"While our search for the rest of the wreckage will continue, I hope everyone connected to this historic ship will feel some measure of closure at the discovery so long in coming," Paul Allen said in a statement.
The cruiser's captain, Charles Butler McVay III, was among the survivors, but he was court-martialed and convicted for losing his ship. He later committed suicide because of it.
Years later, McVay was posthumously exonerated by Congress and President Bill Clinton.
The shipwreck's location has eluded researchers for decades. The coordinates keyed out in an SOS signal were forgotten by survivors and were not received by Navy ships or shore stations.
The ship is an official war grave, protected by laws. No recovery efforts are planned.
Though I would like to have the ship's bell recovered.
--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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