[3][4] The ship is armed with a main battery of nine 16 in /45 caliber Mark 6 guns[a] in a trio of three-gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward, with the third aft.

Her completed hull was launched on 13 June 1940 and the ship was commissioned into the fleet on 9 April 1941[7] in a ceremony attended by Governor of North Carolina J. Melville Broughton.

North Carolina embarked on her shakedown cruise in the Caribbean Sea and spent the rest of the year working up while the United States remained neutral during World War II.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December, North Carolina began extensive battle training to prepare for combat in the Pacific War.

On 15 June, North Carolina was assigned to Task Force (TF) 18, centered on Wasp, along with four cruisers and nine destroyers, under the command of Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes.

[10] The unit was part of TF 61, commanded by Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher, and sent to cover the landing of the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal to seize the airfield being constructed there by the Japanese.

The initial landing met little resistance, but a Japanese cruiser squadron attacked the invasion fleet on the night of 9 August, inflicting a major defeat on Allied naval forces in the Battle of Savo Island.

Enterprise increased speed to 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), causing North Carolina to drop back, ultimately falling to around 4,000 yards (3,700 m) astern.

[17] The naval analyst Norman Friedman highlighted the effectiveness of the 5-inch guns aboard Enterprise and North Carolina, but noted that the ship had difficulty tracking targets with her fire control radar, owing to a combination of rapid maneuvering to avoid attacks, excessive vibration from steaming at high speed, and the number of friendly and hostile aircraft aloft.

Contemporary observers took an optimistic view of the ship's performance; her captain credited her with shooting down five to seven aircraft, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, noted that her 5-inch fire was particularly effective in dissuading Japanese attacks.

Flooding occurred and North Carolina took on a list of 5.5 degrees to port, but this was quickly corrected with counter-flooding and she was able to remain on station with Saratoga, cruising at a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph).

The American fleet had been strengthened by North Carolina's sister ship Washington, which served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Willis Lee.

[26][27] North Carolina returned to Pearl Harbor in March for a refit that lasted for more than a month and included the installation of radars and improved fire control equipment.

[7] On returning to the South Pacific, she joined the battleship group of TF 36, now commanded by Rear Admiral Glenn B. Davis and consisting of Indiana and Massachusetts.

The battleship and carrier groups covered amphibious assault forces during Operation Cartwheel, the campaign to isolate the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul, in late June and early July.

The ship sortied on 10 November, once again in company with Enterprise as part of TG 50.2 to support the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, which began with assaults on Makin, Tarawa, and Abemama.

After the islands were conquered in four days of heavy fighting, TF 58 departed to raid Truk, which had been Japan's primary staging area in the central Pacific.

[7][30] With the Marshalls and Gilberts secured, the fast carrier task force embarked on a series of raids in the central Pacific to prepare for the upcoming attack on the Mariana Islands.

On 1 May, North Carolina and six other battleships organized as TG 58.7 bombarded Pohnpei, destroying Japanese artillery batteries, anti-aircraft guns, and damaging the airfield on the island.

North Carolina and the other battleships, with four cruisers and thirteen destroyers, were deployed some 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) west of the carrier groups to screen the likely path of approach.

[7][33] Repairs lasted through October, keeping North Carolina from participating in much of the Philippines campaign, and she rejoined the fleet at its new forward base at Ulithi on 7 November.

[7][34] After returning to Ulithi, the fast carrier task force began a series of strikes on targets on Formosa, the coast of French Indochina, occupied China, and the Ryukyu Islands in January 1945.

On 10 January, the carrier groups entered the South China Sea to strike targets in French Indochina on the assumption that significant Japanese naval forces were present, but only merchant ships and a number of minor warships were caught and sunk there.

The raids continued through 17 February and the next day, the fleet withdrew to refuel and TG 58.4 was sent to hit other islands in the Bonin chain to further isolate Iwo Jima.

The carriers Wasp and Franklin were badly damaged by bombs, and North Carolina was assigned to the group of ships tasked with escorting them back to Ulithi for repairs.

The first series of studies in 1954 revolved around improving the ship's speed to 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph), which would require a significant reduction in displacement and a much more powerful propulsion system.

The displacement issue could be solved by the removal of the rear turret, but there was not enough room in the hull to place a power plant necessary to reach the desired speed.

[46] At one point during the trip, on 2 October, the tugs lost control of the ship in the Cape Fear River and she collided with a floating seafood restaurant, though surprisingly causing only minor damage.

[49] The battleship was declared a National Historic Landmark on 10 November 1982; the application noted that the ship was in almost excellent condition and remained in its wartime configuration.

Plans called for the removal of about 800 feet (244 m) of concrete and rock barriers and their replacement with a "living shoreline" of earthen berms and native vegetation that would reduce erosion and attract a variety of animals including shrimp and blue crabs; the removal of several acres of the parking lot prone to flooding and restoring the tidal creek and wetland that existed there before 1961, to hold back water and redirect it into the river; raising the remaining portion of the parking lot above the high tide level; and planting 100 trees and shrubs in the parking lot and 130,000 native marsh plants to filter storm water runoff and create a habitat for migratory and nesting birds.