Today we will feature another sketch of the interior of the USS North Carolina.

Above we see the gun deck of the USS North Carolina.  The ship had a capacity for 102 guns with a minimum caliber of 32 pounds.  To put that in perspective if all of the potential firepower of the ship was fired at once it would release one and a half tons of iron.  That would pack quite a punch, although the ship never had the chance to display its might.  The guns shown are probably 42 or 32 pounders and during an action the deck would have been filled with men, smoke, and if things went badly all of the gore associated with mid-19^th century naval warfare.  We’re not sure why a ship in use as a barracks would still have such a compliment of weaponry, but it may have been common practice to keep at least some of the ships guns on board.

And so you have a better idea of the size of the vessel, here is an exterior photograph:

As powerful as the ships like North Carolina were in their heyday, the introduction of vessels like the Monitor and Virginia, along with the introduction of exploding shells to naval warfare, would render them virtually useless.