USS Alabama & The Drum (submarine)

We recently visited the Battleship USS Alabama and The Drum, a nearby submarine.  It was an interesting, self-guided tour, which (surprisingly) allowed us access to most of the ship.  The only drawback was
that it was very warm down below and not well ventilated.  We could not imagine spending weeks or months at a time aboard this ship.  When it came to visiting the submarine, I begged off.  Small, dark (and warm) spaces are not my thing!

We have included a slideshow (to the right of this post) and some fun facts (below) for your enjoyment.


USS ALABAMA (BB-60) BATTLESHIP FUN FACTS
1 - She was called the Lucky A because, during World War II, she lost no American lives aboard her due to enemy fire. She was also known as the “Mighty A”.
2 - Coffee in the morning took 4 big 80 gallon pots to make 320 Gallons of coffee. How’d you like to have that last cup of joe?
3 - Battleship ALABAMA shot down 22 planes.
4 - The battleship is known as BB-60, the naval identification for battleship # 60.
5 - BB-60 had 4 different types of guns, 129 guns in all.
6 - The cooks had to prepare more than 7,500 meals a day, over 50,000 a week, and more than 2.5 million meals a year, ALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!
7 – Average age of the 2,500-man crew was only 21 years old, the same ages of the Battleship Crewmates today.
8 – Each 16 inch Big Gun could shoot a 2,700-pound shell up to 21 miles and still hit a dime, but you never could find the dime.
9 – Each time the big guns shot, the shell weighed up to 2,700 pounds, and it took 540 pounds of black gunpowder (six 90 pound bags for each shot) to shoot it, the equivalent of shooting a small automobile each time, and the big guns could shoot at least once every 30 seconds.
10 – It took 140 men to man each of the big gun turrets, which were 5 levels deep on the ship.
11 – When the big guns were firing, more than 58,000 pounds or 29 TONS left the battleship each minute!
12 – It took 3,000 men and women working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 30 consecutive months to build Battleship USS ALABAMA (February 1, 1940 - August 16, 1942) - completed nine months early - a new record!
13 – She is the fifth newest battleship ever built, and no more battleships will ever be built.
14 – Battleship ALABAMA cost approximately $80 million dollars to build in 1942.
15 – The battleship was only used 37 months during World War II. She was almost new when she retired, only has 218,000 miles on her, just broken in good!