battleship New Jersey, is on the road and has a great installment on search lamps and star shells from the deck of USS North Carolina (BB-55), below.

Enjoy!

The Ghost of Ulithi anchorage

Posted on by Leave a comment

(click to big up)

(click to big up)

Task Group 38.3 enters Ulithi anchorage in column,  December 1944, while returning from strikes on targets in the Philippines. Ships are (from front): Independence-class light aircraft carrier USS Langley (CVL-27); Essex-class fleet carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14); fast battleship sisters USS Washington (BB-56) and  USS North Carolina (BB-55); fast battleship class leader USS South Dakota (BB-57); three Cleveland-class light cruisers USS Santa Fe (CL-60); USS Biloxi (CL-80); USS Mobile (CL-63) and the  Atlanta-class light cruiser USS Oakland (CL-95). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-301351).

All told you are looking at 150~ aircraft and float-planes, 27 x 16-inch naval guns, 36 x 6-inch guns, at least 104 5-inch guns, and well over 700 40mm and 20mm AAA guns spread across these nine hulls. Now that‘s firepower.

Of these the mast of the USS Biloxi is in downtown Biloxi, Mississippi next to the Hard Rock Casino, the USS North Carolina is preserved as an intact museum ship in Wilmington, and the mast of the USS Oakland at the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland, CA. As such, the ships in this picture in one form or another now stretch from the East to the Gulf to the West coasts of the United States, keeping the ghost of Task Group 38.3 very much alive.