What is that big military ship at a corner of Mobile Bay?

People touring the USS Alabama battleship - Photo: Still Gravity.
Touring the USS Alabama in the summer of 2012 - License our images here.        

The USS Alabama was a South Dakota-class fast battleship that served during WW2 in the Atlantic and the Pacific. 2,500 sailors managed this gigantic mass of floating iron that got a bunch of battle stars during the war - nine to be exact. 

The good part is that the "Mighty A" or the "Lucky A" never lost a soul to enemy fire - even if there were deaths from friendly fire. Its air defenses downed 22 Japanese warplanes. 

Now the immense ship born in 1942 seats in a corner of Mobile Bay with views of the high-rise buildings of the City of Mobile and the Interstate 10. 

Turrets and canyons are the most impressive thing here. The two tons shells could reach a target 23 miles away. The powerful barrels only could shoot 395 times before needing replacement. What a costly beast.      

Some say that this battleship is haunted. They mean strange noises, ghosts, and apparitions. Not a topic that interest me. All sounds like internet or YouTube bait clicks.   

The USS Alabama has a silent companion in the submarine USS Drum. 

Collage of images of the submarine USS Drum - Photos: Still Gravity.
A submarine with many kills. 

Now it's an overland sub. 

This was the first Gato-Class submarine to see combat. And why call a submarine "gato" if cats hate water? I found that it was not for our terrestrial pets. The name came from the small catshark. 

The USS Drum was launched in 1941 to start a career in which fifteen Japanese ships were sunk in the Pacific. On one occasion the submarine was wounded. Depth charges damaged its tower in 1943. 

The sub also fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. 

This historic park also has plenty of planes and other military stuff. It's a great stop close to the Interstate and the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

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