Ship Ahoy!

The USS North Carolina Battleship, 729 feet in length
Commissioned in 1941; De-commissioned in 1947
Arrived back in North Carolina to her current berth in 1961 and
 is a memorial to the 10,000 North Carolinians who died in World War II.

During the war, ship and crew earned 15 battle stars.



The ship carried 2,339 men.

The crew slept in metal bunks stacked 5 tiers high.
This was in a tiny corner room, which only fit 3 tiers.

Morse code

This is the office where crew would get a leave pass (libery chit)

The boys each received a pass with their name and rank typed on it.
Oldest son is GM3c or Gunner 3rd class. For some reason, the
pic of youngest son's pass would not rotate correctly to post.

 

The next day we visited the aquarium at Fort Fisher. The touch tanks were the favorite.
The boys got a big kick out of holding the horseshoe crab and toching sea urchins, and
 hermit crabs. The dive tank was amazing, with sharks, rays and all types of fish.

The diver and the eagle ray say hi!