North Carolina class battleship

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The North Carolina class was a class of two fast battleships, North Carolina and Washington, built for the United States Navy in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Both North Carolina and Washington saw extensive service during the Second World War in a variety of roles, primarily in the Pacific theater where they escorted fast carrier task forces and conducted shore bombardments. North Carolina shot down between twelve and fifteen Japanese aircraft in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and later sustained a torpedo hit from a Japanese submarine. During the naval battle of Guadalcanal, which was a chaotic night engagement, Washington's radar-directed main batteries fatally damaged the Japanese battleship Kirishima causing it to sink the next day. In February 1944, Washington crushed its bow in a collision with battleship Indiana. Following repairs, Washington rejoined her sister for the Battle of the Philippine Sea. After the end of the war, both ships took part in Operation Magic Carpet, the withdrawal of American military personnel from overseas deployments. The vessels were laid up in the reserve fleet until the early 1960s, when North Carolina was sold to her home state as a museum ship, and Washington was broken up for scrap.