NORTH CAROLINA BB 55

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

North Carolina Class Battleship Keel Laid 27 October 1937 - Launched 13 June 1940 USS NORTH CAROLINA BB 55 Commissioned 9 April 1941 - Decommissioned 27 June 1947 Struck from Naval Register 1 June 1960 Dedicated as a Memorial in Wilmington North Carolina 29 April 1962

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 1    (Keel Laying 1937 - Launching 1940)
2. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 2    (Commissioning 1941 Page 1)
3. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 3    (Commissioning 1941 Page 2)
4. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 4    (1941-1944)
5. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 5    (1945-1947)
6. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 6    (Memorial 1961-2007)
7. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 7    (Postcards Page 1)
8. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 8    (Postcards Page 2)
9. USS North Carolina BB-55 Covers Page 9    (Postcards & Stamps)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

---

Post Office Established April 9 1941 - Disestablished 1947

 

Locy Type FDC F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. N-19

1941-04-09

Black stamp pad. Backside of the Hutnick Commissioning cover.

 

Locy Type FDC F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. N-19

1941-04-09

Blue-Green stamp pad, cachet by Walter G. Crosby

 

Locy Type FDC F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. N-19

1941-04-09

Red stamp pad, cachet by George V. Sadworth.

 

Locy Type FDC Non-Postal Marking

1941-04-09

No. 10 cover, no cachetmaker identification.

 

Locy Type FDC 3 (A-BBT) "FIRST DAY / COVER"

1941-04-09

Commissioning, cachet by Dr. S. E. Hutnick

 

Locy Type FDC 3 (A-BBT) {Empty Killers}

1941-04-09

Unlisted in the 1997 edition of the USCS Postmark Catalog.
Commissioning Day, cachet by George V. Sadworth.

 

Locy Type FDC 3 (A-BBT) {Empty Killers}

1941-04-09

Notes:

 

Locy Type 2(n) (Oct 27, 1945)

1945-10-27

Navy Day, Official Mail

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1945-11-02

Official Business

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1945-12-24

Christmas Eve, cachet by Ted Harrington

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-10-13

Note:

 

Locy Type 3a (A) "NAVY / DAY"

1946-10-27

Navy Day 1946

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT)

1941-12-10

Censored WWII use

 

Locy Type 7qt(1)

1941-09-04

Incorrectly listed as (2) in the 1997 edition of the USCS Postmark Catalog. Shakedown Cruise, cachet by M. Fay Muridge and sponsored by Walter Czubay (R/S on back)

 

Locy Type 7qtz(2)

1943-02-15

Censored Marine's Mail

 

Locy Type 7qtz(2)

1946-02-08

Official Business

 

Locy Type 9v

1941-04-25

Registered

 

Locy Type 9efw

1946-10-30

Money Order Business

---

USS NORTH CAROLINA BATTLESHIP MEMORIAL POSTMARKS

 

USPO Type 9 Cancel "USS North Carolina Rur. Sta." Wilmington, NC

1962-04-02

From the Jimmy Jordan collection.

 

USPO Slogan Machine Postmark "USS North Carolina Sta." Wilmington, NC

1962-04-29

Dedication, cachet by William Luckett

 

USPO 4-bar "USS North Carolina Rur. Sta." Wilmington, NC

1963-04-06

Unofficial First Day Cover for Sc.#1230. Cachet by Jesse Burgess Thomas USCS #1012, sponsored by Rear Admiral Byrd Chapter No. 11, USCS

 

USPO Meter "The Immortal Showboat" Wilmington, NC

c 1965

No. 10 Advertising cover with pictorial meter.

 

USPO Slogan Machine Postmark "USS North Carolina Station" Wilmington, NC

1966-01-21

Note:

 

USPO Slogan Machine Postmark "USS North Carolina Station" Wilmington, NC

1966-04-09

25th Anniversary. No indication of cachetmaker, back is clean.

 

USPO Slogan Machine Postmark "USS North Carolina Station" Wilmington, NC

1966-09-28

Note: Different type of dial than the January cancel

 

USPS 4-bar "USS North Carolina Br." Wilmington, NC

1985-12-07

Notice the zip code in the postmark. 44th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Unknown cachetmaker.

 

USPS 4-bar "USS North Carolina Rur. Sta." Wilmington, NC

1989-08-23

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of NC ratifying the US Constitution.
Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial "USS North Carolina / Battleship Memorial Station" Wilmington, NC

1989-08-23

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of NC ratifying the US Constitution. Cachet by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial "Battleship Anniversary Station" Wilmington, NC

1991-04-09

50th Anniversary. Cachet by Michael F. Hebert (Mh Cachets)

 

USPS Meter "Visit USS North Carolina" Wilmington, NC

1995-02-24

50th Anniversary of the ending of WWII. #10 Metered cover.

 

USPS Pictorial "USS North Carolina Battleship Station" Wilmington, NC

1995-09-02

50th Anniversary of the signing treaty ending WWII. FDOI for stamp. Cachet by Greg Ciesielski

 

USPS 4-bar "USS North Carolina R.B. Station" Wilmington, NC

2007-09-03

Picture postcard from the Battleship Memorial. (R.B. = Rural Branch)

 

Other Information

USS NORTH CAROLINA earned the American Defense Medal (w/ "A" device), the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 15 battle stars), the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal, the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the Philippine Liberation Medal (w/ 1 star) and the Philippine Independence Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for The State of North Carolina.

The ships sponsor was Miss Isabel Hoey, daughter of the Governor of North Carolina.

Five ships of the US Navy have borne the name NORTH CAROLINA - USS North Carolina (1820 Ship of the Line), USS North Carolina ACR-12, USS North Carolina BB-52 (Keel Laid 1920 - Cancelled 1922), USS North Carolina BB-55
and USS North Carolina SSN-777.

One ship of the Confederate Navy bore the name NORTH CAROLINA - CSS North Carolina (1863 Ironclad).

 

---

 

If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

---

Copyright 2024 Naval Cover Museum