Est. 1940 · World War II Memorial · Naval History · North Carolina Heritage · 15 Battle Stars
The USS North Carolina was laid down at the New York Navy Yard in 1937 and commissioned on April 9, 1941. She was the lead ship of the North Carolina class of fast battleships, designed to meet the new realities of naval warfare in the treaty era. At 729 feet and 44,800 tons at full load, she carried nine 16-inch guns in three triple turrets.
Her Pacific campaign began at Guadalcanal in August 1942, where she provided antiaircraft cover during the landings. On September 15, 1942, a Japanese submarine torpedo struck the ship below the waterline near the forward fire room, killing five sailors and wounding 23. The damage was severe enough to require repairs at Pearl Harbor but not severe enough to remove the ship from service for long. She returned to the Pacific and participated in virtually every major naval campaign of the war's remaining years — Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the final strikes on the Japanese home islands.
She accumulated 15 battle stars during the war, the highest total of any American battleship. When the war ended, she was decommissioned in June 1947 and placed in reserve. By 1960, the Navy had scheduled her for scrapping.
North Carolina citizens responded with a statewide fundraising campaign — schoolchildren contributed pennies; communities held events. The effort raised sufficient funds to purchase the ship from the Navy. On October 2, 1961, the USS North Carolina was dedicated as North Carolina's World War II Memorial and opened to the public at her current berth on the Cape Fear River in Wilmington.
Sources
- https://www.battleshipnc.com/
- https://www.hauntedrooms.com/north-carolina/ghost-hunts/battleship-north-carolina-wilmington
- https://amyscrypt.com/haunted-uss-north-carolina-battleship/
ApparitionsPhantom soundsPhantom footstepsPhantom voicesCold spots
The September 15, 1942 torpedo strike created the ship's most documented paranormal focal point. The five men who died in or near the forward fire room area are the historical anchor for the reports that follow. Multiple investigation teams working independently in the decades since the ship's opening as a museum have described a specific figure: a young man with blond hair, dressed in a naval uniform consistent with WWII-era dress, seen in peripheral vision near the torpedo damage area and the crew quarters immediately adjacent to it. When investigators or visitors turn to look directly, the figure is gone.
Staff working aboard the ship during evening and overnight hours have reported hearing movement in compartments confirmed empty — footsteps, the sound of a hatch closing, voices at a register consistent with multiple people in conversation. The mess deck and crew berthing areas generate the most reports in this category.
Ghost Hunters conducted an investigation and characterized the ship as having substantial paranormal activity. Fact or Faked and Ghost Hunters Academy also investigated on board. The volume of investigation activity over the years means the ship's paranormal file is unusually well-documented relative to its modest public profile as a haunted site.
The ship itself contributes to the experience in ways that have nothing to do with the paranormal: nine decks, narrow steel corridors, the persistent smell of bilge and old metal, the physical confinement of spaces designed for wartime function rather than comfort. These conditions make the ship an unusually affecting environment for anyone thinking about the men who lived and died here.
Notable Entities
Young Blond Sailor
Media Appearances
- Ghost Hunters
- Ghost Hunters Academy
- Fact or Faked
