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2703 Battleship
Parkway
Mobile Alabama
(251)433-2703
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Opens:
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9:00am (Daily
except Christmas) |
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Closes:
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4:00pm
October-March
6:00pm April-September |
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Admission
fees: |
Age 12 & up:
$10.00
Ages 6-11: $5.00
under age 6: Free |
For more
information visit the Official Website
at
http://www.ussalabama.com
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Battleship
Memorial Park, home of the Battleship USS
Alabama, the USS Drum, and the striking memorial
to to all services from WWI to Desert Storm. Is
located just off Interstate 10 in Mobile
Alabama. Just a short drive of less than an
hour, around 55 miles from Biloxi, the heart of
the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Has re-opened as of January 9, 2006.
The hours have changed to 9am-4pm with the last
ticket being sold at 3pm. Over night scout trips
and corporate events and ceremonies are on hold
until the Battleship is level again, after
listing at better than 3 degrees for several
months after Hurricane Katrina. The programs
will reopen after construction of the concrete
aft gangway.
There is also a nice air conditioned café and
souvenir shop where you can purchase a nice
lunch or that forgotten camera. You will want to
take pictures. This is a wonderful attraction
for both adults, and children.
Spend
the day touring the Battleship, by choosing one
or all of it’s color coded self guided tours.
Thru this massive piece of history. In addition
to the ships there is also an enclosed pavilion
with 12 airplanes and numerous exhibits from
WWII. However the aircraft pavilion
received heavy damage during season 2005, and is
not currently available for tour, but you can
still see several of the aircraft.
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“ Battleship Alabama came home in the
1960's when it was saved from the
salvage yard by the nickel and dimes of
Alabama's school children. I was in
grade school when the state began to
raise money to bring the USS Alabama to
Mobile. I believe if you gave a dime you
received a card good for one admission
to the battleship. I think I finally
used it about 20 years later but they
still honored it and even gave it back
to me to keep as a souvenir in my
scrapbook. In addition to the USS
Alabama, there is also the USS Drum, a
WWII submarine, in the park. The park
serves as a memorial to all services and
veterans from WWI to Desert Storm.”
(
visitor review) |
USS Alabama (BB 60)
is
the fourth of four South Dakota class battleships laid down in the 1930s
and 1940s. She was built by the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Her keel was laid on February 1, 1940 and she was launched on February 16, 1942.
USS Alabama was commissioned on August 16, 1942. It is painted grey on
metal surfaces exposed to the elements with the exception of a black stack cap
and black "boot topping" at the waterline. Three quarters of the ship's deck is
covered with teak laid on a bituminous base and bolted to the deck. USS
Alabama was built with two explosively-driven catapults on the stern port
and starboard, for launching observation airplanes. One of these was removed and
discarded during the ships inactive period. One catapult is still in place with
a fully restored OS2U Kingfisher airplane in place. The USS Alabama is in
excellent condition and retains her World War II integrity. USS Alabama
was decommissioned by the navy in 1947 and remained unaltered until the time of
her transfer to the State of Alabama as a war memorial in 1964
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The
USS DRUM
arrived at Pearl Harbor from the east coast
April 1, 1942, and after a voyage to Midway,
cleared Pearl Harbor April 14, 1942, action
bound on her first
war patrol.
Cruising off the coast of Japan, she sank the
seaplane Tender MIZUHO and three cargo ships in
the month of May, returning to Pearl Harbor June
12th to refit. DRUM's second war patrol, which
she made in the waters between Truk and Kavieng
from July 10th to September 2nd, found her
efforts frustrated by poor torpedo performance,
but she damaged one freighter before returning
to Midway to refit. |
