About this item

ALM-601 1/500 Scale. This kit features 144 parts and measures 17 3/4 inches long. Molded in gray with display stand and decals for both Washington and Carolina battleships. The USS North Carolina was quickly nicknamed “The Showboat” because of all the attention she drew during her trials in New York Harbor. At the time of her commissioning on April 9th 1941, she was considered the world’s greatest sea weapon. Armed with nine 16-inch/45 caliber guns in three turrets, and twenty 5-inch/38 caliber guns in ten twin mounts, North Carolina proved a formidable weapons platform. Her wartime complement consisted of 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men, including 86 Marines. In her modern version, the catapult-launched float planes have been replaced by Helicopters for observation service.The North Carolina went to the Pacific in June 1942. She took part in the Guadalcanal campaign during the rest of that year, covering the initial landings there and participating in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942. She was damaged by a Japanese submarine torpedo on September 15th that year, in an attack that also fatally damaged USS Wasp (CV-7), but returned to the Solomons combat zone after a few months’ repairs. During an enemy air attack in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the North Carolina threw up such a fierce barrage from her anti-aircraft batteries that the mighty Carrier Enterprise signaled to her “ARE YOU AFIRE?!” due to all the smoke.In November 1943, North Carolina assisted in capturing enemy positions in the Gilbert Islands. This began a pattern of operations for her that lasted for the rest of World War II: serving in the anti-aircraft screen of aircraft carrier task forces and occasionally using her heavy guns to bombard Japanese-held islands. In these roles, during 1944 she…