The River Bluffs USS North Carolina (BB55) Battleship Event is scheduled for 1:00 on Thursday, 25 January 2018.
For River Bluffs Residents, staff and families, this is an opportunity to participate in a 3 hour VIP Private Guided Tour of this museum/memorial to the 11,000 North Carolinians who sacrificed their lives during WWll.
You will see most spaces on the ship from the bridge(pilot house) to one of the four engine rooms and even climb into a 16 inch gun mount. 5 decks below, you will see where the big shells and powder bags come from and learn how they were handled.
But most important, you will get to experience what life aboard this magnificent ship was like for the 2300 Sailors and Marines who lived in/on her in the South Pacific during WWll and in practically every battle fought in the Pacific. North Carolina was not only the 1st battleship built in 17 years. She was the 1st Fast Battleship built fast enough to stay up with our aircraft carriers.
In 1961 when the Navy gave her to the state of North Carolina on permanent loan, over 700,000 school children donated their 10 cent lunch money(yes, that is correct….lunch was 10 cents back then!), to help prepare the slip she now occupies.
So, if you’d like to experience a little history and learn a little about the role USS North Carolina and her crew played in WWll. put on your sneakers or good walking shoes(you will do some walking and go up and down a number of ladders), and join me, your neighbor(Ritt Schiano, your docent/tour guide) for a special River Bluffs event on board the Battleship known as “The Showboat”. I’ll explain where that name came from if you join us.
If you have any questions, before paying Tara, please call me and I’ll be happy to try and answer them.
Ritt Schiano