USS Alabama

Images of America: Alabama

by Kent Whitaker, USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, Bill Tunnell (Foreword)

Powerful: this single word aptly describes a naval vessel known as a battleship. The USS Alabama (BB 60) was the last of four South Dakota-class battleships built for World War II. She is well armored and designed to survive an attack while continuing to fight. Her main battery, known as "Big Guns," consisted of nine 16-inch guns; each could launch a projectile weighing as much as a small car that could hit a target 21 miles away. Her crew numbered 2,332 men, none of whom were lost to enemy fire, earning her the nickname "Lucky A." She served as more than just a battleship: she carried troops, supplies, and seaplanes and served in the Pacific and Atlantic; her doctors treated patients from other ships; she was the wartime home for a major-league ballplayer; the movie setting for Hollywood films; and she traveled home to the state of Alabama with the help of schoolchildren.

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2013

About the author

Kent Whitaker, often called the "Deck Chef" is a father, husband, culinary writer and cookbook author. He also covers sports such as racing for a variety of media outlets.

He is the winner of the Food Network - Emeril Live Barbecue Contest and co-recipient of the American Authors Association Gold medal for the Texas Hometown Cookbook.

Kent has been a spokesperson for Pabst Blue Ribbon, TimberTech, ALPO/Purina etc. His short radio show is heard on over 60 affiliates.

"I also love barbecue, tailgating, Jimmy Buffet, Frank Sinatra, Turner Classic movies and Monday Night football. Oh yea, Die-hard Braves fan."

Reviews

[Michael O'Brien]

Notwithstanding the average rating I gave it, this is a good book, covering USS Alabama's construction, the life of the crew within it, and the incredible efforts of the people of Alabama to save USS Alabama after her decommissioning for use as a museum ship.

The photos in it of Alabama in action and of the life of her crew are spectacular and worth seeing.

Unfortunately, I got to dock this book a star. This is a battleship. It had a mission. Most of her life in service was spent at war. Regrettably, only one page is devoted to the campaigns that Alabama fought in, the places she went. That's really too bad, because Alabama's story is a remarkable one, having never lost a crew member to enemy action, despite being in the thick of the War in the Pacific.

A word must be said about the efforts to save USS Alabama from the scrap yard. At a time (the 1960s), when the state was being shaken by all the turmoil of that troubled decade, Alabamans from all walks of life and levels of society came together --- with fund raising drives of all sorts -- to save the great ship named in their honor, and bring her home to Alabama. The $100,000 cost of towing Alabama from Bremerton, WA, to Mobile was funded mostly by citizens donating their pocket change and whatever else they had available, quite remarkable. I take heart from that part of the story --- that even a deeply divided people can still find common ground to accomplish something great for posterity.

And USS Alabama is something great. A remarkable, beautiful ship definitely worth visiting if you're in the Florabama area!

A nice guide book with great information, just needs to have more on Alabama's service history --- in which her intrepid crew won 9 battle stars with their efforts.

[Reagan Faith Waggoner]

Thanks, Noah - without you I probably wouldn’t have picked up this book today 🤠

USS Alabama is part of the second fleet of South Dakota-class battleships, all begun in 1939 and 1940 prior to start of WWII. Other 3 ships are the USS Massachusetts, USS South Dakota, and the USS Indiana.

USS Alabama was called the “Mighty A” by its 2000+ member crew. She earned 9 battle stars and logged 218,000 miles during WWII, serving in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Perhaps most famously, she served along with the Enterprise and others during the assault on Okinawa, Japan.

No crew members died of gunfire onboard.

Life onboard a major battleship is like living in a city - when sailors were off, they went to the barbershop, attended worship services, watched movies on deck, played sports, and even swam to nearby beaches. There was a library on board and mail exchanges were censored (just kinda creepy)

Anyway - cool legacy. Today, it is located in Mobile Bay along with the USS Drum.