Battleship USS North Carolina-- Part 5: Climate Change Now a Big Problem Because of Flooding

During a ceremony that attracted media from around the state, a cofferdam that allowed work to be done on the USS North Carolina was flooded and the battleship floated once again.

Next up  are meetings with contractors to discuss $1 million in repairs, funded by Hurricane Florence recovery funds, to the ship's main mast where the steel is deteriorating.

"Now that  the ship itself has been stabilized," Bragg said, "the big wolf on our doorstep  is climate change."

At this point, according to Bragg, the Battleship site, which includes a park, parking lot and a road to the facility, sees some kind of flooding three out of five days a year, increasingly caused by  high tides on the Cape Fear River.  This not only causes damage to he infrastructure used to operate the Battleship and its surrounding site, but also  forces closures and delayed openings.

Some well-known  attractions in North Carolina, most famously like the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, have been physically moved in order to deal with threats from encroaching water.

But, Bragg says the Battleship isn't going anywhere.

"The Battleship will never be moved.  People don't realize how big it is," said Terry Bragg, and getting it under the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, which was built in  1967, after the Battleship was already in place (1961), would be nearly impossible.

"We have a suitable site, even though the Cape Fear River is not the Cape Fear River of 60 years ago."

--GreGen

Hull Repairs Finished on USS North Carolina-- Part 2:

Atlantic Coast Industrial Marine Construction, a Wilmington company, cut and replaced steel on the bow as well as repainted affected areas of the hull,  according to a release on the battleship's website.

The USS North Carolina arrived at Wilmington in 1961 after serving in World War II.  I was ten at the time and very proud to have done my little part in saving the ship.  Many pennies, nickels, dimes and some quarters were donated by school children across the state to pay for part of the expense of acquiring the ship.

It then suffered over fifty years of corrosion from the Cape Fear River and plans for repairs to the hull had been in the making since at least 2010.  At first, it was planned to have the ship towed to Norfolk, Virginia, but then the idea of leaving it where it was and building the cofferdam was adopted.  At least, the ship remained so people could tour it.  Of course, then came the you-know-what in 2020.

The Battleship North Carolina is not tax-supported and relies primarily on admissions for operating expenses.

--GreGen

Hull Repairs Finished on USS North Carolina-- Part 1

From the July 20, 2021, WXII 12 News NBC, AP.

The nearly four year project to repair the hull of the battleship USS North Carolina, moored across the Cape Fear River from Wilmington, North Carolina, was officially over Tuesday, July 20, when waters from the river flooded into the temporary barrier (cofferdam) erected around the ship.

A Wilmington-based company cut and replaced steel in the now and also did work and repainted affected areas of the hull.

The $11 million project began in August 2016 with the construction of a cofferdam around the ship which allowed work crews to drain the river water out and have access to  the ship's brittle hull.  With cofferdam construction completed in May 2018, work was begun t replace steel at the ship's water-wind line which began in June 2020.

--GreGen

USS North Carolina (BB-55)-- Part 3: Now a State Memorial to World War II and Veterans

APRIL 1945--  After surviving a typhoon off the Philippines and leaving Iwo Jima, the North Carolina shot down Japanese kamikaze planes but also was hit by friendly fire which killed four and wounded 44.

OCTOBER 1945--  The battleship reaches the Brooklyn Navy Yard (New York Navy Yard) where she was built for an overhaul.  The ship is adjusted for training for the U.S. Naval Academy.

JUNE 27, 1947--  The USS North Carolina is decommissioned.

JUNE 1, 1960--  The ship is stricken from the U.S. Navy Vessel Register (which means the ship will be sold).  But, a North Carolina man named James Craig, led a campaign to raise $250,000 necessary to  prepare a site to host the ship, which was successful.  Wilmington became the host.  (A lot of the money came from student donations.  I am happy to say, some of those nickels, dimes and quarters came from me in 4th grade.

OCTOBER 2, 1961--  The North Carolina is steered into her new home  across from downtown Wilmington on the Cape Fear River.

APRIL 29, 1962--  The battleship is opened to visitors.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 11: Launching of the Vance and Its Service

The SS Zebulon Vance was the first of 243 ships to be built in Wilmington at the North Carolina Shipbuilding Companyduring the war.  Most were of the Liberty Ship design, but others were of the Victory Ship design which were faster.  Twenty-seven were sunk.

But, the Vance is lucky.  It survived a torpedo attack and floating mines on the dreaded Murmansk, Soviet Union, run.  It then was part of the transport fleet for the invasion of North Africa.  Later it did duty as a hospital ship, renamed the USS John J. Meany.  Its final duty in the war was to transport war brides home from Europe.

But, back to its launching.  Spectators mobbed the riverbanks.  The Vance was festooned stem to stern with nautical flags.  It slid down to the river stern-first.  Tugboats blasted their whistles and then nudges the ship alongside its fitting-out dock.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 7: Three Shifts, Women and U-boats

The shipyard swarmed with workers 24 hours a day working in three shifts.  Women were allowed just to work the first two shifts, never the graveyard shift or below decks to avoid compromising situations.  The company provided on-site day care for their young children.  But women with no children are more valued as workers.

At night, the shipyard is illuminated by nearly 2,000 floodlights.  Easier for the people to work, but there was a danger.

Captains of ships passing by offshore complained that on cloudy nights with no moon, they were silhouetted against this bright light and perfect targets for the waiting U-boats.  On the night of March 12, 1942, the tanker John D. Gill, bound for Philadelphia, was torpedoed near the mouth of the Cape Fear River by a German U-boat.

Future sea trials for newly commissioned vessels were conducted entirely in the river because of the German U-boat threat.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 3: Using New Technology

What they had planned for this new Cape Fear shipyard was to construct 37 new cargo ships at a cost of $42 million.  They would be built to a uniform design adopted from the British and to be used in all American shipyards to build these ships, to be known as Liberty Ships.

They could be modified for use as tankers and fitted out with anti-aircraft guns.  They would carry supplies to England through the Lend-Lease Act of 1941.

Plus, they would be built using new technology.  Instead of the traditional expensive and time-consuming method of riveting steel plates, workers would build the ships in modules and weld the pieces together.  This had never been tried before in ocean-going ships.

The Liberty Ships were not expected to hold up for more than a few years, but the speed of construction and efficiency were deemed to be worth it.  The Allies needed supply ships right away and these would fit the bill.

--GreGen

Back in 2014, Battleship North Carolina Gets State Help

From the Jan. 21, 20143, Raleigh (NC) News & Observer "Battleship North Carolina getting state help" by AP

The USS North Carolina will be receiving $500,000 from the state repair fund to repair the hull which has been stationary in the Cape Fear River opposite Wilmington since 1962.

In 2009, the U.S. Navy reported that the battleship was in serious need of being drydocked for repairs.

--GreGen

Frying Pan Shoals Lightship

From the May 11, 2014, Wilmington (NC) Star-News."Back Then."

Of course, lightships and lighthouses would have to be extinguished for most of World War II what with the threat of German U-boats lurking off the coast in wait of prey.

One of those lights extinguished was the Frying Pan Shoals Lightship, the latest of a series of such ships that guared the dangerous shoals of that name dating back to the 1850s (with the exception of the Civil War).

From the May 16, 1964, Wilmington Star-News:  The town of Southport (near the mouth of the Cape Fear River) was trying to obtain the Frying Pan Shoals Lightship for a marine museum and memorial.  But, the Coast Guard decided to transfer it elsewhere.

The town had previously been told that the 133-foot ship would be sold by the government as surplus (after the Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower had been installed..  The FPS LV-115, WAL 537 had been use from 1930 to 1942 and then, after WW II from 1945 to 1964.

During World War II it had been used as training ship.  It was retired from duty in 1964 and sent to Cape May, New Jersey, as a relief ship and then decommissioned in 1965.  It sank in 1987, was raised in 1987, sold, and then restored.  It was listed on the NRHP in 1999.

It is currently in New York City at Pier 66a in the Chelsea neighborhood wgere it is a floating bar and party boat.

Have Your next Party on a Lightship (Find Your Way Home).  --GreGen

Floating Drydocks Built in Wilmington-- Part 1

From the Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Mr Reporter: Were floating drydocks built during World War II along the Northeast Cape Fear River?" by Ken Little.

According to Wilmington World War II historian Wilbur D. Jones, Jr., two concrete drydocks were built in a small shipyard along the Northeast Cape Fear between present day PPD and the Wilmington Convention Center.

They were built for the Navy in the spring of 1944. Each was self-contained and measured 389-feet long and 84-feet wide. They measured 40-feet deep with pontoons 14 -feet deep and wingwall tapering from 13-feet wide at the base to 10-feet at the top.

Floating Concrete? --GreGen

North Carolina's Naval Section Bases-- Part 4

On November 17, 1941, the U.S. Navy purchased the old Fort Caswell Military Reservation near Southport for use as a section base for the Inshore Patrol.  Almost $1 million was appropriated to make it operational, build docking facilities and adapt the original buildings to the new use.

Operations began in early 1942.  From the base's docks on the Cape Fear River, patrol boats, Coast Guard boats, armed yachts, fishing boats and minesweepers guarded the coast off Cape Fear and Frying Pan Shoals from German U-boats.

At the end of the war, the Navy Department retained the base for several years for the intention of using it for other things.  It sold the property to the North Carolina  Baptist State Convention in 1949.

GreGen

The Battleship North Carolina Comes Home-- Part 5

Newspapers all over the country reported the story.  The Long Island Press in New York had a picture of it with the headline, "Yes, Dear, a Battleship; No, Dear, I'm Stone Cold Sober."

Fergus eventually sued the battleship commission for $25,000 and settle out of court in 1965 for slightly over $3,000.

The Ark reopened within weeks and stayed in business until Feb. 1865 when work began on the Coast Guard building on Princess Street.  Then, Fergus moved his restaurant ashore.

Separating the two ships took quite some time, but by 6 PM, the bow of the North Carolina was nosed into its berth.  Work was halted for the night and then finished the following day.

If I recall, I think I remember seeing a picture of the Ark with a Purple Heart on it after the collision.

Wonder If It Was On Purpose?  --GreGen

The Battleship USS North Carolina Comes Home-- Part 4: The Ark Gets an Ouwie

As the North Carolina was turned to ease into her berth, the back of the ship hit the Ark, a floating restaurant moored on the riverfront at the foot of Princess Street.  It was originally named the General Frederick C. Hodgkins, a concrete-hulled ship built in Wilmington in the 1920s and had led a varied career ranging from banana boat, casino, floating barracks for the Coast Guard and offices for the U.S. Maritime Commission (responsible for building ships for the war effort).

In 1952, businessman Eldridge Fergus opened the Ark as a seafood restaurant and soon became a favorite with tourists.  In 1955, it was accidentally rammed by a US Navy submarine

Guns from one of the North Carolina turrets crashed into the Ark's galley, knocking stores around.  Damage was estimated at between $10,000 and $15,000.

Local legend has it that Fergus had moved the Ark into a more dangerous position in hopes there would be a collision.  Fergus, however, claimed that he had already cut his power and water lines and was preparing to move the ship on the Sunday.  On Monday he tried to call a tugboat but got no response.

Newspapers reported the incident all over the country.

More Ark Coming.  --GreGen