September 14, 1964
On this day in 1964, the USS Alabama finished its pilgrimage to its retirement home in Mobile Bay. The battleship was decommissioned in 1947, and then scheduled to be stripped for scrap. However, the state of Alabama mobilized to raise the money needed to create a memorial for Alabama’s veterans. Schoolchildren pooled their lunch money and allowances in a truly statewide effort to raise more than $800,000. The ship needed to be towed more than 5,500 miles, and at one point shimmied through the Panama Canal with less than a foot of clearance on either side. The park officially opened on January 9, 1965.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Commissioning ceremonies in Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, Aug. 16, 1942. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
The battleship USS Alabama is launched from the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Feb. 16, 1942. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, U.S. Navy)
Stern view of the USS Alabama (BB-60), Feb. 15, 1942. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
Guns on the deck of the battleship USS Alabama (BB-60) during a snowstorm in January 1943. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, U.S. Navy)
USS Alabama (BB-60) launching schedule, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, Feb. 15, 1942.
Commanding officer, Capt. George B. Wilson, on board the USS Alabama (BB-60); January 1943. (National Archives, Naval History and Heritage Command)
The battleship USS Alabama (BB-60) anchored in Casco Bay, Maine, in December 1942, where its crew trained before deploying to active duty in the North Atlantic in early 1943. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, U.S. Navy)
Ex-USS Alabama (BB-60) is towed into Puget Sound on the start of the last voyage to Mobile, where it will serve as a museum ship, June 18, 1964. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
Signal flags fly aboard the battleship USS Alabama (BB-60) in December 1942, before it deployed to active duty in the North Atlantic. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, U.S. Navy)
The battleship Alabama (BB-60) and the submarine Drum (SS-228) are tied up at Battleship USS Alabama Memorial Park, where they are permanent exhibits. (National Archives, Naval History and Heritage Command)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.