USS North Carolina – Haunted Battleship in Wilmington, North Carolina

The USS North Carolina sits permanently moored along the Cape Fear River in Wilmington, a massive floating monument to World War II heroism that has earned the nickname “The Showboat.” But beyond its impressive military history and distinguished service record, this decommissioned battleship has gained notoriety for something far more unsettling—the spirits of sailors who never truly left their posts.

Visitors and staff alike have reported countless paranormal encounters aboard this 729-foot vessel, from phantom footsteps echoing through empty corridors to the unmistakable sensation of unseen hands brushing past them in the narrow passageways.

Since opening as a memorial and museum ship in 1961, the USS North Carolina has become one of the most actively haunted locations in the entire state. The battleship’s cramped quarters, maze-like interior, and tragic wartime history create an atmosphere thick with residual energy and spectral activity.

Park rangers, maintenance workers, and overnight security personnel have accumulated decades of inexplicable experiences that cannot be easily dismissed or explained away by conventional means.

What makes the USS North Carolina particularly compelling to paranormal enthusiasts is the sheer variety of supernatural phenomena reported throughout the ship. These aren’t merely vague feelings or fleeting shadows, but full-bodied apparitions, intelligent responses to questions, and physical manifestations that have been witnessed by multiple credible observers.

The battleship’s reputation has attracted paranormal investigation teams from across the country, many of whom have captured compelling evidence of activity that defies rational explanation.

Historical Background

The USS North Carolina was commissioned on April 9, 1941, just months before the United States entered World War II, representing the first new American battleship built in nearly two decades. She was constructed at the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn, designated as BB-55, and became the lead ship of her class with a crew complement that could reach up to 2,339 officers and enlisted men.

The battleship measured 729 feet in length with a beam of 108 feet, displacing over 44,000 tons and bristling with nine 16-inch guns in three massive turrets along with twenty 5-inch guns and numerous anti-aircraft batteries.

During her active service in the Pacific Theater from 1942 to 1945, the USS North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in that region and earned fifteen battle stars for her combat actions. She provided crucial fire support during the Guadalcanal Campaign, fought in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, and screened aircraft carriers during operations at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The ship’s anti-aircraft batteries were credited with shooting down at least twenty-four enemy aircraft, earning her crew a reputation for deadly accuracy and unwavering courage under fire.

On September 15, 1942, the USS North Carolina suffered her most devastating blow when a Japanese submarine torpedo struck her port side during operations near the Solomon Islands. The explosion killed ten sailors instantly and wounded dozens more, tearing a hole 32 feet by 18 feet below the waterline that flooded multiple compartments and caused the ship to take on over 5,000 tons of water.

Despite this catastrophic damage, the crew’s heroic efforts kept the battleship afloat, and she managed to steam under her own power to Pearl Harbor for extensive repairs that took two months to complete.

Beyond the torpedo attack, the ship experienced numerous other casualties throughout her service from various causes including accidents, illnesses, and combat injuries. The harsh conditions aboard a warship during combat operations—the oppressive heat in the engine rooms, the deafening noise of the main battery guns, and the constant threat of enemy attack—created an environment of tremendous stress and danger.

Several crew members died in accidents involving the massive machinery, falls from great heights, and other mishaps inherent to operating such a complex vessel during wartime conditions.

After the war ended, the USS North Carolina was decommissioned on June 27, 1947, and spent fourteen years in the Inactive Reserve Fleet before facing potential scrapping. In an extraordinary grassroots effort, the citizens of North Carolina raised funds to save their namesake battleship, and she was towed to her final berth in Wilmington in 1961.

The ship was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 and has served as a memorial and museum ever since, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors annually who come to honor the fallen and experience life aboard a World War II battleship.

Paranormal Activity Summary

The most commonly reported paranormal phenomena aboard the USS North Carolina involves the sound of phantom footsteps throughout the ship, particularly in areas where no living person is present. Security guards conducting late-night rounds have repeatedly heard the distinctive metallic clanging of military boots on steel decking, only to find empty corridors when they investigate.

These footsteps often seem to follow a purposeful pattern, as if an invisible sailor is making his rounds or heading to a duty station, and multiple witnesses have reported hearing them simultaneously from different locations throughout the vessel.

Apparitions of sailors in period-appropriate uniforms have been seen throughout the ship, with witnesses describing figures that appear solid and three-dimensional before vanishing without a trace. These spectral crew members are most frequently encountered in the berthing areas, near the engine rooms, and in the passages around Turret Two.

Visitors have reported making eye contact with these figures, even attempting to speak to them before realizing they are not living tour guides or reenactors but something far more supernatural.

Cold spots manifest suddenly throughout the ship, even in areas where the summer heat makes the interior uncomfortably warm for living visitors. These dramatic temperature drops can be felt most intensely near the hatches leading to the lower decks and in specific berthing compartments where sailors once slept.

Witnesses describe these cold zones as feeling unnaturally frigid, sometimes accompanied by the sensation of walking through an invisible barrier or curtain of icy air that raises goosebumps despite the surrounding heat.

Doors and hatches open and close on their own despite being secured, sometimes slamming shut with tremendous force that startles visitors and staff. The heavy watertight doors are designed to remain in position once set, yet multiple documented incidents describe them swinging open or sealing shut without any physical cause.

On several occasions, visitors have found themselves temporarily trapped when hatches closed behind them inexplicably, requiring them to call for assistance before being released from their inadvertent confinement.

Electronic equipment behaves erratically aboard the USS North Carolina, with cameras failing, batteries draining instantly, and recording devices capturing voices and sounds that were not audible to human ears at the time of recording. Paranormal investigators have documented numerous examples of electronic voice phenomena (EVP) recordings featuring male voices speaking in military terminology, sometimes responding directly to questions asked by investigators.

The electromagnetic fields throughout certain sections of the ship fluctuate wildly without any mechanical explanation, particularly in areas associated with high levels of paranormal activity.

Ghost Stories & Reports

The most well-known spirit aboard the USS North Carolina is that of a young blonde-haired sailor who has been seen in multiple locations throughout the ship but most frequently near the ship’s forward turrets and on the main deck.

Witnesses describe him as appearing to be in his late teens or early twenties, wearing the distinctive white uniform of a World War II era Navy sailor, and he often seems to be going about routine duties as if unaware of his own death. This particular apparition has been photographed on several occasions, appearing as a transparent figure or sometimes as an unexplained blur of white in areas where no living person was standing when the photograph was taken.

The crew members who died in the torpedo attack on September 15, 1942, are believed to be among the most active spirits aboard the vessel, particularly in the areas damaged by the explosion. Visitors to the lower decks near where the torpedo struck have reported hearing men shouting orders, the sounds of rushing water, and cries for help that echo from empty compartments.

These auditory phenomena often occur when tour groups discuss the torpedo attack, as if the trauma of that day has been imprinted on the ship itself and plays back like a recording when triggered by conversation about the event.

In the galley and mess areas, staff and visitors have reported the smell of cooking food when the kitchen facilities have been cold and unused for hours. The aroma of coffee, bacon, and other breakfast foods wafts through the spaces inexplicably, sometimes accompanied by the sounds of dishes clattering and men’s voices engaged in casual conversation.

On multiple occasions, security personnel have responded to these sounds expecting to find trespassers, only to discover empty rooms with no possible source for the smells or noises they clearly heard from the corridor outside.

The ship’s engine rooms are hotspots for particularly intense paranormal activity, with witnesses reporting the sensation of being watched by multiple unseen observers and experiencing overwhelming feelings of unease that drive them to leave quickly. Maintenance workers have refused to enter certain compartments alone after experiencing unexplained touches, having tools moved or disappear, and hearing voices calling their names when no one else is present.

One particularly unsettling account involves a maintenance supervisor who felt someone grab his shoulder firmly in an engine room, only to turn around and find himself completely alone in a space with only one entrance that he had been facing the entire time.

The sleeping berths where crew members once rested between duty shifts are frequent sites of paranormal encounters, with visitors reporting seeing the impressions of bodies on the stacked bunks as if someone invisible is lying there. Multiple photographs taken in these areas have captured mysterious orbs, light anomalies, and occasionally what appears to be transparent human forms reclining on the narrow mattresses.

Tour guides have heard their names whispered in these berthing areas by male voices speaking in the darkness, and some have reported feeling gentle tugs on their clothing as if someone is trying to get their attention.

Perhaps the most chilling reports involve the ship’s barbershop, where visitors have seen the reflection of a sailor sitting in the barber’s chair when they glance at the mirror, despite the chair being empty when they look directly at it. This phenomenon has been reported by dozens of independent witnesses over the years, with remarkably consistent descriptions of a young man in a white sailor uniform appearing only in the reflection.

Some visitors have also reported hearing the sound of scissors snipping and quiet conversation between barber and customer emanating from the empty space, as if an invisible haircut is being performed by ghosts from seventy years ago.

Most Haunted Spot

The area around Turret Two is widely considered the most intensely haunted location aboard the USS North Carolina, where the concentration of paranormal activity reaches its peak. This massive gun turret and the compartments directly beneath it generate an overwhelming sense of unease in visitors, with many people reporting sudden panic attacks, difficulty breathing, and an overpowering urge to flee the area immediately.

Security cameras monitoring this section have captured numerous unexplained light anomalies, shadow figures moving through the frame, and on one memorable occasion, the clear image of a sailor walking through a closed hatch as if it weren’t there.

The forward berthing compartments near Turret Two are where most of the full-bodied apparitions have been witnessed, with visitors and staff encountering spectral sailors with such clarity that they initially mistake them for living reenactors or other tourists.

The narrow passageways in this area seem to amplify paranormal activity, with multiple witnesses reporting feeling invisible presences brushing past them in spaces barely wide enough for one person. Late-night security patrols consistently document cold spots, electromagnetic field spikes, and unexplained sounds emanating from this section of the ship, making it a focal point for paranormal investigation teams who visit the battleship.

Can You Visit?

The USS North Carolina is open to the public year-round as a museum and memorial, welcoming visitors who wish to explore this historic battleship and potentially encounter its supernatural residents. General admission is $14 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and military personnel, and $6 for children ages 6-11, with children under 6 admitted free.

The ship offers self-guided tours during regular hours, allowing visitors to explore at their own pace through nine decks of the vessel, from the bridge down to the engine rooms and crew quarters.

Special “Overnight Battleship Encampment” programs are offered throughout the year, allowing groups to spend the entire night aboard the ship from evening until morning. These overnight experiences cost approximately $50-60 per person and have become extremely popular with paranormal enthusiasts hoping to encounter the battleship’s ghostly crew.

Photography and video recording are enthusiastically permitted throughout the ship, and the staff encourages visitors to document any unusual phenomena they might experience during their visit.

The battleship is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM during the winter months and extended hours until 8:00 PM during the summer season. Paranormal-focused tours called “Haunted Ship” tours are offered during the Halloween season, providing visitors with detailed information about the ship’s ghostly legends and taking them to the most actively haunted areas.

These special tours typically require advance registration and often sell out quickly due to high demand from ghost hunters and curious visitors alike.

Best Time to Visit

Paranormal activity aboard the USS North Carolina appears most intense during the late evening and early morning hours, particularly between 10:00 PM and 4:00 AM when the ship is closed to regular visitors. Security personnel working these overnight shifts have accumulated the most compelling accounts of supernatural encounters, suggesting that the spirits are more active when fewer living people are present.

The overnight encampment programs capitalize on these peak activity hours, giving participants the opportunity to experience the ship during the time period when ghostly manifestations are most frequently reported.

September holds particular significance aboard the battleship, as the anniversary of the torpedo attack approaches, with staff and visitors noting increased paranormal activity throughout this month. Some paranormal investigators theorize that tragic events create temporal echoes that intensify during anniversary periods, and the reports from September visits seem to support this hypothesis.

Additionally, overcast days and periods of stormy weather seem to generate more frequent supernatural encounters, possibly due to the increased electromagnetic activity in the atmosphere or simply because these conditions mirror the wartime environment that the spirits remember.

First-Hand Accounts & Eyewitness Reports

A former security guard who worked overnight shifts aboard the USS North Carolina for over five years documented dozens of encounters in an interview with local media outlets. He described repeatedly hearing footsteps following him during his rounds, finding lights turned on in sections he had just secured, and on one particularly memorable night, seeing a fully-formed sailor standing watch on the main deck who vanished when the guard called out to him.

The guard’s accounts are considered particularly credible because of his initial skepticism about the paranormal and his consistent, detailed reporting of phenomena he could not rationally explain.

A school teacher from Raleigh who visited the ship with her family in 2018 reported photographing her children near Turret Two, only to discover upon reviewing the images that a sailor in period uniform appeared standing directly behind her daughter.

The figure was clearly visible in multiple consecutive photographs but was not present to the naked eye when the pictures were taken. The image was examined by photography experts who confirmed it had not been digitally manipulated and could not identify any conventional explanation for the uniformed figure’s presence.

During an overnight encampment in 2016, a group of Boy Scouts reported hearing voices calling for help from a locked compartment in the lower decks. The adult chaperones investigated and found the space empty, but multiple boys insisted they heard distinct male voices shouting warnings about water flooding the compartment.

When the group leader researched the location later, he discovered that the specific compartment had been one of those flooded during the torpedo attack, and the boys’ descriptions of the panicked voices matched accounts from survivors of that incident.

A maintenance worker employed at the battleship memorial for over fifteen years shared an account of working alone in the engine room when he felt someone tap him firmly on the shoulder three times. Assuming a colleague had entered without him noticing, he turned to respond but found himself completely alone in the sealed compartment with no way for anyone to have entered or exited undetected.

The experience was so unsettling that he refused to work in that section alone afterward and requested to be accompanied by another worker whenever maintenance required him to enter those specific engine rooms.

Paranormal Investigations & Findings

The USS North Carolina was featured on the popular television series “Ghost Hunters” in 2012, when the TAPS team conducted an extensive overnight investigation throughout the ship. The investigators documented numerous unexplained phenomena including responding door knocks, disembodied voices captured on audio equipment, and a particularly compelling piece of evidence showing what appeared to be a full-bodied shadow figure moving through a passageway.

The team concluded that the battleship showed legitimate signs of paranormal activity and recommended it as a location worthy of further investigation by serious paranormal researchers.

Local paranormal investigation group Cape Fear Paranormal has conducted multiple investigations aboard the USS North Carolina since 2010, accumulating hundreds of hours of audio and video documentation. The team has captured numerous EVP recordings of male voices speaking military terminology, responding to direct questions, and in several cases, identifying themselves with names that investigators later verified against the ship’s crew rosters.

Their most startling evidence includes thermal imaging footage showing human-shaped heat signatures moving through areas where no living people were present and electromagnetic field readings that spiked dramatically without any mechanical cause.

In 2019, a team from The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) returned to the battleship for a follow-up investigation, focusing specifically on the areas around Turret Two and the forward berthing compartments.

During this investigation, team members reported being touched by unseen hands, recorded voices responding to questions about the torpedo attack, and captured video footage of objects moving without physical contact. The consistency of paranormal activity between their 2012 investigation and the 2019 follow-up convinced the investigators that the USS North Carolina maintains a persistent haunting rather than sporadic or questionable phenomena.

Local Legends & Myths

Local legend speaks of a curse associated with disturbing the sleeping quarters of deceased sailors, with several incidents reported of visitors who sat on the bunks or handled personal items in the berthing areas experiencing runs of bad luck following their visit.

While most dismiss this as superstition, the stories persist among Wilmington residents who claim that showing disrespect to the ship’s fallen crew members invites misfortune. Tour guides typically warn visitors to treat the vessel with reverence and avoid touching artifacts or sitting on the bunks out of respect for those who served and died aboard.

Another persistent legend involves the “Watchman of Turret Two,” supposedly the spirit of a gunnery officer who died during the torpedo attack and continues to stand his post decades after his death.

According to the story, witnesses who encounter this particular spirit often report feeling an overwhelming sense of duty and determination emanating from the figure, as if he remains committed to protecting the ship and her crew from harm. Some visitors claim that seeing this watchman brings good fortune and protection, transforming what could be a frightening encounter into something strangely comforting and reassuring.