Save our Ship!

How North Carolina school kids used the power of numbers to save a legendary ship from the scrap heap in 1961.

As movingly described by the protective keepers of its flame, the Battleship North Carolina “began as a North Carolina story, but it now belongs to the nation.”

Cast your eyes a few hundred yards across the Cape Fear River from Wilmington’s Riverwalk and, from any vantage point, it’s difficult not to see the iconic ship moored there. The battleship, the recipient of 15 battle stars, the most of any American battleship in World War II, participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater of operations.

Then again, cast a look back about 65 years ago, and it’s difficult to imagine how the Battleship North Carolina, then moored in Bayonne, New Jersey, came this close to being unceremoniously scrapped. If one searched for the least appealing description of the planned decommissioning of the ship, you might say it was poised to be “stripped for parts.”

In 1958 the U.S. Navy announced that the Battleship North Carolina was to be “sold and scrapped,” which state residents and leaders did not take lying down. Skipping ahead, hydroplaning over a series of more traditional solutions — a Battleship Commission, a (New Hanover County) Battleship Committee, appointment of an “Admiral” in each of 100 N.C. counties — the Commission Chairman Hugh Morton eventually came up a game-changing idea. It ultimately was the catalyst for bringing the ship home in October 1961.

The idea was to have nearly every North Carolina school kid contribute 10 cents apiece to a Save our Ship campaign with a lofty $300,000 goal.

Eventually, an estimated 700,000 of the state’s 1 million students, who became known as The North Carolina Navy, donated to the cause that uniquely preserved history.

“It’s inspiring to see how this community effort caught on,” says Battleship North Carolina Memorial Executive Director Dr. Jay Martin.

Photography by Matt McGraw

He says it wasn’t just dimes that were contributed. Children gave spare change of any denomination they could find. If a school had 100 percent participation, each student received free admission to the battleship and the school’s name was recognized.

“We think about the Battleship in the same way as New Yorkers think about the Statue of Liberty,” Martin says.

The Battleship was dedicated as North Carolina’s official World War II memorial on April 29, 1962. It continues to be a living memorial honoring the 11,000 North Carolinians who died in World War II and the 9,000 officers, sailors and Marines who served aboard.

Martin conveys that sharing the actual words and experiences of those who were there as students is valuable.

“When I arrived at the Battleship in 2023,” he explains, “we realized that we had kind of lost touch with our constituencies. We needed to focus more on people.”

To that end, Martin and Battleship staff have embarked on an organized and concerted effort to gather the direct experiences of those students and others who were active participants in the Save our Ship campaign.

Martin was surprised to see so many commonalities from the responses that have come in from their invitation to share those experiences. One of them was the level of sacrifice that low-income kids went through in order to save the Battleship.

“Hey, people willingly gave until it hurt,” Martin says in admiration. “They were only 15 years away from 1945. They had family members who were WWII veterans, they had people from their communities who had died. They took on extra jobs, they broke their piggy banks. Some families made sure that children who could not afford a dime of their own still had one to contribute, ensuring every student could take part.”

The anecdotes and personal observations the Battleship has received are touching or funny and often both.

Photography by Matt McGraw

A few noteworthy examples:
“I worked in tobacco fields to buy school clothes and took part of my money and gave it to save the Battleship. It felt good to save some of our history and to honor those who fought for our freedom.”
“I asked my father to pay my allowance in dimes!”
“When the Battleship finally arrived in 1961, it was Our Battleship,” remembers one Dimes donor. “The entire town [of Wilmington] converged on the waterfront to watch her being towed upriver. I think we watched from Third and Market [Streets], and we were vaguely aware that the ship hit The Ark [floating restaurant]. But by then it was Our Battleship, and a little bump didn’t matter.”
Martin emphasizes with more than a touch of emotion that World War II veterans “are a non-renewable resource.” He points out that only 14 of the Battleship’s crew are still alive today.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO SAVED THE SHIP?
The effort to reconnect the child donors from 1961 continues, says the Battleship’s executive director, Dr. Jay Martin.
Anyone who participated — or whose parents or grandparents did — can share written memories, photos or videos at battleshipnc.com/dimes.
Submissions will be preserved in a digital archive and may be featured in future exhibits and documentaries.

VISIT THE BATTLESHIP
Battleship North Carolina
1 Battleship Road NE, Wilmington
(910) 399-9100
battleshipnc.com