Save our ship - again

Editorial by Wilmington Star-News, April 10, 2015.

Mayday! Mayday!

The Battleship North Carolina has sent out a distress call and it's up to the good folks of North Carolina to do as their fellow Tar Heels did nearly 55 years ago and answer the call.

The stately ship, nicknamed The Showboat, is starting to show its age. It's time for a complete physical and probably some surgery, too.

After having its keel laid in 1937 and commissioned in April 1941, the ship saw plenty of action in the Pacific during World War II, participating in every major naval offensive and earning 15 battle stars. On Sept. 15, 1942, The Showboat was hit by a Japanese torpedo, killing five crew members and wounding 23. Five more crew members lost their lives during the ship's service.

A few years after the war, the ship took early retirement and was placed in the Inactive Fleet Reserve in Bayonne, N.J. In 1958, when it was learned the ship was soon to be scrapped, the people of North Carolina began a statewide campaign to bring the ship back to its namesake state. The ship was dedicated here in April 1962.

In addition to being a major tourist attraction – the third most popular in the state behind the Biltmore Estate and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – it's sometimes forgotten that the mighty ship serves as the state's memorial to its World War II veterans and the 10,000 North Carolinians who died during that war.

Make no mistake, the Battleship North Carolina is hallowed ground.

The ship – overseen by the USS North Carolina Battleship Commission – has from the beginning been a self-sufficient operation. Admission fees and sales from the visitor's shop as well as donations and investments provide the money to keep the 728-foot, 36,000-ton ship running. To give you an idea of its size, it's nearly as long as two and half football fields and housed more than 2,300 men.

Normally any ship would be dry-docked over the years for inspection and repairs. The ship is essentially stuck in the mud of the Cape Fear River, and predates the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. The ship could not pass under the bridge's raised span without part of its mast being removed.

With a trip to a shipyard for a dry dock prohibitive, the best option is to build a so-called coffer dam around the ship so water can be pumped out and a thorough inspection and necessary repairs made to extend the life of the ship.

Repairs have been made over the years, but since most of the ship is below water and mud, it's been impossible to do a thorough inspection.

Well more than half of the $17 million needed for the project has been raised, but there's $6 million to go.

The ship survived the Japanese torpedo attack and has stood as a proud memorial to our war dead. It would be a shame for the brackish water of the Cape Fear River to be the enemy that sinks The Showboat.

The people of North Carolina – especially the people of the Wilmington area who have the privilege of hosting the ship – need to step up and give generously to save The Showboat, this piece of living history, this solemn memorial.

It is our duty.

Let's get it done.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20150410/ARTICLES/150419973/1108/editorial?template=printart