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Friends of the Battleship
Friends of the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA is a non-profit organization. Membership dues are used to support exhibits, interpretation, educational programs, artifact acquisition, and restoration projects. The Battleship NORTH CAROLINA receives no funding from federal, state or local governments for its operations. The Ship is maintained through revenues generated from admissions, museum store sales, rentals, donations, and Friends memberships.
Become a Friend of the Battleship and enjoy the following benefits:
- FREE admission for one year
- 25% discount in the Ship's Store
- Discounts on ship events
- Scuttlebutt, the E-newsletter
Download the Friends of the Battleship brochure for membership form and registration.
MEMBERSHIP LEVELS
Lieutenant (jg), one adult, $35
Lieutenant, 2 adults living in the same household, $45
Lt. Commander, 2 adults living in the same household and 3 children or grandchildren under18 years of age, $75
Commander: $150 Choose one of the following
2 adults living in the same household and 8 children or grandchildren under 18 years of age OR
2 adults living in the same household, 3 children or grandchildren under 18 years of age and 5 one-time use guest tickets
Captain: $300
2 adults living in the same household and 3 children or grandchildren under 18 years of age and Private guided tour for up to 15 guests who purchase $10 tickets
Commodore: $500
2 adults living in the same household and 3 children or grandchildren under 18 years of age and Private Hidden Battleship tour for up to 8 guests who purchase $10 tickets
Admiral—Custom Benefits Package for this $1,000 level —Call for details
Friends of the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA is a 501(c3) organization and your contribution is tax deductible as allowed by law. Guest tickets have a value of $10 each.
Living History Crew
The USS NORTH CAROLINA Living History Crew (LHC) is a group of volunteers whose goal is to support the mission of Battleship NORTH CAROLINA.Through interpretation they educate the public of the USS North Carolina in World War II and the crews' life aboard ship. The group includes a unit which interprets WAVES and the Home Front. The LHC also assists the Battleship with restoration projects.
The Battleship has sponsored "Living History" weekends, called "Battleship Alive," since 1997. "Living History" brings historical events, places and persons "alive" for the public by demonstrating various aspects of the past and allowing interaction with the interpreters. The LHC gives insight into the daily life and routine of the crew aboard the USS NORTH CAROLINA by explaining the duties specific to the sailor's ratings (jobs) and demonstrates of some of the activities that occurred aboard the ship. The WAVES/Home Front unit portrays the lives of women in the Navy and of the men and women on the home front during the war.
Membership in the Living History Crew is open to anyone regardless of sex, race, color, or creed who is at least sixteen years of age and who has an interest in helping to achieve the stated goals of the organization. Previous re-enacting or living history experience or prior naval service is not required. Applicants must agree to purchase the minimum required uniform items and adhere to the rules and regulations of the Living History Crew. For more information about the Living History Crew, please visit their website at www.ussnclivinghistory.com
Volunteers
The Battleship has an active, dedicated volunteer group involved with programs, restoration, research, and collections.
In the Programs Department, they work events such as the Easter Egg Hunt, Batty Battleship's Halloween Bash, and Ghost Ship.
Museum Department volunteers research and present programs such as Hidden Battleship, Power Plant Program, Firepower Tour, and the Girl Scout Battleship Fun Patch program. Some serve as docents for Battleship 101 where they research and interpret specific stations along the tour route such as the Kingfisher float plane, the galley, a 5-inch gun or the Combat Information Center. Some volunteers become knowledgeable enough to provide guided tours of the entire ship. A small group of volunteers assist with the archives and collections.
The Wednesday Working Party and others assist the Maintenance and Museum Departments in shipboard restoration and maintenance projects such as repairing telephones, polishing brass, chipping and painting, restoring the 1MC system, refurbishing lighting fixtures and more.
Please contact us if you would like to take part in her preservation, research, interpretation or would like to volunteer with any of our events.
HAM Radio
The Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club enjoys a special relationship with the Battleship. Their volunteers help restore original radio equipment, assist with Battleship events, offer a Guest HAM Radio Operator program and host the following yearly events: NC QSO Party, Museum Ships Weekend and Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance. They also offer a guest operator program to licensed hams who wish to operate SSB or CW from NORTH CAROLINA . Details of the guest operator program may be found at the club's website http://AC4RC.org
USS NORTH CAROLINA Battleship Association
The USS NORTH CAROLINA Battleship Association is an organization of the Battleship's crew and their families. The Association hosts an annual reunion in Wilmington with the next one scheduled for April 2013. The crew and families very much look forward to their annual return to the Battleship to share stories, visit old friends and make new ones. The love they have for their ship makes a powerful bond. Darrell Adams publishes their newsletter, the TARHEEL, several times a year. Mr. Adams also runs the Association "chat line", which helps everyone stay in touch.
The Association began in June 1962 shortly after the memorial's official dedication in April. The Battleship's first Superintendant, Rear Admiral William Maxwell, one of the Ship's original engineering officers, who initiated the formation of the organization for crew members.
The formation of the Association was greatly helped by former Ship's officer LCDR John Karrer who worked at the Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He forwarded crew members names and addresses to Jack Clements and Chuck Paty, two Association officers living in Charlotte, North Carolina. By July 1968, Karrer had located 7,243 names! Today, shipmates are still discovering their Ship.
The crew has been a tremendous asset to the Battleship through the years. They have given thousands of artifacts, recorded oral histories, donated funds, helped found the Friends of the Battleship, volunteered countless hours, and served on the USS NORTH CAROLINA Battleship Commission. The Battleship staff is proud to preserve their ship and share their story.
The Battleship would love to help crew members and their families reconnect with their Ship. If you are interested in joining the USS NC Battleship Association or finding out about the annual crew reunion, please contact Museum Services Director Kim Sincox.