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“I couldn’t think of any today that actually have
something as special as the Battleship silver …
the North Carolina silver.”
But one service the silver was not built for was
war. In 1942, it was transferred to the New York
Navy Yard for safekeeping, as the Battleship was
readied for World War II.
“When you go to war, you go in and take all the
wood off of it, you go in, take any historical items off
of it, you prepare the combatant for warfare,” Bragg
says of the ship. “And so ‘strip ship’ was done, and
then the silver was offloaded and put in storage again.”
The war ended in 1945, and the silver was
returned to the Battleship in 1946. But that stay was
brief as well — the Battleship was decommissioned
in 1947, and the silver went back to the Navy for
storage again.
It then was moved aboard the amphibious force
flagship USS Pocono, built by the North Carolina
Shipbuilding Co. in Wilmington. Next, it was again
transferred to the Governor’s Mansion (around 1958).
But the silver, destined for ship duty, was soon
reunited with the Battleship.
The Battleship was settled into its berth on the
banks of the Cape Fear River in Wilmington in
1961, and the silver service was returned to the ship
in 1965. Gov. Dan K. Moore and his wife, Jeanelle,
presented it for public display. It has since been on
loan to several museums but is currently back at the
Battleship museum.
Sugar bowl and creamer.
A lasting tradition
North Carolina’s silver remains both a silent witness and a cherished
connection to a grand past and a cherished symbol of modern times.
Two of the silver pieces — a water pitcher and serving tray — are on
loan to the newest USS North Carolina, a nuclear attack submarine commissioned
in Wilmington in 2008.
“The legacy continues,” Bragg says. “It’s part of that continuity.”
“The silver is considered a museum prize,” Battleship curator of collections
Mary Ames Booker says. “It’s gorgeous, and it’s traveled.”
“It was an era of diplomacy,” Sincox says of the period the service saw
duty.
“Many ships have a formal silver service,” Bragg says. “But I couldn’t
think of any today that actually have something as special as the
Battleship silver … the North Carolina silver.”
The Battleship also has a pair of silver candlesticks, a punch bowl and
a cigarette case donated by the family of Vice Admiral Olaf M. Hustvedt,
the former commanding officer of the B-55 Battleship North Carolina.
Battleship officials hope to craft a curatorial display as they work on
upcoming plans that include renovating the wardroom, repairing the bow
and developing overnight camping programs, Bragg says.
“The Battleship is blessed with some just extraordinary original art,
as well as the silver and other heirloom pieces, and those pieces fit
within the design style of a wardroom,” Bragg says. “Every ship I’ve
ever served on has been an elegant place, something special, a retreat,
more of a fine dining facility and a country club, just as a respite from
the rigors of being at sea.”
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