Saga of the North Carolina: Pictorial record of life aboard the battleship USS North Carolina, known familiarly in the Navy as the "Showboat." The mighty warship has served in the Pacific area since the Guadalcanal campaign in the autumn of 1942, and has bellowed death and defiance to Japs in five campaigns, during which she has sailed more than 250,000 miles. 3. Besides the hazards of battle action and Pacific typhoons, there is always the danger of illness or accident aboard ship. Operations on the 'Showboat' are performed by skilled surgeons in an air-conditioned completely equipped operating room.