Many historic tourist attractions are re-creations of lost events from the past, and are, at best, someone’s idea of how things used to be and, at worst, a caricature of how someone would like it to have been.
The USS Battleship Alabama, at Mobile, is neither. It is a real and tangible link with the past. Virtually unchanged since 1945, you can almost hear the echoes of past inhabitants and sense the life that coursed through the ship.
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| The USS Alabama was home to nearly 2,500 men. |
We can see the USS Alabama long before reaching it, just sitting there looking vast and formidable. There’s no hype, no phony sailor guides, no modern sponsorship, no games. It’s World War II incarnate.
Although dwarfed by today’s aircraft carriers, at 680 feet (207 m) long, 108 feet (33 m) wide and weighing 42,500 tons fully loaded, it was formidable in its day.
Walking up the gangplank, the intimidating bulk puts you in your place. It’s not a boat, but a floating town and it still looks ready for business. Climbing down the metal steps into the bowels of the ship is an eerie experience, each footstep echoing through the deserted ship.
Every deck tells a different story, empty room after empty cabin after empty workshop with each one a reminder of the men who lived and served there.
Shipboard life is evident everywhere — huge kitchens with fold away tables and chairs, even a soda fountain that was said to serve up to 100 gallons (379 l) of ice cream a day. No space is wasted on a warship. Dining rooms double as recreation and meeting rooms and the sleeping quarters house dozens of canvas bunks hanging by chains from the ceiling, three and four high, row after row.
Continued: The USS Alabama: A Voyage into the Past
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