On April 23, I toured the USS North Carolina (BB-55), a battleship moored at the port of Wilmington, North Carolina. As is my wont, I took a bunch of photos… a good percent of which are kinda crummy. But some turned out fairly well. Below are some shots related to the 16-inch gun turrets. More later (including panoramas) if there is interest.
These photos are higher-rez than what I usually post. I’m checking out the new “theme,” and if I can get the whole “blatant advertising project” underway, then future photos will be presented in a manner similar to this.
More photos below…
Some more photos:
Directly below one of the main turrets, showing the 16-inch shells stacked up ready for loading and firing.
A display showing the propellant bags stacked up behind a 16-inch shell, and compared with equivalent propellant and shells from previous ships called “USS North Carolina.”
View from the forward deck of the USS North Carolina, looking back on the forward gun turrets.
A 16-inch shell being loaded on board.
These guns are true monters. Difficult to get across just how big they are.
9 Responses to “USS North Carolina: 16-inch guns”
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[…] UPDATE: This was below decks on the USS North Carolina (more photos HERE). The photo at the top of the post shows the underside of the turret support structure from inside […]
Found a webpage of historic Naval publications a few days back; here’s the specs on its turrets and 16″ guns: http://www.hnsa.org/doc/guncat/cat-0556.htm
Woah.
I toured the New Jersey last time I was in Philli.
DAMN!
They have hatch that must outweigh a small fleet of cars. One deck house or something on the tail, with mear half nich or inch thick steel walls, was buckled in on one side. The guide said in testing they aimed the main turret backwards about 45 degrees from broadside, and the backwash from the blast buckled it in.
Out of curiosity, how did you gain access to the barbette?
When touring the USS Alabama, they make a big deal about how, early in its days as a museum ship, one of their volunteers suggested cutting an access door through the barbette walls to allow visitors access, and they had to get special permission from the Navy (or some other government agency). I’m pretty sure they said it was the only battleship with such access.
The update doesn’t have working hypertext to link to the other photos.
> The update doesn’t have working hypertext to link to the other photos.
“Update?”
In any event, the photos work for me. Maybe your browser has trouble with larger-format photos?
> Out of curiosity, how did you gain access to the barbette?
Walked through the doors that said “Tour continues this way.”
I had the same impression of the guns when I visited the USS Alabama. The scale of everything about such ships is staggering.
Just found my new desktop pic.On another note, I like the new format.
>> The update doesn’t have working hypertext to link to the other photos.
>“Update?”
“[…] UPDATE: This was below decks on the USS North Carolina (more photos HERE). The photo at the top of the post shows the underside of the turret support structure from inside […]”
“More photos HERE” doesn’t do anything when clicked on.
No problem with the browser; I’ve downloaded monster photos that would be a three feet on a side if printed out.