USS Alabama (BB-60)

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USS Alabama (BB-60)
USS Alabama in Casco Bay, Maine, December 1942
USS Alabama in Casco Bay, Maine, December 1942
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States United States
Ship type Battleship
class South Dakota class
Shipyard Norfolk Navy Yard
Keel laying February 2, 1940
Launch February 16, 1942
Commissioning August 26, 1942
Decommissioning January 9, 1947
Whereabouts Museum ship
Ship dimensions and crew
length
210 m ( Lüa )
width 33 m
Draft Max. 11 m
displacement 35,000 ts
 
crew 1,731
Machine system
machine 4 steam turbines
Machine
performance 		130,000 SHP
Top
speed 		27.8 kn (51 km / h)
propeller 4 propellers
Armament

1942:

  • 9 × 16 "guns (406 mm) (3 triplet turrets)
  • 20 × 5 "guns (127 mm) (10 twin turrets)
  • 48 × 40 mm anti-aircraft guns
    in quad mounts
  • 56 × 20 mm MK
    in single and double mounts
Armor
  • Belt armor: 310 mm
  • Deck: 135 mm

Main turrets

  • Front: 457 mm
Furnishing
Aircraft capacity

3 Vought OS2U

The USS Alabama is a South Dakota-class battleship . It was built at the Norfolk Navy Yard shipyard . Construction began on February 1, 1940. The ship was launched on February 16, 1942; It was completed on August 16, 1942. The ship has been open to visitors as a museum ship since 1965 .

history

From spring 1943 on, the Alabama took part in operations in the North Atlantic and the North Sea as part of the British Home Fleet . After returning to Norfolk in early August, she sailed again on August 20, this time for the Pacific . There she took part in the Battle of the Gilbert Islands , Battle of the Philippine Sea , Sea and Air Battle in the Gulf of Leyte and the Battle of the Marshall Islands , Operation Flintlock.

On January 9, 1947, the ship was decommissioned, since then was in reserve in Bremerton until it was deleted from the inventory on June 1, 1962. On June 16, 1964, the ship was transferred to the state of Alabama . It has been located near Mobile since September 1964 as a national monument and can be visited. On January 14, 1986, the USS Alabama was recognized as a National Historic Landmark .

The USS Alabama was the last of the new South Dakota- class battleships to be built as part of the United States' rearmament program. She was shorter but better protected than the earlier North Carolina- class ships and was broadly comparable to the British King George V- class . A remarkable detail of the execution of the USS Alabama is the compact structure with the concentration of anti-aircraft guns. This was possible because the reconnaissance planes and catapults on American battleships and cruisers were housed on the quarterdeck.

Extra-military use

Some Alabama citizens founded the USS Alabama Battleship Commission in 1964 and started fundraising to buy the USS Alabama and house it in Battleship Memorial Park near Mobile , Alabama. On September 14, 1964, the ship was towed to its destination and opened to the public on January 9, 1965. There it serves not only as a tourist attraction on the US Gulf Coast , but also as a film set. For example, the action film Alert: Red with Steven Seagal from 1992 was largely filmed on the ship. In the film, the ship is referred to as the USS Missouri (BB-63) . In addition to the Alabama , the museum also includes the submarine USS Drum (SS-228) . A Boeing B-52 D and a Lockheed A-12 are located in the adjacent aircraft pavilion .

The USS Alabama is also a refuge from the cyclones that occur frequently in the Gulf region . In August 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, 18 employees of the affiliated museum went to safety on the ship, which was badly damaged by the cyclone.

The USS Alabama was listed as a construction on the National Register of Historic Places on January 14, 1986 . Linked to this was the recognition as a National Historic Landmark.

Web links

Commons : USS Alabama (BB-60)  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ USS “Alabama” in Battleship Memorial Park ( Memento from July 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Alabama, USS (Battleship). In: National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL). National Park Service , accessed February 5, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b History of the USS Alabama. United States Navy website
  4. ↑ History of the Battleship Memorial Park (English)
  5. ↑ History of the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park website (English)
  6. ↑ Information on the location and cost of the film
  7. ↑ USS Alabama  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed July 26, 2017@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / focus.nps.gov  
  8. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Alabama. National Park Service , accessed July 19, 2019.

Coordinates: 30 ° 40 ′ 54 "  N , 88 ° 0 ′ 53"  W.