Boys of the Battleship North Carolina

by Cindy Horrell Ramsey

On July 11, 1942, the USS North Carolina  steamed into Pearl Harbor. She was a magnificent ship―the first in a new class of battleships, simultaneously monstrous and fast. She was two-and-a-half-football-fields long and so wide she could barely pass through the Panama Canal on her journey to Hawaii. At any given time, 2,339 sailors manned the ship―a total of more than 7,000 during the six years she served. As she glided into the ravaged harbor, past the wreckage of sunken American ships, the morale of the men in the surviving Pacific fleet soared. A little over two years earlier, more than 57,000 people had gathered in the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the day she was launched. As she went through her “shakedown” period, she returned repeatedly to that same naval yard for adjustments and modifications. Many New Yorkers, including radio commentator Walter Winchell, often witnessed the ship entering and departing New York Harbor and began calling her the “Showboat.” Although she was an impressive structure, she was more than just a showboat. After coming to Pearl Harbor, she saw action in some 50 battles in almost every campaign in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Tokyo Bay. In 1960, when the navy announced its intention to scrap the ship, North Carolina citizens, including countless schoolchildren, raised over $330,000 to bring the ship to Wilmington, North Carolina, and preserve her as a state war memorial. In this book, Ramsey tells the story of the battleship through the eyes of the men who served her. After doing research about the ship at the National Archives in 2000, Ramsey spent six days helping the staff of the memorial compile a living-history archive of personal interviews conducted with the surviving crewmembers when they attended the ship's annual reunion. She became fascinated with the stories these men told. For the next few years, she continued talking to the men to flesh out their stories. The result is this narrative about one of the most decorated American battleships in World War II, as seen through the eyes of the young sailors who matured into men while manning this floating fortress. As Ramsey says in her introduction, “Sailors know the difference between a fairy tale and a sea story. A fairy tale begins, ‘Once upon a time.’ A sea story starts simply, ‘Now, this is no bullshit.’ This book is a sea story.” In the early 1960s, Cindy Ramsey was one of thousands of children who raised money to save the battleship North Carolina and bring it to Wilmington, North Carolina. Though her family was poor, her father made sure she and her siblings had money to take to school to help save the ship from becoming scrap. Ramsey grew up in Pender County, north of where the battleship now rests. She graduated with a B.A. in English in 1999 and an M.F.A. in creative writing in 2006, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Ramsey began writing and editing the Pender Post in February 2002, then purchased the newspaper that fall. She sold the newspaper and moved to Columbus, North Carolina, in 2006. She is now retired from the state community college system.

Genres: Military Fiction, Naval History, World War II

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Cindy Horrell Ramsey lives with her husband in Southeastern North Carolina where they grew up, married, and raised a family. After all her children were grown, Cindy attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she earned a BA in English and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Following an eclectic career, she now spends her time writing, biking and beach walking, enjoying retirement from public work, and being Mimi to five beautiful granddaughters. Cindy writes about things that matter. For more information, visit cindyramseyauthor.com

Reviews

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the concept of the book and it is well written as well. It follows the crew of the USS North Carolina from it's building, launching and sea trials, and then follows them through World War 2 and all it's missions where it received 15 battle stars. It depicts the lives of a few individual crew members and everyday life aboard ship, whether it's on missions or at anchor.

Great book and I wish there were more books like this that follows the combat careers of individual ships through the eyes of some of her crew.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and detailed history of the wartime service of the USS North Carolina mostly through the words of those who served on her.

[Jeannie Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a special fondness for books about World War Two, maybe it is because my pop and my father-in-law both served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. One served on the battleship USS New Mexico and one served on the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans.
Both my husband and I were especially interested in this book. We kindly shared it with each other and took turns reading the remarkable tales. I can honestly say we both felt a special kinship to these brave men. The stories came to life and made us appreciate even more the courage of shipmates and all those who sacrificed to keep us free from tyranny.
There are not many World War Two heroes who are still alive today. They are dying off one by one and soon they will all be gone.
Books like "Boys of the Battleship North Carolina" will keep their memories alive and hopefully will teach the newest generation that freedom is not free. It has a huge price. Thank God Almighty for all the brave men and women for fought to keep us free from tyranny.

Jeannie Walker Award Winning Author
Fighting the Devil: A True Story of Consuming Passion, Deadly Poison, and Murder
I Saw the Light
Thomas, The Friendly Ghost
The Rain Snake: A True Story of Love, Faith and Trust

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s an excellent piece of historical work giving individual details of various men on the ship. I couldn’t put this book down. It’s amazing what they went through. The author tells the story of the battleship during wwii through the lens of several sailors. It’s such a great book to experience what these men did during the war and all the risks they took.

[Shannon T.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very enjoyable book about the guys that made the battleship north carolina run.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginning this book in May was a result of arriving at the beach, not far from where the Battleship North Carolina lies now, and wanting a break from an interesting but dense book about Dunkirk. Boys of the Battleship was a welcome reprieve from the Dunkirk book due to its telling of the Battleship’s story through the lens of the sailors who served on the ship, vice the story of the ship itself. Telling BB55’s story this narrative manner yielded a much more evocative, and somewhat substantive, experience for the reader than a “traditional” historical telling would — at least in my opinion.

Ramsey plainly does a commendable job with her writing (especially given that it was her first book) — she writes earnestly and with vivid imagery to place the reader right on the teak deck of the Battleship during a firefight or on the beaches of faraway South Pacific islands with sailors on liberty. Where Boys of the Battleship truly excels is conveying the mundanity of life on the ship and the averageness of BB55’s sailors. It is in underscoring these two sentiments that Ramsey actually, almost paradoxically, illustrates the truly remarkable nature of the men who built and sailed and went to war with the Battleship. The “boys of the battleship” were everyday men doing extraordinary things when their country needed them. Ramsey deserves her flowers for bringing the boys’ stories into a consolidated history for both the average reader as well as, and more importantly, former crew members and their families to enjoy, reflect on, and cherish.

Lastly, I felt kinship with the book in it being connective, nostalgic tissue between the men who told the stories and their families who get to read it for generations because the Battleship itself has served a similar purpose for my dad and me. It’s helped foster my love of history, the sea, and the Cape Fear Region in general. It’s been cannon fodder for time spent and countless conversations with my dad since my late childhood and to this day. If you read this book, even if you had never even heard of the Showboat before, I hope that you, too, get to feel some of the kinship and nostalgia that I did while reading.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 5 out of 5]

On a recent trip to Wilmington, North Carolina I had the chance to tour the Battleship North Carolina & was pleasantly surprised to find Cindy Horrell Ramsey's book "Boys of the Battleship North Carolina". The book tells the story of the ship from not only the general historical perspective, but it also tells it from the perspective of the sailors who called this ship home from its launch just before Pearl Harbor but also throughout the war & beyond. Horrell Ramsey's tale moves at a decent pace as we the reader get involved in the lives of this sailors & every aspect of their decisions both good and bad. It's also nice that in the final chapter she takes us to one of the reunions of the crew of the ship as they reflect on their wartime experiences. Overall, a very nice souvenir for anyone with an interest in the ship, Wilmington as a city or WWII in general.

[Kenneth Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book!

I enjoyed this book immensely! You made the story of BB55 really come to life. I toured the Battleship recently, but after reading this book, I'm planning a return visit.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best oral histories of a ship's crew. If you like reading about the "people" side of history, this is a can't pass by.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprisingly poignant look Into the lives of young men and boys leaving simple lives behind to join the navy with the outbreak of WWII. They became witnesses and participants to history. Their trials and sacrifice are humbling. Well written, I'd like to see teens read this.