Friends of the Battleship, April 2011

Friends Flapjack Fundraiser You are invited to the first be your opportunity to an e­mail acknowledge­ annual Friends of the Bat­ learn about future activi­ ment and add your name tleship Flapjack Fund­ ties planned or supported to the breakfast list. Pro­ raiser on May 21st. Bat­ by your Friends group. ceeds benefit the Friends tleship volunteers (some Bring your family and of the Battleship. in period dress or uni­ friends. Tickets for this form) will be serving you event are being sold in Hope to see you there! flapjacks at advance. And if you will be out of Applebees Please send a check for town or otherwise unable 5120 New Center Drive $7.00 payable to the to attend the Flapjack Wilmington, NC Friends of the Battle­ Breakfast you still might 8 AM—10 AM ship to: consider a $7.00 donation Helen Harrington to the Friends of the Bat­ Come and meet your Friends of the Battleship tleship. We can welcome Friends Board of Direc­ NORTH CAROLINA you in spirit, because we tors and have breakfast 503 South 11th Street know that you will be and fellowship with volun­ Erwin, NC 28339 thinking of us! teers and supporters of Floy Hamilton, Helen Har­ the Battleship NORTH Include your email ad­ rington, John Whitley CAROLINA. This will also dress. We will send you Board members

Hail from the Friends Board! It has been almost a year the responsibilities of the 1. The Board should since the new Friends of the various committees. With communicate more Battleship North Carolina the administrative issues often with Friends’ Board met. We learned behind us we began dis­ members to keep you about the Board’s history cussing activities related up to date on what we and structure, reviewed the to membership in the do, planned activities, various committees and their Friends. and ways for you to responsibilities, and had an Over the past year there participate in various overall discussion of ideas have been numerous functions and activities and possibilities for the up­ ideas and suggestions associated with coming year. discussed relating to fund Friends membership The first few meetings in­ raising projects, increas­ and activities associ­ volved discussing and writ­ ing membership, and es­ ated with the Battle­ ing a Memorandum of pecially ways to encour­ ship. The Scuttlebutt is Agreement (MOA) for the age Friends members to one way to communi­ Friends, discussing and re­ become more involved. cate, but there could vising the existing Bylaws, Our actions to date are: also be times when we and discussing and revising (Continued on page 2) Page 2

Friends Report continued

communicate directly A tri­fold display CAROLINA, proudly with you. PLEASE be board along with the funded by the Friends sure to keep your new membership bro­ of the Battleship will email and snail mail­ chure will be used to be hanging in the ex­ ing addresses cur­ “display and explain hibit hall. rent. ourselves.” Here’s an As a member of the 2. We needed a profes­ opportunity for Friends, YOU ARE the sionally designed Friends members to Friends of the Battleship Friend of the Battle­ help out and get in­ North Carolina. You are ship membership bro­ volved, so if helping included on a list of distin­ chure. Thanks to Al­ to “man the booth” for guished individuals who ice Heitchue’s great some of the events all joined for the same work we now have interest you, just let reason. Your ideas and one. us know! suggestions are wel­ 3. The Friends have a 6. For the Friends’ comed, and your talents new official logo. members who don’t are needed. mind getting dirty, the 4. A prominent “Friends” The Friends consist of Board would like to 160 members, which is a tab is now on the Bat­ invite you to partici­ tleship’s website. We very large pool of talent pate in an ongoing and ideas. Whether your are soliciting ideas restoration project on and opinions about specialty is planning so­ the Battleship. There cial functions, developing what we want to see is plenty of opportu­ on this page. We are websites, keeping the nity for members to books, scraping paint or also considering de­ get involved with this veloping our own just being available to idea. Your talents are help out where you can, website, but to do that needed! we need expert ad­ your ideas and talents are vice, so as a Friends 7. The Friends approved needed and welcomed. member, if that’s your funding for two spe­ As positions open on the specialty, we could cial collection pro­ Board the nominating use your ideas and jects: conservation of committee will be solicit­ help. rubber Iwo Jima relief ing interested persons to map and conserva­ serve on the Board. 5. As part of the Battle­ tion of an 1827 water­ ship’s 50th Anniver­ Please contact the color of the Ship­of­ Friends Board of Direc­ sary, numerous spe­ the­Line North Caro­ cial events have been tors with your questions, lina. The Friends also opinions, suggestions, planned to celebrate approved funding for the occasion. The ideas, offers of assis­ a new display case tance, etc. at our email Friends has been of­ for the exhibit hall and fered an opportunity address: interpretive panels [email protected]. to participate in as about the Ship of the many of these events Line and the Ironclad And visit us on Facebook! as possible and we North Carolina. A new Mike Wortham are creating a Mem­ banner about the bership Booth” to Friends of the Battleship Legacy of the Ships Board member enlist new members. Named NORTH Page 3 Scuttlebutt

Rare World War II Map Conserved Over the past nine map was turned over and experience amongst an months, conservators at the bottom­most layer of audience,” explains con­ East Carolina University pressboard was removed servation student Nicole have been documenting, in one piece. The second Wittig. Presenting the cleaning, and preserving layer of pressboard was map in this way allowed a rubber map from the carefully peeled back in the participants to explore Battleship’s collection. several hundred layers! the context of the map The three dimensional (Photo below left) In the within a broader frame­ relief map, originally used course of the work stencil­ work of the historical in intelligence training, ing was revealed that event. depicts the island of Iwo documents the map’s The map has returned to Jima with landing strips provenance. (Photo left) the Battleship collection and Mt. Surabachi. As part of outreach efforts and is being safely stored The conservation project to interact with the public in a custom­made, oxy­ represented the depart­ and increase awareness gen­free environment. Obverse side of map: ment’s continuing effort to of preservation concerns, Providing a long­term “Constructed by the Terrain foster a sense of commu­ ECU hosted a public day plan for preservation that Model Workshop / U.S. Naval nity between ECU and event on the 66th anniver­ met the storage and dis­ Photographic Intelligence eastern North Carolina in sary of the allied landing play needs of the object Center” an effort to connect the at Iwo Jima. Faculty from and the museum was a public with its maritime the Department of History critical part of the project. heritage. The students and the Joyner Library We are grateful for the gained experience with a Special Collections sup­ opportunity to be able to truly unique object and plemented the artifact’s contribute to the preser­ rare material type. The story with historical con­ vation of material that has map was also a dynamic text from opposing per­ such tremendous signifi­ project requiring an ability spectives and shared sig­ cance to North Carolina to adapt to the artifact’s nificant items from the history. needs. archival collections. “The Susanne Grieve, Nicole First, the map’s surface great thing about an arti­ Wittig, and Emily Powell, was dry cleaned with a fact is that it can generate East Carolina University light suction vacuum to discussion, evoke memo­ remove dust. Then the ries, and create a shared

Funding for conservation was provided by the Friends of the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA Page 4 Scuttlebutt

Bofors 40mm Quad Mount

Probably the most recog­ CAROLINA received the on the 1.10 inch mount nizable anti­aircraft first 40mm in September made it difficult for the weapon of WWII was the 1942. The 40mm was loaders to serve the Bofors 40mm. NORTH widely adapted to replace weapon without getting in CAROLINA had 15 quad the problematic 1.10" each others way. hydraulic/electric mounts guns. It was an easy re­ (60 barrels), symmetric placement as the mounts port and starboard with were of almost equal mount #15 on top of Tur­ weight. ret III. The Bofors 40mm gun was credited with half of the Japanese aircraft kills from October 1944 to February 1945, but it could not stop a kami­ kaze. A Navy test con­ Eleven men were as­ cluded that a three­inch signed to the 40mm quad round was required to mount: mount captain, stop a kamikaze before it trainer, pointer and eight hit a targeted ship. The loaders. The pointer sat in Bofors remained in use the left seat with a three on the U.S. Navy ships position firing pedal. Full into the 1970s and even depression manually fired longer in foreign navies the gun. Half depression with proximity fused am­ passed control to the Mk munition and automatic 51 Director, and if the The gun was developed loaders. pointer took his foot off by Bofors in Sweden with The 40mm gun was water the pedal the gun didn’t maybe with a little help cooled in the shipboard fire. from Krups, the German version. The weapon was The pointer’s firing pedal arms company which had manually cocked for the actually controlled the a financial interest in Bo­ first round, and thereafter rammer rather than acting fors for a period of time. was cocked by blowback as a trigger. The next The gun was sold to the and the distinctive spring. round fired automatically British, Dutch, and The Bofors used the en­ once it was rammed. The French. The United ergy from the recoil to feed for each gun held States became interested eject the spent round and two clips and the gun and managed to get the load the next. The proc­ ceased firing when it had plans out of Nazi Europe ess relied on the large two rounds remaining in in mid­1940, just as the spring around the barrel order to preclude the war closed down the oc­ that is a distinctive feature need for manual cocking. cupied countries. York of the gun. The gun resumed firing as Safe and Lock Company soon as the next clip was adapted the plans for U.S. The Battleship’s quad mount is really two twin fed. Due to spring action, specifications and mass the rate of fire was production. The United mounts bolted together. The arrangement was greater (as much as 40 States produced 39,200 rpm to 160 rpm) at lower of the guns. very functional because the space between the barrel elevations, known York produced its first twins gave the loaders as “gravity assist.” quad mount in April of room to work. The close 1941 and the NORTH mounted loading cradles (Continued on page 5) Page 5

Ammunition Ammunition for the 40mm gun was a two pound pro­ jectile with Contact High Explosive (HE), HE self Range: 5000 yards (2.5 miles) destruct and self destruc­ Altitude: 22,300 feet ting tracer. The self de­ Rate of Fire and Muzzle structing ammunition Velocity: 480 to 640 rpm (120­160 detonated at 4­5000 per barrel), 2890 feet per second yards to minimize friendly fire problems. The four round clip weighed 20 pounds which was a vast improvement over the 34 pound clip of the 1.10 Fire Control inch mount. The ammuni­ tion was armed by accel­ Mark 51 Gun Directors eration and rotation after with a 15 mil reticle were firing. Each barrel on the used with each gun 40mm mount fired a clip mount. A Mark 14 Gun every 1.5­2 seconds. At Sight was used on the 160 rpm per barrel, a gun director for aiming the quad mount could con­ gun mount with a maxi­ sume 3200 pounds of mum range of 3,200 ammunition per minute if yards. (The Mark 37 5"/38 the loaders could keep Directors could also con­ up. trol the 40mm guns.) Es­ sentially, this is a gun with Supplying ammunition to a two pound projectile the 40mm mounts was a and a two mile effective problem. NORTH CARO­ range and the shell took LINA was designed with about eight seconds to ammunition hoists in the travel the distance. forward and aft super­ structures to supply the Test question! How much original four 1.10 inch do you need to lead a 300 mounts from the maga­ mph target with an eight zines on the third deck. second projectile time of The eleven additional flight? Answer: about 40mm mounts were sup­ 3520 feet and that is why plied by ready service the Mark 14 gun sight ammunition (about 440 was so important and why rounds/110 clips) hung on the 40mm guns were the inside of the gun largely ineffective beyond shields. The clip mounts two miles. have been cut off, but you Ken Rittenmeyer can still see the stubs around the inside of each shield. If the mount ex­ Credits: www.navweps.com, hausted its ready service US Naval Weapons by Nor­ ammunition, the crew re­ man Friedman, Conway Maritime Press, 1983, and plenished it by hand Battleship NORTH CARO­ across the open deck. LINA by Captain Ben Blee, USN (Ret), 2005. Page 6 Scuttlebutt

Restoring the Navigator’s Emergency Stateroom

When you consider that tleship restored the entire In March we looked inside the mission of the Friends ship there would still be the compartment to see is to support the activities many decades and gen­ what we were getting into. of the Museum Depart­ erations of work to be Nobody could remember ment and promote and done. seeing inside the cabin perpetuate other activities The Friends’ Board has and it didn’t even have a relating to the ship, you discussed sponsoring door knob! With some must admit that the Show­ ongoing Battleship resto­ assistance from the Main­ boat, as she is also ration projects for Friends tenance Department and known, is by far the big­ members to show off their some rather unique engi­ gest artifact we have. talents and creative skills neering methods, we The Battleship staff over and at the same time con­ were finally able to open the past five decades has tribute to the ship’s pres­ the door to this archeo­ done a wonderful job of ervation efforts. The logical site. restoring and maintaining Board has requested per­ vast areas of the ship to mission to restore the create what is probably Navigator’s Emergency the best self­guided tour Stateroom (called a Sea of any historical ship. Cabin), which is located As big as the Showboat on the 04 Level adjacent is, however, there are still to the Captain’s Emer­ compartments that are in gency Stateroom. Except the same condition they for a small water closet were in when she came to compartment, restoring Wilmington in 1961. One the Navigator’s Sea Cabin way to see some of the would open all of the “off the main tour route” spaces on the Bridge spaces is to sign up for Level for public viewing. one of the Hidden Battle­ My impression was that ship tours, and then you it’s not too bad! It ap­ still see only a small per­ peared that it had proba­ centage of these un­ bly been restored (at least touched areas. If the Bat­ painted) since 1961. It will need cleaning and some new paint, but overall, it was in pretty good shape. If you’re a Friends mem­ ber and interested in working on this restora­ tion project drop me a note! Mike Wortham [email protected] Page 7

Kingfisher Painting at National Naval Aviation Museum A painting featuring the Since then he has com­ Kingfisher as well as in­ Battleship NORTH pleted six paintings, two formation in the archives. CAROLINA and two of of which feature the Pied­ We happily provided two her OS2U Kingfishers will mont Airlines DC­3. ladders to allow him to get be on display this summer "Kingfishers Return to the a vantage point above the at the National Naval Showboat" is painting wing of the Kingfisher and Aviation Museum in Pen­ number 6. in about 45 minutes he sacola, FL. The painting is the work of Greensboro artist David Rawlins and is being exhibited by the "Kingfishers Return to American Society of Avia­ the Showboat" will be tion Artists (ASAA) along on display at the Na­ with 75 other works of art. tional Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola David has only recently FL, May 1 ­ August 31, returned to traditional 2011. painting after a 20 year break He started painting aircraft again in Decem­ ber of 2008 after getting a There are only about took more than 350 pic­ ride in a Piedmont Airlines eight surviving Kingfishers tures of the plane for ref­ DC­3 owned by the Caro­ left today, one of which is erence. linas Aviation Museum in sitting on the Battleship’s The painting itself is 48 x Charlotte. fantail. Since he was de­ 24 inches, a size chosen livering a B­17 painting to because it was the largest Wilmington, David con­ that would fit in the back tacted us to see about seat of David's car! getting access to the

Battleship 101 Spring has arrived; there­ learn about the galley, country and the world. fore, summer is right chapel, 5­inch guns, The ship’s docents spend around the corner, and Combat Information Cen­ many hours researching that means a new season ter, daily life, the Sick and honing their presen­ of Battleship 101! Begin­ Bay, 20mm and 40 mm tations and volunteer their ning in June and continu­ antiaircraft weapons as time and talents to insure ing through August volun­ well as the Kingfisher and that visitors come away teer docents will be on her role on the Battleship. with an experience they board the second Satur­ Hands on displays and will remember for a life­ day of each month man­ information materials also time. Many visitors have ning stations throughout help the visitor gain a bet­ returned again and again the ship. ter understanding of what and bring with them Station docents are ex­ is was like to serve on friends and family to perts on many of the nu­ one of the most famous share in this wonderful merous stops on the tour combat ships of WWII. opportunity to see up route and are there to close all the ship has to Battleship 101 is included offer. See you on June give more information and with admission and has insights to the various 11, July 9, and August 13! been well received by Frank Glossl compartments. Visitors visitors from all over the Page 8 Scuttlebutt

Shipshape

So far this year, 41 volun­ In Radio 2 (third deck off tenmeyer, Roger Wood teers have given 1,285 the tour route) the men and Gary Zenz), under hours to a variety of en­ from the Azalea Coast the direction of Mainte­ deavors here on the Bat­ Radio Club spent the nance Supervisor Terry tleship. colder months working on Kuhn, have been doing a Our three Lifelong Learn­ restoring another one of variety of projects. In ing programs rely on the ship’s original trans­ preparation for the Hidden knowledgeable volunteers mitters. In February they Battleship tour in January, to provide a memorable hosted the NC QSO they strung handrails experience for our guests. Party, a statewide event down to the reefers and They study, ask ques­ for HAM radio operators between the second and tions, investigate the ship to make contact with oth­ half decks. They cleaned and archives, and pro­ ers in all 100 North Caro­ compartments off the tour duce power point presen­ lina counties within a 10­ route and refurbished tations. Others serve as hour period. And they lock­sets for doors be­ “cabooses” keeping our hosted other HAM radio cause many of them are guests safe and on the operators in an individual warped and need lubrica­ right path off the tour guest program. tion. Flip and Jack have route. Our sincere thanks The all volunteer Friends been doing restoration to presenters and guides Board has been meeting work in the Chart House Kent Atkins, Bill Barnes, and Frank Glossl and Sue on the 04 level. Kirk Binning, Dave Car­ Mason Carter continue to On the Bridge, George penter, Dave Derry, Frank help manage the adminis­ Burn continued to polish Glossl, Joe Hood, Mark trative work associated brass and replaced the McAllister, Ronnie Rho­ with memberships. In the ship’s compass. Bill Bar­ des, Larry Sackett, John archives Richard Riano nes and Gary Zenz have Whitley and Andrew and Kirk Binning contin­ been diligently stripping Whitley, along with Nor­ ued to organize materials paint and polishing and man Clemmons, Jack for our researchers to coating brass throughout Jacobs, Allan Pellnat, and access. We recently wel­ the ship. In the cooler Bill Usher of the Azalea comed Mike Hosick, who months it was easier to Coast Radio Club. Three is researching the Supply work in Machinery Space cheers for David Keefe Division for future pro­ #4 where Larry Sackett and Ann Glossl, who gramming uses. took on the task of strip­ helped manage logistics! The Wednesday Working ping and polishing copper Many of these same vol­ Party (Kent Atkins, Jack and brass piping of all unteers also helped with Bogia, Carl “Flip” Filipiak, sizes. Above: Before and af- school programs and Stephen Gregory, Bob Keep up the good work, ter. Below: pipes and monitoring the gift shop Huebner, Reg Kidd, Ken everyone! wheels before and after. during busy school­day Kroeger, Fred Lehman, visits. Mark McAllister, Ken Rit­ Page 9

Naval Camouflage: A Brief History

From the first use of any enemy vessel that By 1917, ship losses were steam propulsion, mer­ might attack them. Well, so great that it threatened chant and passenger ves­ that was the thought. Dur­ the outcome of the war by sels were used during ing the early part of World limiting the amount of wars to provide auxiliary War I this theory was supplies reaching Britain. services for the battle proven to be essentially Now that the convoy sys­ “Just paint fleet and to help land wrong. tem was put into use, the everything gray” troops to capture enemy The British Navy, early in ineffectiveness of the were the orders. territory. These ships World War I, decided that overall gray camouflage were used to transport it was necessary to try became abundantly clear. supplies, ammunition, and minimize the profile The concentration of the fuel, food and troops. of merchant ships in ser­ ships in one area made Merchant vessels were vice to the Royal Navy. them even more easily well suited for this role Since, there was an ever seen. because of their vast and increasing call up of mer­ The Admiralty received easily modified holds and chant ships for such ser­ many suggestions and set accommodation spaces. vice. They decided to blur up the Directorate of Na­ Merchant ships were out their bright merchant val Equipment to investi­ used for troopships, hos­ colors in an effort to con­ gate all these ideas. Soon pital ships, accommoda­ ceal them. afterward the United tion ships and even auxil­ Like warships, gray paint States Navy set up its iary cruisers for convoy seemed the best method own investigation branch: escort work when appro­ to try. Thus, overall gray Bureau of Construction priate warships were not paint in some shade was and Repair, Camouflage available. used. This paint was low Research Center. But even though they in cost and simple to put Both of the units were were easily adapted to on. “Just paint everything charged to conduct re­ wartime use, they had gray” were the orders. search into the use of one flaw, they were not At first, this measure of alternative and more ef­ constructed with any ar­ camouflage seemed to be fective colored paints and mor plating or anti­ effective and besides it to develop schemes to torpedo blisters. They had worked for the war­ reduce target visibility, were simply not built to ships of the fleet. How­ confuse the ship’s identity take the pounding that a ever, after the war pro­ (ship type or class) or its warship would be ex­ duced submarine warfare speed, heading or dis­ pected to endure. on an unprecedented and tance from the observer. As a matter of fact, in somewhat unexpected During World War I this many naval circles, the level, gray camouflage at resulted in some clever primary “armor” of pas­ sea proved to be less ef­ and visually impressive Drawing of a dazzle senger ships was their fective than expected. camouflage schemes. pattern drawn for speed. They could outrun the NEW YORK Class battleships. Page 10 Scuttlebutt

There were essentially two trains of thought. The Below: The Armored first wanted to use soft Cruiser NORTH CAROLINA colors and subtle lines in camouflage during WWI. that allowed for colors to be blended. This would create an optical illusion that would produce the effects desired. The second train of thought was that bold, bright colors that strongly contrasted each other drawn in sharp geometric patterns would make a submarine commander peering through a peri­ scope misidentify the ship, its speed or head­ ing. This second method became known as “Dazzle Painting.” During World War I many effective systems of both erable blue tint, nearly the sharp to confuse subma­ types were developed. same as those colors riners looking through During the years between used during WWII. But periscopes. An American World War I and World one thing for certain is painter Everett Warner War II, the USN tried that during WWII the had a major influence on many “camouflage meas­ gloss of the paint was cut the navy’s camouflage ures” as they were now way down. patterns. He contributed known. Some measures By the time World War II much to the development were adopted that were arrived, it was obvious of measures of the disrup­ less than successful dur­ that hiding a ship from the tive type so even artistic ing WWII and were even­ air was impossible. When consultation was taken tually removed from the a ship was in motion there into account. approved list. was a white arrow wake When NORTH CARO­ In World War II, the con­ pointing right at the bow LINA went on her way to trasting colors were es­ of the ship, not to mention the war she carried Meas­ sentially limited to several the wake astern. It was ure 2 a graded system grays, white, black and in decided that anti­ designed to confuse dis­ some cases shades of submarine camouflage tance to target. Through green and brown. Many was more important. the war she carried Ms 12 (another graded meas­ books report that the pre­ Early in the war German ure), Ms 21 (an overall World War II grays used submarines raked havoc navy blue scheme), Ms by the USN were essen­ on the merchant fleet and 22 (a graded system in­ tial neutral grays, how­ were scoring hits on war­ tended to confuse dis­ ever the tint numbers ships. Once again the tance to target), Ms 32 (a listed for reference in the camouflage measures medium disruptive anti­ Munsell Book of Color, were made to either blend submarine pattern) and 1929 for these colors indi­ colors to a medium shade finally Ms 13, a peacetime cate that they had consid­ of gray or be bold and overall haze gray system Page 11

which she wore in Wil­ 1942. All gray colors and Splotches may be regular mington from 1961 to dull black were used inter­ or irregular patterns. 1995. changeably during the Small splotches are It is interesting to note War. Add to this the fact known to be ineffective. that BB­55’s MS 32 was a that the ultramarine blue Splotch patterns for con­ modified form. Measure used as tinting material fusing course or speed 32 system was designed had a tendency to fade or are completely useless in for dull black (BK), ocean even turn whitish and in­ shadow. Splotch pattern gray (5­O) and light gray terpretation of black and usefulness depends on (5­L), but NORTH CARO­ white photos is much illumination of the vessel LINA carried navy blue (5­ more difficult. and conditions experi­ N), haze gray (5­H) and One more thing, the crew enced by the observer at pale gray (5­P). These often “touched up” the distances away from the colors considerably sof­ patterns and the results observed ship. Although tened the pattern. Al­ were at the mercy of the splotch patterns have though these colors were deck crew. Colors were been painted, none were for Ms 33, the pattern was often darker on one part tested and there was no drawn for Ms 32 and re­ of the hull than another as first hand data concerning tained that designation the crew mixed the paint any effectiveness even though other colors colors poorly or left parts It is truly a wonder why a were used. In addition, of areas unpainted and major portion of the U.S. the particular pattern still in the old faded color. fleet were painted in them adopted for BB­55 had a Splotch patterns were but we must consider that deck pattern in ocean extensively used during they were the only pat­ gray (5­O) and deck blue the early part of World terns approved. Allied and (20­B), this was appar­ War II. The 1941 direc­ Axis ships before the en­ ently not carried. tions to the fleet were es­ trance of the United This is not the only exam­ sentially that corners and States into WWII had ple of varying colors and surfaces useful for deter­ been painted in simple or pattern changes being mination of course angles more complex camou­ done to already drawn may be broken up by flage and the psychologi­ camouflage patterns. For large splotches of con­ cal reason that sailors just example, Ms 31 was trasting paint colors. The felt safer on a camou­ sometimes altered to use splotches should not be flaged ship. gray­greens. Several eye­ smaller than can be re­ Henry S. Falkowski witnesses say that the solved by the eye at USS INDIANA (BB­58) ranges that would con­ Professor of Chemistry, carried such a pattern in fuse a surface observer. Potomac State College, West Virginia University

The Battleship measures are depicted in Ship’s Data 1 available from the Gift shop. For news and schedules Battleship Events make the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA Another season of successful Lifelong Learning programs has come to a close. one of your This year we welcomed 70 guests to Hidden Battleship, 32 to Firepower, and 29 favorites! to Power Plant. Since each program uniquely explores the Battleship we present www.battleshipnc.com these programs in the colder months before the steel hull has time to create that “South Pacific” experience! Join us in 2012!

Onto events for April through June: Battleship Easter Egg Hunt/Carnival, April 22, 2011 (Good Friday), 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Hippity Hoppity down the Battleship trail for a fun spring event with continuous games and egg hunts along with a bounce house and petting zoo for guests to enjoy. Egg hunts will run throughout the event so that kids are guaranteed a chance to find eggs and will be able to “hunt” as many times as they like. Tickets are $5 a person and children under 2 are free.

Steaming, Signaling, and Secret Codes, Oh My! A Girl Scout Program, Saturday, May 14th, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Girl Scouts can earn a Battleship Fun Patch and experience the Battleship like they never have before! Troop reservations are required through the Girl Scouts Council.

46th Annual Memorial Day Observance Monday, May 30, 5:45 pm Remember those who gave their lives in service by honoring veterans at the Bat­ tleship’s Memorial Day Observance featuring a military guest speaker, an all­ service Color Guard, a 21­gun salute by a Marine Corps Honor Guard, a military band, Taps, and a commemorative memorial wreath. A Field of Honor will stand in Battleship Park with 400 American Flags to serve as tribute to the men and women who served to keep our freedom. Attendance to the Memorial Service is free.

Museum Ships Weekend—Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club, June 4 – 5, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Battleship NORTH CAROLINA will be one of 63 ships world wide participating in this annual event. The radio club will operate voice and Morse code stations us­ ing original equipment when possible. QSL with a SASE to P.O. Box 4044, Wil­ mington, NC 28406. Contact is Allan Pellnat at [email protected] or 910­431­3875.

Battleship 101, Saturday, June 11th, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Free with admission. (see article)

Beach Music Festival, Saturday, June 11th, 10:00 am – 9:00 pm, Battleship Park. Nothing says summer fun along the Cape Fear Coast like beach music and the Battleship’s 50th anniversary celebration. A party like no other with the best artist line up in the region: Mark Roberts and the Breeze, Jim Quick and the Coastline, Band of Oz, The Tams, Chairmen of the Board and The Embers. Fun for the whole family, there will be food, prizes and lots of dancing. Tickets are only $18 in advance and can be purchased from the Battleship website or for $22 the day of the event at the Battleship ticket window (if not sold out). You don’t want to miss this! Battleship admission not included.