![]() ![]() Unfortunately, the Tirpitz didn’t take the bait, and the Alabama would return to Norfolk for repairs and upgrades. Military planners hoped the presence of the Alabama in the north Atlantic would draw the Tirpitz from its hideout in the Norwegian Faettenfjord. With its 2,500-man crew, it was initially sent to the Atlantic with the mission to sink the Bismarck class German Battleship Tirpitz. The ship was commissioned on Augit took only 2.5 years to build the USS Alabama. For armament, she’s equipped with nine 16-inch, 45-caliber Mark VI guns, 20 twin-mount, 5-inch, 38-caliber guns in 10 smaller turrets, 52 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns, and 48 Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns, for a grand total of 129 guns. She’s 680 feet long, 108 feet wide, 194 feet tall, and weighed 45,000 tons when fully loaded. The USS Alabama (BB-60), last of the South Dakota class battleships. The Alabama was christened on February 16, 1942, removed from dry dock, and tied up to her new moorings in the shipyard to be fitted out. As men were volunteering for military service, it was up to the ladies to step up and help finish the job, and they certainly did. With war breaking out in 1941, construction went into high gear. The normal build time for this class of ship was four years. It was a “treaty battleship” built in compliance with the 35,000-ton size limit set by the Second London Naval Treaty signed after World War I the “Mighty A” was the last battleship built of the South Dakota class. The USS Alabama started its journey on February 1, 1940, when its keel was laid at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. Located throughout the park are the South Dakota class battleship USS Alabama, the Gato class submarine USS Drum, and wonderful collections of aircraft, tanks, helicopters, as well as a Redstone short-range ballistic missile. The first 75 acres of the 155-acre park was created from 2.9 million cubic yards of dredge material pulled from Mobile Bay. Since then, over 15 million visitors have passed through the gates. On January 9, 1965, Battleship Memorial Park opened to the public. That’s why it’s so fitting that the USS Alabama (BB-60) sits in Mobile Bay at the Battleship Memorial Park. During World War II, Mobile employed thousands of workers who built liberty ships and tankers for the war effort. Down in southern Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico sits the city of Mobile, which boasts a long history of shipbuilding.
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