Battleship Park, Mobile Alabama (graphics intensive!)

[Thagarr]

I got the chance in June, 2013 to go back to Battleship Park in Mobile, Al. We had gone there when I was a kid in the late 70's, but this time I had a decent camera with me and I thought I would share some pictures with you all! These pictures are pretty big, so I have hidden most of them with spoilers.

The USS Alabama BB-60, South Dakota class battleship! The Lucky A! She never took any damage or lost a man do to enemy combat. She was purchased in the 60's with help from donations by Alabama school children.

Spoiler

My sister on deck in front of the main guns. They are much more impressive in person!

Me on the prow taking with another Cardinal fan!

Looking forward from the superstructure.

Spoiler

Aft Tripple-A gun emplacement and one of the cranes used to recover the scout aircraft.

Me, trying out the fit of one of the deck guns.

The magazine for the main guns, and some of the shells.

One of several machining rooms. We have a couple of those same vintage WWII machines at the factory I work at, they are still going strong!

I plan on posting more of the park when I get the chance. I have many more pics from the aircraft museum, the sub, and the little excursion that we took out to Ship Island off the coast of Gulfport, Mississippi. You can find out more about the USS Alabama, the USS Drum and Battleship Park HERE!

 

[Thagarr]

More battelship pics!

Spoiler

The Lucky A's Battle Flag!

One of her engines

Fire control room

Some of the fire control computers, there were more.[/spoiler

Spoiler

Diving suite.

The Chapel.

The mess hall. The armored deck plating is 6 inch thick solid steel!

The butcher shop!

The Brig!

 

[Hylie Pistof]

As a retired pipefitter I am naturally most interested in the engines and their piping systems. I have been inside nuclear powered ships and was appalled at the "workmanship" I saw.

It is good to see bent pipes in there. Those long graceful curves are very efficient but were phased out in the late 1930s-early 1940s because they are so labor intensive to make. I never bent anything over 1" (25mm) I.D., but larger bent pipes were just starting to re appear when I retired. Why? Computers! They can now prefab them close enough that we can fine tune them in the field.

All of the insulation on those pipes is asbestos too. Perfectly safe as long as it is not disturbed.

 

[Thagarr]

I hadn't even thought about them being covered in asbestos until you mentioned it, but yeah, that stuff is everywhere. There is piping literally everywhere throughout the ship too. There were several decks below that were not accessible on the tour, which is a shame, I could have spent all day looking through her! This is the forge area I think, part of one of the machine shops.

Spoiler

If you liked those pipes, you will love the pics of the USS Drum!!

 

[Captain Murphy]

I live about 2 hours from there and have visited a ton of times. I took my good camera a while back and came back with something like 700 pics. Unfortunately the drive they were on took a dive and are gone. Guess I need to plan another trip!

 

[Thagarr]

That is unfortunate mate! I have an uncle that lives in Biloxi, hopefully we can get back down to see him soon, I have a new camera to try out! I also want to finally get out to Dauphin Island!

I took a lot of pics, but most didn't turn out all that good. I was still in the process of learning how to use that camera. The camera here is just a cheap Sony Cyber-Shot, I have a much better one now that I am actually trying to learn how to use. I am hoping to use it to take some pics of L'Hermione next spring!

The Gato class submarine USS Drum SS-228!

Spoiler

Forward torpedo tubes.

Inside the conning tower.

Control room.

crew quarters, featuring the original drawing of the USS Drum's mascot!

Captains mess.

Engine room.

Aft torpedo tubes.

Spoiler: The replica H.L. Hunley!

The replica H.L. Hunley!

 

[Captain Murphy]

Are people seriously defacing that replica? That is pathetic.

 

[Thagarr]

It is tough to tell in the pics, but the thing is covered in dust. If I recall correctly, most of what you see is just people writing with their fingers in the dust.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Ah, copper and brass everywhere. They did a good job in the control room too.

 

[Thagarr]

When we went down there in the late 70's, the sub was still in the water, but it had started to suffer some hull corrosion. I am not sure when they pulled it out of the water, but the past decade or so it has undergone some extensive repair and restoration work on both the exterior and interior. The battleship has as well, but I think the work on the sub stands out more.

That forward torpedo room grabs your attention the second you are down the ladder, the brass and copper have been polished up pretty good, it is a very bright room. It is quite a contrast to the aft torpedo room. I don't remember it being in near that condition in the 70's. They have really done some great work, you can read a lot more about that HERE! There is some really great information buried in that site, but it takes a little digging to find it.

 

[Thagarr]

I just ran across these Youtube videos the other day, I'll just leave them here for safe keeping!

This one is actually linked on the USS Drum web page, but I figured I would post it here too. The audio is kind of terrible in a couple of places, but the interviews are well worth listening to!

 

[Robert Nutter]

Such beauts, great pics and links Thagarr...should keep me busy for a few hours I'd have been like a kid on there...always loved the raw might and sophistication of the South Dakota and Iowa classes...the pinnacles of Western battleship design. I don't think anything can beat seeing one in action (not that I actually have, but I can easily imagine...).

I've always said Americans are so good at preserving their heritage. Sure we have some absolute beauts from earlier centuries here, but what I wouldn't give to go aboard the original HMS Dreadnaught or the Dakota's elegant sibling class, King George V . IMO, the scrapping of a ship as significant as Dreadnaught was a global loss. It's just lucky our trans-atlantic friends kept these beasts from the scrapper's yard else we'd have lost so much more...

Unrelated, and you've probably seen this already, but it's a pretty aweing sight to behold...

TIME WARP: 39 images of recovered U-Boat U534

 

[Thagarr]

That was actually the second time I had been there, we went down in the 1970's when I was a kid and she certainly made an impression on me! So I was literally, and figuratively, a kid on her! Seeing her as a much older me gave a whole new appreciation for what those men actually went through. The thing about the Alabama is no one died aboard her, hence her nickname "The Lucky A", however the men who actually served aboard her insist on calling her "The Mighty A!" They weren't lucky, they were good! It would be awesome to actually go aboard the ships that you mentioned, there is a whole lot of history there! I have the same feelings for other ships, specifically the carrier USS Enterprise CV-6.

I heard an interview with a WWII vet a while back that changed my mind however. I forget which ship he was referring to, but he was describing his feelings watching families and children run amok on the same decks that he and his fellow shipmates had fought for their lives and watched other men die on. It felt wrong to him, like they were on sacred ground. So maybe it is best that some of those other valiant ships, and men, remain where they were lost. Or in the case of the Enterprise, only in memories and pictures.

Thanks for the link, btw, I had not seen those pictures, or that site! Very cool mate!

As I mentioned earlier, we also took a trip out to Ship Island, here are a couple of pics of Fort Massachusetts :

Spoiler: Fort Massachusetts

 

[truth serum]

Nice pics. Family and good friends always make these kinds of trips extra special. I have been privileged enough to be on all of the IOWA class battleships. The Iowa itself BB62 was holed up in Norfolk for quite a number of years after it sustained damage from one of its forward turrets being heavily damaged during the 1st Gulf War. They recently moved it to Southern California and have made an museum out of her as well. Might be a good future story for you.

 

[Robert Nutter]

I felt a little like that when i went on that trip to HMS Victory a few years ago. Didn't serve on her, but boy could I tell it was sacred ground those kids were being spoilt brats on! Those old carriers are an endless source of interest...as are the craft that flew from them. I especially like the early ones which were essentially ocean liners with the superstructure and funnels lobbed off then replaced with a wooden runway!

That's a really lovely looking fort, with the red brick and half ellipse parade ground...very functional. I'm surprised how different it looks to ours over here; though I do notice they share a lot of the same principles, naturally.

@truth serum , that's great to hear. I've not read much about the one still in existence so I'll have to do some ! I know some of them were fitted out in the 70s/80s with launchers etc for the Gulf conflict.

EDIT: I notice that's an earthen parade ground as opposed to stone. Would it have been like that originally, do you know? If so, that's mighty interesting! I'm guessing that's just overgrowth on the Ramparts? Or would it have been to give it some kind of camoflage?

 

[Thagarr]

I am pretty sure that all the earthworks were all intentional. Btw, that fort suffered a lot of damage from hurricane Katrina. The initial storm surge brought a wall of water 25 feet high over the top of the fort.

Spoiler: More Fort Pics

They had to blow up the cannon to remove them, because they were so huge!

 

[Ashinokami]

Forts seemed to be overgrown for both camouflage and maintenance reasons, as the fort itself is basically a huge bunker burried under mounds, not very practical to pave it. At least what I learned about late XIXth c. ones in Europe. I participated in ideas competition for reuse of 1893 russian fort in Kaunas, Lithuania; very dilapitated at present, locals grazing cows in it

it has 1-2m thick concrete slabs over brick barrel-vaults and then few more meters of earth, for shells to detonate above the structure. We were told that fort was kept from any trees or vertical objects that would help to measure range better, but glacis (?) in front were planted with young trees for slight concealement from civilian eyes. In case of siege they were chopped down, and left laying branches toward enemy, to provide some fun to attacking infantry.

 

[Robert Nutter]

Thanks for getting back with these Ashinokami...I don't know why I didn't see it earlier!

That's really interesting...forts here, almost without exception, are extremely visible. The hugely numerous Martello (beach) forts, the Battery forts, even the upgraded castle forts...all of the Napoleonic-era ones seem to have been built almost *to* be seen. Like a deterrent against Napoleon himself! The local ones to me can't be missed from miles away.

I'd love to take a look at some of those barrel-vaults. Must be seriously well insulated! They really used the existing lay of the land, didn't they. I guess strategic bonuses and what have you contribute naturally to that.

 

[Ashinokami]

I think it's hard to conceal a sea-fort. But since Vauban, for land forts doctrine was to minimize vertical profile for a) having less area to be hit by direct fire b) to be harder to estimate fort depth and range to it by help of known height objects, like trees. Of course, everyone around would know there is a fort nearby, but my mentioned tree coverage would flank outer edges, and also have fences, so nosy civilians couldn't get close and see depth of trenches, or various artillery emplacements you can see in 1893 plans I posted. In Napoleonic era and before I think tree cover shouldn't have been used, because direct and raking fire was still very important.