![]() ![]() ![]() After the end of the the great war, expanded naval construction programs bumged a considerable way, and the US’ 1916 program called for six Lexington-class battlecruisers and plus South Dakota-class battleships. The genesis of the North Carolina class Battleships is quite an interesting one. USS North Carolina earned 15 battle stars and was the bodyguard of USS Enteprise, at some point the only USN aircraft carrier left in the Pacific. These two ships in addition had a short but intense career in the Atlantic and Pacific, including one epic old-syle gunnery duel at Guadalcanal. They not only inspired the next North Dakota and Iowa class, but the reconstruction of the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbor as well. The design process really started in 1935 and was finalized in 1937, resulting in two very innovative capital ships unlike anything built before. The North Carolina class battleships were a revolution for the US Navy: After the long vacancy of the Washington Treaty banning new battleships for ten years and prolongated by the London Treaty until 1936, there was a considerable gap in studies which the Admiralty Board knew both BuEng and C&R needed to gap quickly when new designs would be authorized. ![]() USS North Carolina’s bow, Pearl Harbor, 16 November 1942 Fast Battleships (1940): USS North Carolina (BB-55), Washington (BB-56) The first USN fast battleships ![]()
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