The first fast battleship of the US Navy

The USS North Carolina was the first vessel of the fast battleship type built for the United States Navy. Laid down in 1937 and completed in April 1941, the ship was designed under the Washington Treaty system. While the original design called for twelve 14-inch guns, the United States invoked a treaty clause to increase the main battery to nine 16-inch guns in triple turrets.

During World War II, the North Carolina mobilized to counter a possible German battleship sortie before being transferred to the Pacific. She screened aircraft carriers during the Guadalcanal campaign and took part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942, where she shot down several Japanese aircraft. In the following month, she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, but the damage was not serious. She continued to screen carriers across the central Pacific in 1943 and 1944, seeing action during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The ship took part in the later stages of the Philippines campaign and was present when the fleet was damaged by Typhoon Cobra. In 1945, she supported the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa with numerous attacks on Japan. Following the surrender, she carried personnel home during Operation Magic Carpet. After being decommissioned in 1947, the ship was saved from a breaker's yard by a preservation campaign and opened as a museum in Wilmington in 1962.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons