Battleship North Carolina attracts thousands of visitors a year :: WRAL.com

LOUD ROCK MUSIC HAD THE MOST BENEFICIAL IMPACT. NOT SURPRISING. PRETTY COOL. THE BATTLESHIP NORTH CAROLINA JUST CELEBRATED ITS 81ST ANNIVERSARY. THE NAVY COMMISSIONED IT ON APRIL 9TH 1941. TONIGHT WE FIND OUR TAR HEEL TRAVELER IN WILMINGTON. >> SCOTT MASON HIGHLIGHTS THE SHIP’S WARTIME HISTORY. COMMISSIONED IN 1941. IN WILMINGTON SINCE >> THAT BATTLE SHIP NORTH CAROLINA ATTRACTS ABOUT A QUARTER MILLION VISITORS A >> IT’S A SYMBOL AND IT’S A HUGE SYMBOL. 700 AND 29 FEET LONG. IT’S 45,000 TIMES AND IT’S A LIVING RELIC. IT’S A LIVING PIECE OF HISTORY THAT WAS THERE AND WHAT IT WAS IN ALL THE MAJOR BATTLES OF WORLD WAR. 2 IN THE PACIFIC, 15, MAJOR THAT IT’S OK NOW IT WOULD SEEM SHE WAS THERE AND SHE WAS BLOOD. SHE SUFFERED CASUALTIES. SHE WAS HIT BY ENEMY FIRE AND STRUCK BY A JAPANESE TORPEDO SHIP TOOK ON ABOUT 2 MILLION GALLONS OF SEA WATER. 4 MEN WERE KILLED DOWN BELOW AND ONE ON DEBT WAS BLOWN OVER THE SIDE. LAST SEEN FLYING THROUGH THE AIR AND WAS LOST AT SEA BELOW DECK. IT’S ALL BUSINESS DOWN HERE. THERE’S VERY FEW LUXURIES. THE SLEEPING COMPARTMENT, NOT A LOT OF PRIVACY. THEY ALSO WEREN’T AIR CONDITIONED. IT WAS PROBABLY 90 DEGREES BELOW SHIP WHILE IT SAILED THE SOUTH PACIFIC. SO VERY SWEATY, HARD WORK. THESE 10 MEN DIED IN BATTLE ON BOARD THE BATTLESHIP. >> AND THEIR NAMES ARE LISTED OVER 10,000 NORTH CAROLINIANS WHO PERISHED OR TO THE SHIP’S HALL OF HONOR. SHE’S DESIGNED FROM STEM TO STERN. FIGHT. AND WHEN SHE’S DESIGNED TO TAKE IT AND KEEP FIGHTING 16 INCH GUNS AND THOSE COULD HURL A SHELL WEIGHING 2700 POUNDS AS FAR AS 20 MILES TO THINK ABOUT THAT. IT’S LIKE A WEIGHT OF A SMALL CAR BEING SENT 20 MILES DOWN RANGE WITH. >> PRETTY GOOD ACCURACY. THIS SHIP WAS HIGH-TECH FOR ITS TIME. THIS BATTLESHIP SHOT DOWN. 24 JAPANESE AIRPLANES THAT ARE CAN FOR SHE ACTUALLY SHUT DOWN MANY MORE THAN THAT. THE BATTLESHIPS ARRIVAL IN WILMINGTON, OCTOBER 1961. >> THE SHIP WOULD HAVE BEEN SCRAPPED IF NOT FOR THE STATE’S VIGOROUS EFFORT TO SAVE. THERE WAS THE CAMPAIGN FAMOUS CAMPAIGN FOR THAT SCHOOL CHILDREN TOO CONTRIBUTE THEIR NICKELS DIMES AND QUARTERS. AND AND THOSE KIDS RACE FOR LIKE $325,000, WHICH >> IN 1960, WAS THIS REAL MONEY? AND AS THEY SWUNG HER AROUND HER STERN SMACKED INTO A FLOATING RESTAURANT CALLED THE ARK ANOTHER CASUALTY. >> THOUGH, THE ARC SERVE. I I THINK IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT. >> THINGS LIKE THIS STILL EXIST. HISTORY WHICH HAS SADLY MOST PEOPLE FORGOTTEN THE BATTLESHIP NORTH CAROLINA IS A SIGNIFICANT REMIND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW ABOUT THIS BATTLESHIP IS THAT IT IS THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA’S