On her first assignment, she participated in an inspection tour of the Panama Canal in 1909 while it was still under construction. She then cruised the Mediterranean to protect Americans threatened by the Turkish Empire and provided a medical relief party to treat wounded and ill Armenians, victims of massacre.

In the years prior to World War I, she trained, maneuvered, and performed ceremonial and diplomatic duties in the Atlantic and Caribbean. It was NORTH CAROLINA that brought home the bodies of the dead crew of MAINE.

When World War I ignited, she protected Americans in the Near East, cruising constantly between Jaffa, Beirut, and Alexandria as a reminder of American might. She returned to Boston for overhaul in June 1915.

She next entered into the exciting period of her history when NORTH CAROLINA played a significant role in the development of naval aviation. She headed for Pensacola, Florida, for her assignment as a naval air station ship, arriving on 9 September 1915. On 5 November 1915, she launched a scout observation biplane by catapulting it from a ramp mounted on her deck. The steel catapult was constructed over the gun turret and fantail, or rear, of the cruiser. For the pilot, LCDR Henry Mustin, and the crew, it was a proud day. This marked the first time a ship launched a plane while under way. Her experimental work paved the way for use of aircraft on battleships and cruisers.

When America entered World War I, NORTH CAROLINA left Florida and headed north to escort troop transports plying the Atlantic between Norfolk and New York. After the war, she brought men of the American Expeditionary Force home in December 1918 and July 1919.

Renamed CHARLOTTE on 7 June 1920, so that her name might be used for a new battleship, she was decommissioned in February 1921. She was sold for scrap on 29 September 1930.