USS North Carolina, WWII Battleship, Wilmington NC

This is the Battleship USS North Carolina which has graced the Wilmington skyline for just over 50 years.  It was literally brought there with contributions from the school children of North Carolina after being scheduled for scrap.  


It was considered the "showboat" of the Navy fleet in its time and saw battle in the Pacific.


This is taken from the boardwalk in downtown Wilmington.  You need to take the bridge across the Cape Fear to do the tour.

Here are the rest of the troop, Ed, Ann and Warren.  Ed and Ann are my youngest daughter's inlaws and super nice people.  Ed was in the Navy during the Viet Nam era and just self-published a book on his experiences on Amazon (Ed's book).  


We were surprised at how long it took us to go through the whole ship (up and down many steps which were more like ladders than steps!).  Ed was on a much smaller battleship when he served and was amazed at how much space there was (look awfully small to me for 2000 men).  After seeing the mechanicals, I told Warren that is where he should have served if he had been in the service.  He said that is where he would have volunteered except for the requirement for four years rather than the two if you were drafted.  That was a surprise to me.

Ann is set up to shoot one of the anti-aircraft guns.

Ed and Warren posing in front of one of the BIG guns...

Will you look at the chain holding the second anchor.  Each link must weigh hundreds of pounds.


Warren thought I was going overboard at one point as I tripped over a rope and did a nosedive right to the edge.  I think my big butt would have kept me from going completely under....  I have been giving my dear husband far far too many scares lately -- poor man.


There were lots of birds to see from the ship as well -- pictures of which I posted yesterday!!  


All in all, a very nice day and a very nice visit with Ed and Ann.  We are lucky our youngest married into such a nice family!!