A Kingfisher leaves the catapult.

During World War II, USS NORTH CAROLINA carried two Kingfisher floatplanes mounted on the ship’s stern (back end of the ship). She originally had three aircraft. The Kingfishers served three main purposes:

1. They spotted the ship’s gunfire. When NORTH CAROLINA fired her guns, the planes flew overhead the gun target line along the bearing to the target to make sure that the ship hit the designated target. If not, the plane’s radioman called the ship and told the ship’s gunners how to correct their aim.

2. The planes flew observation missions. For instance, if NORTH CAROLINA found out that enemy ships might be near, the planes might be sent to find the enemy’s location and exactly what kind of ships were present.

3. The planes rescued other aircraft crews that had crashed into the sea. Because the Kingfisher had floats, it could land and take off from the ocean. NORTH CAROLINA’s planes conducted two of the more well-known rescues of World War II. In April of 1944, one of the Kingfishers braved enemy fire to pick up ten airmen at the Truk Atoll. The next year another one saved a downed aviator near Hokkaido, one of the islands of the Japanese homeland, while under heavy enemy attack.

A Kingfisher prepares for recovery

The ship stored its planes on catapults located on each side of the ship’s stern. Each 68 foot long catapult had a small cart mounted on top onto which the Kingfisher was placed. To launch or catapult a plane, the pilot first raced the engine at top speed, then a gun powder charge place into the cart was fired which propelled the plane down the end of the catapult track and off the ship.

To pick up a plane, the ship would start a turn which would smooth out the waves behind the ship and along one side. The men called this smooth area a "slick". The pilot landed the plane in the slick, then the radioman climbed out and hooked the plane to the huge crane lowered over the ship’s side. The crane lifted the plane back onto the ship.

The Kingfisher carried two men: a pilot and a radioman. Each man had a small machine gun to fire. The front gun fired straight ahead while the gun in the rear cockpit could be turned. The plane could carry a bomb under each wing. The plane usually flew around 119 miles per hour (slow for planes) and carried fuel to fly 805 miles.

The Vought-Sikorsky Company built 1,220 Kingfishers between 1940 and 1942. Of these, only 7 survive today. The Kingfisher at the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA crashed in Canada during World War II. The Battleship Memorial had the wrecked plane sent to Texas where retired men from Vought-Sikorsky volunteered to restore it. The beautifully restored plane returned to the Battleship for display on 25 June 1971 and now sits proudly on the NORTH CAROLINA’s fantail.