National Historic Landmark · military museum · Wilmington, North Carolina

USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark

Fast battleship of the United States Navy in Wilmington, North Carolina. Built 1941. Added to the National Register in 1982, and a National Historic Landmark.

Open to visit National Historic Landmark Built 1941 Listed 1982

Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

USS North Carolina, hull number BB-55, is the lead ship of the North Carolina class of fast battleships, the first vessel of the type built for the United States Navy. Built under the Washington Treaty system, North Carolina's design was limited in displacement and armament, though the United States used a clause in the Second London Naval Treaty to increase the main battery from the original armament of twelve 14-inch (356 mm) guns in quadruple turrets to nine 16 in (406 mm) guns in triple turrets. The ship was laid down in 1937 and completed in April 1941, while the United States was still neutral during World War II.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

Property type	Structure
Address	W bank of the Cape Fear River, Wilmington, NC
County	New Hanover County
Listed	Nov 10, 1982
Listed for	Military
Level of significance	National
Also known as	See Also:USS North Carolina (battleship)
Reference number	82004893
Built	1941 · more from the 1940s
Type of place	military museum, fast battleship, battleship
Designations	National Historic Landmark
Contributing resources	1 structure

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Address	W bank of the Cape Fear River, Wilmington, NC
Website	battleshipnc.com ↗
Coordinates	34.2368° N, 77.9426° W · Directions ↗
Also in Wilmington	22 listed places in Wilmington →
Nearest national park unit	Moores Creek National Battlefield · 18 miles · on Park Atlas

This one you can go inside. Hours and admission change with the season; the website above has the current schedule.

At a glance

State: North Carolina
County: New Hanover County
Listed: 1982
Type: Structure
Landmark: Yes
Built: 1941

Cell signal

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AT&T: 5G (fast)
T-Mobile: 5G (fast)

Outdoor coverage as modeled by carriers in FCC filings as of 2025-12-31. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.

Official links

Sister site

Park Atlas

Every unit of the National Park System, with its fees, hours, alerts and campgrounds.

Open Park Atlas →

This record is built from National Park Service sources, re-read every Saturday, and Wikidata, re-read on the first Saturday of each month. Register Atlas is independent and is not affiliated with any agency, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. How the data is built →

Explore

Map

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All listings in New Hanover County →

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Local history books for Wilmington

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Wilmington's Carolina Heights
David K. Ohashi and David W. Frederiksen, 2007
Find at Bookshop.org
The Wilmington Shipyard
Ralph L. Scott, 2007
Find at Bookshop.org
Wilmington, North Carolina
Ann Hewlett Hutteman, 2000
Find at Bookshop.org

Guidebooks to historic places in North Carolina

Tar Heel History On Foot Great Walks Through 400 Years Of North Carolinas Fascinating Past
Lynn Setzer, 2013
Find at Bookshop.org
Touring the western North Carolina backroads
Carolyn Sakowski, 2011
Find at Bookshop.org
Touring the Carolinas' Civil War sites
Clint Johnson, 2011
Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

When was USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register?

Nov 10, 1982. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.

Source: National Park Service

When was USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark built?

1941.

Source: Wikidata

Can I visit USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark?

Yes. USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark is recorded as open to the public, and hours are on the official website.

Source: Official website

Where is USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark?

W bank of the Cape Fear River, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. The nearest national park unit is Moores Creek National Battlefield, 18 miles away.

Source: Moores Creek National Battlefield

Where is the nomination form for USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark?

The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.

Source: National Archives

Is there cell service at USS North Carolina (BB-55) National Historic Landmark?

FCC coverage maps show Verizon 4G LTE, AT&T 5G, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

Sources

Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 82004893. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.