USS North Carolina (BB-55)

"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg) 07/19/2019 at 08:49 • Filed to: None

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Made it back home last night, and I’m finally feeling better. I’ve got the day off, which means getting caught up on house work and totally not playing with the Corvette Configurator all day.

On Wednesday we finished up early so I went down to visit the USS North Carolina.

My grandfather was a Marine attached to the ship and worked as an anti-aircraft gunner on one of the bow mounted 20mm Oerlikon guns. Number 3 on Starboard is what everyone in the family says, so I posed with it.

I asked if I could bring it home, its a family heirloom after all, but was given a resounding no. Anyways I’m not sure how the ATF would feel about that.

I ran into a docent near the Marines quarters, which isn’t normally part of the tour, and I told him about my grandfather and he was kind enough to let me in to have a look around. This is where my grandfather would have slept on the ship. The tables were for servicing the 20mm guns, which they would periodically haul down from the deck to work on.

Outside of the Marine’s quarters was a series of displays about the history of the M arines, the functions of the Marines on ships, and the Marines aboard the North Carolina. T he top right image on this display is a blow up of the picture below from an article in Stars n Stripes (war time newspaper) detailing the exploits of the Marine gun crew. My grandfather is seated in the front row, far right, with his helmet and shirt on. The strapping young shirtless man sitting next him is his best friend, Mike Delida. They grew up in the same town and enlisted together and somehow got stationed together on the ship.

Despite being sick I had a good trip, a fun time with the Marines, and some adventures . I just hope if I go back it can be at a time when its a bit less hot.

facw > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/19/2019 at 08:59

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The North Carolina was the first battleship I visited. It was impressive. I remember thinking the floatplane and it’s crane were cool.

Wheelerguy > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/19/2019 at 09:01

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It’s time to turn that into Space Battleship North Carolina.

Cash Rewards > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/19/2019 at 09:06

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Nice! We need to take the kids on  that. We drive past a couple times a year on the way to my parents place in Southport.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Wheelerguy 07/19/2019 at 09:10

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I support this!

What kind if thrust control do you need when you shoot the 16" guns though?  

Wheelerguy > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/19/2019 at 09:20

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You don’t. In space, railguns are the weakest weapons.

I mean, I reckon we can come up with a combination of any one of the propulsion systems described in ProjectRHO or other places .

http://www.projectrho.com/

http://dougbittinger.com/thoughts/scifi-space-propulsion-engines/

Cash Rewards > Wheelerguy 07/19/2019 at 09:25

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You have clearly not read The Expanse

Wheelerguy > Cash Rewards 07/19/2019 at 09:26

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I’ve only merely fallen off. Hard.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/19/2019 at 09:38

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Went there back in 2016 Memorial day . Worth the money. They had a few WW2 veterans who actually served on the ship to interact with the public. Very humbling to think what these folks were doing when they were just 18 or sometimes younger.

ttyymmnn > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/19/2019 at 10:33

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Well, all that is just ridiculously cool. Enhance!

I was on USS Alabama many many years ago (and USS Wisconsin more recently). On Alabama they had painted “LEAD DAMMIT LEAD” on the back of the shields  to remind the gunners to do just that.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > ttyymmnn 07/20/2019 at 09:16

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Nice!

I didn’t find any fun graffiti or anything like that on the NC, but I can only imagine it was there at one point. I would imagine trying to shoot a plane with a 20mm is a bit like shooting clay pigeons - no matter how much you think you’re leading, its probably not enough.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 07/20/2019 at 09:25

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Thats awesome! I love talking to the old timers, they always have some pretty good stories. I served in the Navy but we have it easy these days. Those guys had no AC, no internet, etc. They were sweating their asses off down in 130 degree engine rooms. Crazy!

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Cash Rewards 07/20/2019 at 09:26

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You should, its worth it. I think it was only like $10 or 12 for adults, kids 10 and under are free.  Ive been on a few different museum ships and this is one of the better ones in my opinion.