(Softcover) Laid down in 1937 and launched on 9 April 1941, the USS North Carolina was the first new construction battleship to enter service during WWII and took part in every major naval offensive in the Pacific Theater, becoming the most decorated US battleship of WWII. After a brief stint post war as a training ship, the North Carolina - dubbed in the press as the 'Showboat' - was laid up in reserve, before her eventual movement to Wilmington, in her namesake state, and her preservation as a war memorial. This volume traces the history of the North Carolina, photographically documenting the evolution of armament and electronics that elevated her pre-Pearl Harbor design to its peak - bristling with guns to counter the threat of kamikaze attack. Records not only the ship's wartime operations that earned her 12 battlestars, but also her crew and their work and recreation. Generously illustrated with more than 330 photographs - many of them color, detailed line drawings and 11 color profiles that document the various camouflage schemes worn by both the ship and her scouting aircraft. Doyle; 136 pages.