Naval Research Book III: Operation AZUR LANE

Bio #8: U.S.S. North Carolina (BB-55)

Ship Bio #1: Class and Service

U.S.S. North Carolina (BB-55) is the lead ship of the North Carolina-class battleships. The North Carolina-class battleships are the first class of battleships in the US that was classified as a fast battleship.

She was built under the Washington Treaty system, North Carolina's design was limited in displacement and armament. The North Carolina-class originally suppose to have 4 triple turrets, but 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 Attack on Pearl Harbor, she was sent to support the British Royal Navy Fleets in the Pacific. There is also a plan for her to counter a sortie by the German battleship KMS Tirpitz, however, she was immediately order to fight in the Pacific in 1942. Two years late in 1944, KMS Tirpitz was captured by USS Iowa and USS Kentucky.

She participated in the Guadacanal Campaign, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons from 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.

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.

She was the only American treaty battleship to see any significant service after the end of the war until her end.

Throughout the 2nd World War, U.S.S. North Carolina (BB-55) earned 15 battle stars.

Unlike most modern fast battleships, she did went through extensive modifications during the 2nd World War, but she didn't participated in both the Korean and Vietnam War.

She may have a short career throughout the war as she was decommissioned on June 27, 1947 and was reserved until she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on June 1, 1960.

During her being in the reserve fleet, several studies and plans for converting and modernizing her and other ships.  The first series of studies in 1954 revolved around improving the ship's speed to 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph), which would require a significant reduction in displacement and a much more powerful propulsion system. The displacement issue could be solved by the removal of the rear turret, but there was not enough room in the hull to place a power plant necessary to reach the desired speed.

The Navy proposed the U.S.S. North Carolina will be converted to a helicopter carrier, changing her ship classification entirely which could lead to a long overhaul to remove the parts that once identify her as a fast battleship. The plan would have involved removing all of her main and secondary guns (though the forward turret would be retained to keep the ship balanced properly) in exchange for a flight deck and facilities for twenty-eight and a battery of sixteen 3-inch (76 mm) guns.

But considering that building a new helicopter carrier is cheaper than converting an entire ship, the plan was abandoned.

When she was stricken, she was planned to be sold for scrap, but luckily North Carolina man, James Craig, founded a campaign to save the vessel modeled on the Battleship Texas Commission that had successfully acquired the old battleship U.S.S. Texas (BB-35) for preservation as a museum ship.