DID YOU KNOW? In Mobile, Alabama rests a National Historic Landmark...the oldest American WWII submarine on public display. Her crew would have consisted of 7 officers and 65 enlisted men. Awarded a total of 12 battle stars, the USS-DRUM SS-228 is credited with sinking 15 cargo ships and 80,580 tons of enemy shipping. This made her the eighth-highest of all US submarines in total Japanese tonnage sunk. Originally moored offshore behind the USS-ALABAMA battleship museum, Hurricane Georges's storm surge significantly damaged her and resulted in her being moved to an on-land cradle where she remains open for touring.
It was super exciting to be able to tour the USS-DRUM last week since it is the first submarine we've located that is open to tours. We did tour the USS-ALABAMA as well, but since we've already toured a couple of other warships recently (USS-LEXINGTON & USS-KIDD), it wasn't nearly as intriguing as the submarine. I'll share a few pictures from the battleship at the end of this post, but for the most part, I'm focusing on the submarine.
Since Mom had a lot of work to catch up on, she opted to hang out with the dogs in the RV while we explored all that the museum had to offer. Our first and most exciting stop was, of course, the USS-DRUM. Bundled up against the cold (folks, there were sheets of solid ice on the ground...that's not supposed to be happening in Alabama!) we climbed to the deck of the 311-foot-long submarine. Our tour began by climbing down the hatch into the Forward-Torpedo Room and ended by crawling out the hatch located in the After-Torpedo Room. We traveled the length of the submarine through narrow walkways and tiny hatches. Along the way, we viewed cramped rooms that would have held more men than we would have thought possible, giant torpedoes, complex dials/levels/gears, and other items whose purpose we could not fathom.
Ultimately, we walked away with the knowledge that none of us would have enjoyed submarine life. The idea of living in a metal tube full of explosives and spending hours deep underwater, without windows or contact with the rest of the world, was unappealing and unnerving.
Our next stop was the Aircraft Pavilion, where war aircraft from through the years were displayed. The Pavilion was damaged during Hurricane Katrina, however they have done a wonderful job rebuilding and restoring it. It was really interesting to walk through and see the changes in transportation over time. Check out my video below to see some of the aircraft and vehicles on display.
Last up was the USS-ALABAMA, a 680-foot-long battleship with 9 battle stars and credited with shooting down 22 enemy airplanes during WWII. Her officially assigned crew consisted of 127 officers and 2,205 enlisted men. However, she normally had a total crew of 2,500 aboard. After seeing the living conditions onboard the submarine, the battleship felt quite spacious and luxurious.
And thus ended our time at the USS-ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama. While it was certainly neat to explore the battleship for whom the park is named, the submarine definitely took the cake for being a new experience for the D-Team. If you are ever in that area, stopping by this unique place is well worth the time you will spend there.
Until next time, God bless!
Those guns are HUGE. 😱😝 Great post!