USS Alabama ( BB - 60 ) USS " Alabama " ( BB - 60 ) , a battleship , was the sixth ship of the United States Navy named after the US state of Alabama . " Alabama " was commissioned in 1942 and served in World War II in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters . She was decommissioned in 1947 and assigned to the reserve duty . She was retired in 1962 . In 1964 , " Alabama " was taken to Mobile Bay and opened as a museum ship the following year . The ship was added to the National Historic Landmark registry in 1986 . Construction and commissioning . " Alabama " was laid down on 1 February 1940 by the Norfolk Navy Yard , launched on 16 February 1942 , and sponsored by Henrietta McCormick Hill , wife of J . Lister Hill , the senior Senator from Alabama . Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox , spoke at the launching ceremony : " As " Alabama " slides down the ways today , she carries with her a great name and a great tradition . We cannot doubt that before many months have passed she will have had her first taste of battle . The Navy welcomes her as a new queen among her peers . In the future , as in the past , may the name " Alabama " ever stand for fighting spirit and devotion to a cause . " " Alabama " was commissioned on 16 August 1942 , with Captain George B . Wilson in command . Service history . World War II . 1943 . After fitting out , USS " Alabama " commenced her shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay on 11 November 1942 . As the year 1943 began , the new battleship headed north to conduct operational training out of Casco Bay , Maine . She returned to Chesapeake Bay on 11 January to carry out the last week of shakedown training . Following a period of availability and logistics support at Norfolk , " Alabama " was assigned to Task Group 22 . 2 ( TG 22 . 2 ) , and returned to Casco Bay for tactical maneuvers on 13 February 1943 . With the movement of substantial British strength toward the Mediterranean theater to prepare for the invasion of Sicily , the Royal Navy lacked the heavy ships necessary to cover the northern convoy routes . The British appeal for help on those lines soon led to the temporary assignment of " Alabama " and to the Home Fleet . On 2 April 1943 , " Alabama " , as part of Task Force 22 ( TF 22 ) , sailed for the Orkney Islands with her sister ship and a screen of five destroyer s . Proceeding via Little Placentia Sound and Naval Station Argentia , Newfoundland , the battleship reached Scapa Flow on 19 May , reporting for duty with Task Force 61 and becoming a unit of the British Home Fleet . She soon embarked on a period of intensive operational training to coordinate joint operations . Early in June , " Alabama " and her sister ship , along with British Home Fleet units , covered the reinforcement of the garrison on the island of Spitzbergen , which lay on the northern flank of the convoy route to Russia , in an operation that took the ship across the Arctic Circle . Soon after her return to Scapa Flow , she was inspected by Admiral Harold R . Stark , Commander , United States Naval Forces , Europe . Shortly thereafter , in July , " Alabama " participated in " Operation Governor " , a diversion aimed toward southern Norway , which was an attempt to draw the German military ' s attention away from the real Allied target , the Italian island of Sicily . This operation had also been carried out in an attempt to lure the out of her northern Norwegian seaport and into battle , but the German Navy ( " Kriegsmarine " ) did not rise to this challenge . " Tirpitz " remained in her port in a northern Norwegian fjord . " Alabama " was detached from the British Home Fleet on 1 August 1943 , and , in company with the USS " South Dakota " and their screening destroyers , steamed for Norfolk , Virginia , arriving there on 9 August . For the next ten days , " Alabama " underwent a period of overhaul , repair , and shore leave for the sailors . This work completed , " Alabama " departed from Norfolk on 20 August , bound for the Pacific Ocean . She transited the Panama Canal five days later , and then steamed across the Pacific . She reached her assigned destination of Havannah Harbor , Efate Island , the New Hebrides Islands , in the southwestern Pacific , on 14 September . Following a month and a half of exercises and training with fast carrier task group s , " Alabama " steamed to the Fiji Islands , arriving on 7 November . " Alabama " steamed out of port on 11 November to take part in Operation Galvanic , the assault on the Japanese - held Gilbert Islands . The battleship screened the fast carriers , for defense against surface and air attacks , while they launched air attacks on Jaluit and Milli Atolls , in the Marshall Islands , attempting to neutralize Japanese airfields located there , within range of the Gilberts . " Alabama " supported the U . S . Marine landings on the main island Betio of the Tarawa Atoll on 20 November , and soon afterwards , she supported the U . S . Army landing on Makin Atoll . During the night of 26 November , " Alabama " twice opened up antiaircraft fire to drive off Japanese aircraft that approached her task group . On 8 December , " Alabama " along with five other fast battleships , bombarded Nauru Island , an enemy phosphate - producing center , causing severe damage to shore installations there . Firing some 535 large caliber rounds in the bombardment , she also took the destroyer alongside , after that warship had received a direct hit from a Japanese shore battery on Nauru . " Alabama " took aboard three wounded sailors for treatment by the battleship ' s doctors – since the smaller warships did not have doctors . " Alabama " next escorted the aircraft carrier s and the back to the port of Efate , arriving on 12 December . The battleship departed from the New Hebrides on 5 January 1944 for Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . arriving on 12 January . She underwent a brief stint in the large drydock at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard . The major need for drydock repair was the replacement of her port outboard screw , one of her four propellers . " Alabama " was soon underway again to return to the combat area of the Pacific Ocean . 1944 . The USS " Alabama " reached Funafuti , the Ellice Islands , on 21 January 1944 , and there she rejoined the Fast Carrier Task Force s . She was assigned to Task Group 58 . 2 , which was centered around the carrier and light carriers . " Alabama " left the Ellice Islands on 25 January to help carry out " Operation Flintlock " , the wresting of selected members of the Marshall Islands , such as Kwajalein Atoll and Eniewetok Atoll , from the Japanese . " Alabama " , " South Dakota " , and bombarded Roi Islet on 29 January and Namur Islet on 30 January . She fired 330 rounds of shells and 1 , 562 rounds of ammunition toward Japanese targets , destroying planes , airfield facilities , blockhouses , other buildings , and artillery emplacements . Over the following days of this campaign , " Alabama " patrolled the area north of Kwajalein . On 12 February , " Alabama " sortied out with the aircraft carrier " Bunker Hill " s Task Group , and many other members of the Fast Carrier Task Force to launch very major carrier air attacks on the Japanese installations , aircraft , and shipping at the major Japanese Central Pacific base of Truk Atoll . This large series of air attacks , flown on 16 and 17 February , caused heavy damage to all of the Japanese airfields , and other installations , and the enemy shipping that had remained there . Very little of the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet , which had used Truk as a major forward base for years , remained there , since it had already departed northwards to safer waters . Upon leaving the vicinity of Truk , the USS " Alabama " began steaming toward the large islands and Japanese air bases of the Marianas to screen the aircraft carriers in heavy air raids on the islands of Tinian , Saipan , and Guam . During these air attacks on the Marianas , " Alabama " , while fighting against Japanese air attacks on 21 February , accidentally fired her , 38 caliber , dual - purpose gun mount number nine into gun mount number five . Five sailors died , and 11 more were wounded in the mishap . The twenty 5 - inch dual - purpose guns of " Alabama " were her major , long - range , radar - directed anti - aircraft gun s , as well as forming her secondary armament for ship - to - ship combat and shore bombardments . After the carrier air strikes were completed on 22 February 1944 , " Alabama " conducted a sweep of the ocean southeast of Saipan , looking for damaged enemy ships , and finding none , she then returned to Majuro Atoll on 26 February . There she served temporarily as the flagship for Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher , the Commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force , called Task Force 58 at that time , from the third to the eighth of March . The battleship ' s next mission was to screen the fast carriers while they projected air strikes against Japanese positions on the islands of Palau , Yap , Ulithi , and Woleai , in the Caroline Islands . She steamed out from Majuro on 22 March with Task Force 58 , in the screen of the carrier . On the night of 29 March , about six enemy warplanes approached Task Group 58 . 3 , with which " Alabama " was operating , and four planes broke off to attack ships in the vicinity of the battleship . " Alabama " helped in shooting down some of these aircraft and driving the rest away . On 30 March , planes from Task Force 58 began bombing Japanese airfields , shipping , fleet servicing facilities , and other installations on the islands of Palau , Yap , Ulithi and Woleai . During that day , " Alabama " again provided anti - aircraft fire whenever enemy planes appeared . At 2044 hours on the 30th , a single plane approached Task Group 58 . 3 , but " Alabama " and other ships drove it off . " Alabama " next returned briefly to Majuro , before she steamed out on 13 April with Task Force 58 , this time in the screen of the carrier . During the next three weeks , Task Force 58 hit enemy targets on Hollandia , currently known as Jayapura , Wakde , Sawar , and Sarmi along the northern coast of New Guinea . She next covered U . S . Army landings at Aitape , Tanahmerah Bay , and Humboldt Bay on New Guinea , and then escorted further aircraft carrier raids on Truk Atoll . As part of the preliminaries of the invasion of the Marianas , " Alabama " , in a battle line with five other fast battleships , shelled the large island of Ponape , in the Caroline Islands , which was the site of major Japanese airfields and a seaplane base . As " Alabama " s Captain , Fred T . Kirtland , later noted , this bombardment , of 70 minutes ' duration , was conducted in a " leisurely manner " . " Alabama " then returned to Majuro Atoll on 4 May 1944 to prepare for the Marine Corps and Army troops ' invasion of the Marianas . After a month spent in exercises and refitting , " Alabama " again got under way as a part of Task Force 58 to participate in " Operation Forager " , the invasion of the Marianas Islands and the recapture of Guam from Japanese occupation . On 12 June , " Alabama " screened the aircraft carriers as they made air strikes on Saipan . On 13 June , " Alabama " took part in the six - hour - long pre - invasion bombardment of the western coast of Saipan , aimed at " softening up " the ground defenses , and also to cover the Navy minesweeping operations off the shore of the island . " Alabama " s spotting planes reported that her salvoes had caused great destruction and fires in Garapan town . Though the shelling appeared to be successful , it was later found to be a relative failure , due to the warship ' s gun crews lacking the specialized training and experience required for successful shore bombardments . " Alabama " had spent many months in the Pacific screening aircraft carrier Task Groups , and thus the efforts of her gun crews had been concentrated on providing anti - aircraft fire to defend the carrier task groups against Japanese air attacks . Additional air strikes and shore bombardments of Saipan by the fleet continued , and two Marine divisions landed on the heavily defended island on 15 June . These were later reinforced by an Army division . On 19 June 1944 , during the last major carrier air battle of the War in the Pacific , the Battle of the Philippine Sea , the USS " Alabama " , operating with Task Group 58 . 7 , provided the first confirmed radar warning to Task Force 58 of the incoming Japanese attackers . The Japanese aircraft were initially detected by shipboard radars at a distance of about 190 miles , but that detection was thought to be a radar anomaly . The USS " Alabama " formally reported its radar ' s detection of the attack at the distance of about 140 miles , and the USS " Iowa " confirmed this radar report soon afterwards . Beginning at 1046 hours , and continuing over the course of the next five hours , the Japanese carried out repeated air strikes against the Fast Carrier Task Force commanded by Vice Admiral Mitscher . These totaled seven attacking groups in all on that day . Three of these Japanese attacks were aimed at Task Group 58 . 7 , and two of them caused " Alabama " to open up with anti - aircraft fire . In the first instance , only two planes managed to evade the defending Navy fighter planes to attack the Task Group ' s ships . The only casualties were on board the battleship USS " South Dakota " , which suffered from one aerial bomb hit that killed one officer and 20 enlisted men , and also wounded an additional 23 sailors . One hour later , a second wave , composed mostly of torpedo planes , attacked , but " Alabama " s anti - aircraft barrage helped repel two Japanese planes from attacking the already - hit USS " South Dakota " . The intense concentration paid to the group of incoming torpedo planes left one Japanese dive bomber nearly undetected , and it dropped its bomb load close to " Alabama " . The two small aerial bombs were near - misses , but caused no damage to the battleship . What the U . S . Navy fighter pilots soon came to call the " Marianas Turkey Shoot " , with nearly 400 Japanese airplanes shot down , plus the sinking of three Japanese aircraft carriers , practically finished off all Japanese naval air power . The Imperial Japanese Navy was never again able to accumulate enough trained pilots and naval warplanes to engage in a serious air attack against the American Navy and its allies . Practically no more conventional air attacks were ever made against these ships , with the Japanese Navy and its Army Air Force resorting to determined kamikaze attacks for the remainder of the war in the Pacific . The USS " Alabama " had had a hand in this , as the Commander of Task Group 58 . 7 ( the fast battleship fleet of the U . S . navy , Vice Admiral Willis A . Lee , recognized in his TBS ( low - frequency voice radio ) message to the ships of his Task Group at 1247 hours : " In the matter of reporting initial bogies , to " IOWA " well done , to " ALABAMA " very well done . " " Alabama " s radar early warning had allowed the aircraft carriers to scramble huge numbers of their fighters , which intercepted the inbound Japanese warplanes " at a considerable distance " from Task Force 58 – farther than would have been possible , otherwise . " Alabama " continued patrolling areas around the Marianas to protect the American landing forces on Saipan , screening the carriers to the east as they struck enemy shipping , aircraft , and shore installations on Guam , Tinian , Rota , and Saipan . She then retired to the Marshall Islands for upkeep . The USS " Alabama " , as flagship for Rear Admiral E . W . Hanson , Commander , Battleship Division 9 ( BatDiv 9 ) , left Eniwetok on 14 July , sailing with the task group formed around " Bunker Hill " . She screened the fast carriers as they conducted pre - invasion attacks and support of the landings on the island of Guam on 21 July . She returned briefly to Eniwetok on 11 August . On 30 August , she got underway in the screen of " Essex " to carry out Operation Stalemate II ( the seizure of Palau , Ulithi , and Yap ) . From 6 – 8 September , the forces launched strikes on the Carolines . " Alabama " departed from the Carolines to steam to the Philippines and provided cover for the carriers striking the islands of Cebu Island , Leyte , Bohol , and Negros from 12 – 14 September . The carriers launched strikes on shipping and installations in the Manila Bay area on 21 – 22 September , and in the central Philippines area on 24 September . " Alabama " retired briefly to Saipan on 28 September , then proceeded to Ulithi on 1 October . On 6 October , " Alabama " sailed with TF 38 to support the liberation of the Philippines . Again operating as part of a fast carrier Task Group , " Alabama " protected the flattops while they launched strikes on Japanese facilities at Okinawa , in the Penghu archipelago , and Taiwan . Detached from the Formosa area on 14 October to sail toward Luzon , the USS " Alabama " again used her anti - aircraft batteries in support of the carriers as enemy aircraft attempted to attack the formation . " Alabama " s gunners claimed three enemy aircraft shot down and a fourth damaged . By 15 October , " Alabama " was supporting landing operations on Leyte . She then screened the carriers as they conducted air strikes on Cebu , Negros , Panay , northern Mindanao , and Leyte on 21 October . " Alabama " , as a part of the carrier USS " Enterprise " s screen , supported air operations against the Japanese Southern Force in the area off Surigao Strait then moved north to strike the powerful Japanese Central Force heading for San Bernardino Strait . After receiving reports of a third Japanese force , the battleship served in the screen of the fast carrier task force as it sped to Cape Engaño . On 24 October , although American air strikes destroyed four Japanese carriers in the Battle off Cape Engaño , the Japanese Central Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita had transited San Bernardino Strait and emerged off the coast of Samar , where it fell upon a task group of American escort carrier s and their destroyer and destroyer escort screen . " Alabama " reversed her course and headed for Samar to assist the greatly outnumbered American forces , but the Japanese had retreated by the time she reached the scene . She then joined the protective screen for " Essex " task group to hit enemy forces in the central Philippines before retiring to Ulithi on 30 October for replenishment . Underway again on 3 November , " Alabama " screened the fast carriers as they carried out sustained strikes against Japanese airfields , and installations on Luzon to prepare for a landing on Mindoro Island . She spent the next few weeks engaged in operations against the Visayas and Luzon before retiring to Ulithi on 24 November . The first half of December found " Alabama " engaged in various training exercises and maintenance routines . She left Ulithi on 10 December , and reached the launching point for air strikes on Luzon on 14 December , as the fast carrier task forces launched aircraft to carry out preliminary strikes on airfields on Luzon that could threaten the landings slated to take place on Mindoro . From 14 – 16 December , a veritable umbrella of carrier aircraft covered the Luzon fields , preventing any enemy planes from getting airborne to challenge the Mindoro - bound convoys . Having completed her mission , she left the area to refuel on 17 December , but as she reached the fueling rendezvous , began encountering heavy weather . By daybreak on the 18th , rough seas and harrowing conditions rendered a fueling at sea impossible ; winds caused ships to roll heavily . " Alabama " experienced rolls of 30° , had both her OS2U Kingfisher floatplane s so badly damaged that they were of no further value , and received minor damage to her structure . At one point in the typhoon , " Alabama " recorded wind gusts up to . Three destroyers , , , and , were lost to the typhoon . By 19 December , the storm had run its course , and " Alabama " arrived back at Ulithi on 24 December . After pausing there briefly , " Alabama " continued on to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for overhaul . 1945 . The USS " Alabama " entered a drydock on 18 January 1945 , and she remained there until 25 February . Shipyard work continued until 17 March , when " Alabama " got underway for standardization trials and refresher training along the southern California coast . She got underway for Pearl Harbor on 4 April , arrived there on 10 April , and held a week of training exercises . She then continued on to Ulithi and moored there on 28 April . " Alabama " departed from Ulithi with TF 58 on 9 May , bound for the Ryukyu Islands , to support forces which had landed on Okinawa on 1 April , and to protect the fast carriers as they launched air strikes on installations in the Ryukyus and on Kyūshū . On 14 May , several Japanese planes penetrated the combat air patrol to get at the carriers ; one crashed into Admiral Mitscher ' s flagship . " Alabama " s guns splashed two , and assisted in splashing two more . Later on , " Alabama " rode out a typhoon on 4 – 5 June , suffering only superficial damage , while lost her bow . " Alabama " subsequently bombarded the Japanese island of Minami Daito Shima , with other fast battleships on 10 June and then headed for Leyte Gulf later in June to prepare to strike at the heart of Japan with the 3rd Fleet . On 1 July , " Alabama " and other Third Fleet warships got underway for the Japanese home islands . Throughout the month of July , " Alabama " screened while the carriers carried out strikes on targets in the industrial areas of Tokyo and other areas of Honshū , Hokkaidō , and Kyūshū . On the night of 17 – 18 July , " Alabama " , and several other fast battleships in the task group , carried out a night bombardment of six major industrial plants in the Hitachi - Mito area of Honshū , about northeast of Tokyo . On board the USS " Alabama " to observe the operation was the retired Rear Admiral Richard Byrd , the famed polar explorer . On 9 August , " Alabama " transferred a medical party to the , for further transfer to the . The latter had been struck by a " kamikaze " plane on that date and required prompt medical aid at her distant warning radar picket station . According to data found at the USS " Alabama " Monument in Mobile , Alabama , this battleship fired over 1 , 250 shells on the enemy during supporting bombardments , shot down 22 enemy aircraft and never incurred any damage due to enemy action . " Alabama " suffered only five casualties during the war , the result of one of the ship ' s guns accidentally firing on one of the ship ' s other guns . She did not lose a single man due to enemy action , thus earning it the nickname the " Lucky A " . Post - War . The end of the war found " Alabama " still at sea , operating off the southern coast of Honshū . On 15 August 1945 , she received word of the Japanese capitulation . During the initial occupation of the Yokosuka - Tokyo area , Alabama transferred detachments of U . S . Marines and sailors for temporary duty ashore . Her sailors were among the first men from the U . S . fleet to land . She also served in the screen of the aircraft carriers as they conducted reconnaissance flights to locate prisoner - of - war camps . " Alabama " entered Tokyo Bay on 5 September to embark some men who had served with the occupation forces , and then departed from Japanese waters on 20 September . At Okinawa , she embarked 700 sailors , principally members of Navy construction battalions ( or " Seabees " ) , as a part of her mission in Operation Magic Carpet to return American servicemen home as soon as possible . " Alabama " reached San Francisco around mid - day on 15 October , and on 27 October , she hosted 9 , 000 civilian visitors . She next steamed to the port of San Pedro , California , on 29 October . The USS " Alabama " remained at San Pedro through 27 February 1946 , when she left for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an end - of - war deactivation overhaul . " Alabama " accumulated nine U . S . Navy battle star s for her World War II service . Alabama was decommissioned on 9 January 1947 , at the Naval Station at Seattle , Washington , and from there sent to the Bremerton Group of the United States Pacific Reserve Fleet . She remained at Bremerton until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1962 . Museum ship . Alabama citizens formed the " USS " Alabama " Battleship Commission " to raise funds for the preservation of " Alabama " as a memorial to the men and women who served in World War II . ( Nearly $ 100 , 000 was raised by Alabama schoolchildren , mostly in the form of small change and a corporate fundraising effort completed the nearly $ 1 million donation . ) The ship was awarded to that state on 16 June 1964 , and was formally turned over on 7 July 1964 in ceremonies at Seattle . " Alabama " was then towed to her permanent berth at Battleship Memorial Park , Mobile , Alabama , arriving in Mobile Bay on 14 September 1964 and opening as a museum ship on 9 January 1965 . She was joined in 1969 by the which was moored behind " Alabama " until it was damaged in Hurricane Georges , resulting in its move to an onshore display . The ship was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986 . Visitors are allowed to view the inside of the main gun turrets and anti - aircraft guns . The powder magazine was opened to the public through some holes that were cut , and stairs put in . The bunk of Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Feller is marked for those touring . Feller served on " Alabama " for several years during World War II , serving as Gun Captain by the end of the conflict . In recent years , " Alabama " has been occasionally used as a hurricane shelter . During Hurricane Katrina , " Alabama " suffered damage which resulted in an eight - degree list to port , and shifting at her permanent anchorage . ( The families of 18 museum employees were aboard during Katrina . ) In addition , the Aircraft Pavilion was severely damaged , with three of the exhibited aircraft destroyed . At the end of 2005 , damage estimates were in excess of US $ 4 million . The park reopened 9 January 2006 , with the ship having a three - degree list ( which was still being corrected ) . The battleship , submarine , and Aircraft Pavilion are all open . Film appearance . Although the action was supposed to be occurring aboard , and that ship was shown in some of the footage , " Alabama " was actually used for most of the battleship scenes in the 1992 action film " Under Siege " . The ship was used as a stand in for the in the ABC miniseries " War and Remembrance " . The number 60 is clearly visible during one of the scenes . The opening scene of the low - budget , David A . Prior action movie , " Rapid Fire " ( 1989 ) , was filmed aboard " Alabama " . Part of the Abbott and Costello movie In the Navy takes place on a fictional USS " Alabama " battleship . The movie was shot in 1941 , but the USS " Alabama " ( BB - 60 ) was not commissioned until 1942 . The pre - dreadnought battleship " Alabama " ( BB - 8 ) was scrapped in 1924 .