Battleship Memorial Park Mobile, Alabama

Battleship Memorial Park is one of the top attractions in Mobile, Alabama. Located on Mobile Bay, the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park honors the USS Alabama (BB-60) and the brave men who served aboard the ship. Battleship Memorial Park also features an extensive collection of military aircraft spanning several decades of aviation history.

The USS Alabama (BB-60) was built in the Norfolk ship yard in 1940. The ship was the sixth US Navy vessel to bear the name Alabama. It was almost the seventh, as the original Alabama in 1819 had a last minute name change to the New Hampshire due to the onset of the American Civil War. That famous ship is commonly referred to as the "Almost Alabama".

Following that time, six Navy vessels carried the name Alabama, leading up to the World War II battle ship that is currently enjoying a peaceful retirement at the Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama. After the USS Alabama (BB-60) in Mobile was decommissioned, a seventh vessel bearing the name was commissioned in 1985 and still serves as part of the US Naval Fleet.

Following over a year of extensive training exercises in the Atlantic, the USS Alabama (BB-60) went into full service in September 1943, joining other ships in the US Navy's Pacific Fleet. The USS Alabama (BB-60)'s first major engagement took place just three months later in the Gilbert islands, where a number of successful engagements took place while in route to Anchorage, Alaska.

Following extensive service over the years of World War II, the USS Alabama (BB-60) was saved from the scrap yard in the 1960s. School children across the State of Alabama collected their nickels and dimes to cover the cost of bringing the USS Alabama (BB-60) to the State of Alabama, where it was destined to rest in Mobile Bay rather than being recycled. For every ten cents donated, a child would receive a certificate that could be redeemed for admission onto the vessel.