Today, we visited the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park located in Mobile, Alabama.
This 155-acre site boasts the WWII battleship USS Alabama, the submarine USS Drum and over 30 aircraft, as well as a collection of military vehicles and memorials.
| The battleship USS Alabama (BB-60), a South Dakota-class battleship, was commissioned in 1942, served during World War II and was decommissioned in 1947. Plans to modernize the ship over the next 15 years proved cost prohibitive, resulting in the ship being stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1962. |
On September 12, 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace signed a law which preserved the battleship as a museum ship. The museum opened on January 9, 1965.
Visitors tour the entire battleship. Here's the 1962 version of the radio room.
Doug lines up for chow over 50 years too late.
There's always time for a nap, even over 50 years later.
The USS Alabama was featured in the 2016 war disaster film, USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Mario Van Peebles.
This is not your childhood shooting gallery.
The museum's Aircraft Pavilion is dedicated to all Alabama's Medal of Honor recipients.
Construction began on the USS Drum (SS-228), a WWII era Gato-Class Diesel-electric submarine, on September 11, 1940. The sub was launched on May 12, 1941 and was initially decommissioned nearly 5 years later on February 16, 1946.
The 312-foot-long sub then served the Naval Reserve in the Potomac River Naval Command from 1947 to 1967.
After two years in the Norfolk, Virginia inactive fleet, the USS Drum was towed to Mobile, dedicated and opened to the public on July 4, 1969.
The USS Drum was featured in the 2012 movie, USS Seaviper,
The tour of the USS Alabama, USS Drum and the rest of the museum racked up 4 miles on our Fitbit.
Take a quick walk-through of the USS Alabama.
Visit if you find yourself in Mobile.
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