The Showboat Podcast
Welcome aboard “Showboat,” USS NORTH CAROLINA, BB55, the most highly decorated American battleship of World War II.
In this podcast, we’ll discover the stories of an extraordinary ship that steamed into history, what makes her tick, what keeps her going, and her vital contributions today.
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Episodes
Music and other credits
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
Click here to listen to the episode on YouTube with closed captioning and full transcript.
about each episode
Episode 11: History, repurposed, with Grady Jarman
During periods of repairs to the Battleship, steel and teak from the Ship’s hull and deck have been removed and replaced. But what to do with the original materials? Our answer: The Battle Star Collection of products. Learn about what’s behind their creation and how they honor the USS NORTH CAROLINA and her crew. In our fifth special episode about the Battle Star Collection, Programs Director Danielle Wallace sits down with Grady Jarman of Shady Grady. Jarman is not only an artisan who works with Battleship teak for the Battle Star Collection, but also a member of the Wilmington Fire Department with stories of training on the Battleship.
Music and other credits
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
Episode 10: History, repurposed, with Steve Watkins
During periods of repairs to the Battleship, steel and teak from the Ship’s hull and deck have been removed and replaced. But what to do with the original materials? Our answer: The Battle Star Collection of products. Learn about what’s behind their creation and how they honor the USS NORTH CAROLINA and her crew. In our fourth special episode about the Battle Star Collection, Programs Director Danielle Wallace sits down with Steve Watkins of Ironman Knives.
Music and other credits
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
Episode 9: History, repurposed, with Nicholas Nichols
During periods of repairs to the Battleship, steel and teak from the Ship’s hull and deck have been removed and replaced. But what to do with the original materials? Our answer: The Battle Star Collection of products. Learn about what’s behind their creation and how they honor the USS NORTH CAROLINA and her crew. In the third episode of this series, Battleship Programs Director Danielle Wallace talks with local artisan and former chef Nicholas Nichols of Nicholas Nichols Knives.
Music and other credits
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
Episode 8: History, repurposed, with Edwards Inc.
During periods of repairs to the Battleship, steel and teak from the Ship’s hull and deck have been removed and replaced. But what to do with the original materials? Our answer: The Battle Star Collection of products. Learn about what’s behind their creation and how they honor the USS NORTH CAROLINA and her crew. In the second episode of this series, Battleship Programs Director Danielle Wallace talks with Shawn Burch and Justin Avery of Edwards Inc., a local business that is creating a line of imaginative products with original Battleship steel.
Music and other credits
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
Episode 7: History, repurposed, with Capt. Terry Bragg
During periods of repairs to the Battleship, steel, and teak from the Ship’s hull and deck have been removed and replaced. But what to do with the original materials? Our answer: The Battle Star Collection of products. Learn about what’s behind their creation and how they honor the USS NORTH CAROLINA and her crew. In the first episode of this series, Captain Terry Bragg, Executive Director of the Battleship, talks about the new project with Programs Director, Danielle Wallace.
Music and other credits
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
Episode 6: Finding Your Way at Sea
Navy ships at sea today rely on GPS and state-of-the-art communication systems to find their way from point A to point B across vast oceans. That was not the case when the Showboat was commissioned in April 1941. Commander Chuck Gore joins us to talk about the Showboat’s navigation system and the men who ensured that the Battleship reached her destinations.
Music and other credits
- “Forces of Attraction” by scottholmesmusic.com
- “Entering Port Au Prince” by scottholmesmusic.com
- Oral History Interview, Cecil Terrill Jones, OH2009.15.3, Battleship NORTH CAROLINA
Episode 5: The Showboat Band, Part 2
Head to sea with Showboat crew member and musician Lloyd Glick and Band #35. Hear about the band members’ daily life on a battleship during wartime. Then, we talk with the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band in Pearl Harbor and discover how the Navy meets its mission today.
Music and other credits
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
- “Forces of Attraction” by scottholmesmusic.com
- Oral history interview, Lloyd Glick, OH2010.43, Battleship NORTH CAROLINA
Episode 4: The Showboat Band
The Big Band era was in full swing when Showboat joined the Navy in 1941. In this episode, we’ll learn about the Ship’s first band and Navy musicians, including how they are trained today.
Music and other credits
- Morning Colors, The United States Navy Band, Washington, D.C., https://www.navyband.navy.mil/ceremonial
- Two Ruffles and Flourishes and Flag Officer’s March, The United States Navy Band, Washington, D.C.
- Jack Tar March, by John Philip Sousa, The United States Navy Band, Washington, D.C.
- Swing Baby Swing! royaltyfreemusicclips.com
- Big Band Jazz by theojt, https://freesound.org/people/theojt/sounds/510802/
- “Forces of Attraction” by scottholmesmusic.com
- CDR Mark K. Corbliss, USN, Commanding Officer, Naval School of Music, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story
- A History of Bands in the United States Navy. Presented to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music by Joseph Molina McCuen, 1967
- Oral history interview, Lloyd Glick, OH2010.43, Battleship NORTH CAROLINA
Episode 3: Kingfisher
We explore the OS2U Kingfisher that sits on the Battleship’s fantail. We learn about the plane, its restoration, and primary wartime missions. We delve into two heroic rescues and a closer study of air-sea rescues in the Pacific theater.
Music and other credits
- “Forces of Attraction” by scottholmesmusic.com
- Thanks to Aaron Swindle, Skysong Soundworks,
for the Pratt & Whitney R-985 “Wasp Junior” radial engine audio files from the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing - Thanks to author Martin Irons, Phalanx Against the Divine Wind: Protecting the Fast Carrier Task Force During World War II, Merriam Press, 2017 and forthcoming Corsair Down!
Episode 2: Ship Shape
What does it take to maintain a 729-foot long, 45,000-ton vessel every day? What are the challenges? How are major repairs managed? In this episode we discover how Showboat is kept in “ship shape” condition for another generation of visitors.
Music credits
- Royalty free music from Fesliyan Studios
- “Forces of Attraction” by scottholmesmusic.com
Episode 1: Saving the Showboat
A brief history of the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA and how the Ship was saved through a statewide grassroots campaign. We will also explore how the Battleship earned the name “Showboat.”
- Music credits
- “The Fairest of the Fair,” The United States Navy Band, navyband.navy.mil
- “Triumphant Return” Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com
- “Opus One” Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com
- “Conclusion” by scottholmesmusic.com
- “Awake” by scottholmesmusic.com
- “Forces of Attraction” by scottholmesmusic.com
- “Remember the Heroes” Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com
SUPPORT FOR THIS PODCAST
In 2020, the Battleship NORTH CAROLINA received a NORTH CAROLINA CARES: Humanities Relief Grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, www.nchumanities.org.
Funding for NCCARES has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act economic stabilization plan.
