I was by the Polish Legion's food stand when I saw one of the buglers for the taps presentation (30 different ones playing "Taps" around the square. He was wearing a USS Wisconsin cap. Since I am a real bug battleship fan, I started to talk with him.
He served on the Wisconsin in the 1950s and said it was the longest battleship ever launched by the United States at some 7-8 feet longer than any other. I asked him why as all the battleships of its class were built to the same specifications.
When I inquired as to how it was the longest, he gave the story of his ship running into a destroyer named the Eaton in the 1950s and wrecking its bow.(and almost slicing the destroyer in half as it definitely was a mismatch in size).
They grafted the bow of the cancelled battleship Kentucky onto the front of the Wisconsin and it made his ship the seven feet longer.
About ten years ago, he was at a naval reunion when he saw a sailor wearing an Eaton hat, who saw his Wisconsin hat and said, "Hey, your ship almost sank my ship." He replied, "Well, you got in our way."
Both ships fought in World War II.
Just Some History. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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