Warbird Information Exchange

As part of my going to the Blue Angels Homecoming Show this year I wanted to stop by nearby Mobile and visit the USS Alabama. For those of you that have never been there, there is a nice aviation element besides the USS Alabama and submarine USS Drum. I was very fortunate to be able to finally meet one of our very own WIX members, Owen Miller, while I was there.

I had been to the USS Alabama before many years ago. Often at ship museums, especially battleship or aircraft carriers, it is hard to maintain them with the limited funding most have. When inside compartments are painted it is usually over several coats from the past. I was amazed at the condition of much of what I saw on the inside. Brass was shiny and the paint in many areas looked very fresh. When Owen had completed his work he took me around the ship on his own time and pointed out the stories behind the story. How did the compartments get to be in the condition they were today and how a small dedicated staff could do so much.

I learned that there is a continuing partnership between the active Navy sailors and the museum. Navy muscle and manpower have contributed to the ship looking great. And it wasn't just one group of sailors but several groups from Pensacola and other nearby bases. The results of the work of volunteer Chiefs to corpsmen to seabees shows Navy pride. There is a connection between the sailors of today with those from the past.

I was amazed by the recovery from Hurricane Katrina when the battleship was moved several feet and the aircraft pavilion was under many feet of water with the aircraft being thrown around. There are still some signs of the damage to certain aircraft and I hope they can get to the Kingfisher as it is one of my favorites. I also liked the HU-16 painted in Coast Guard colors before the "racing stripe". Their B-52D also looked great, especially in the morning sun. The A-12 Blackbird was rolled outside and that aircraft always looks fast and awesome just sitting still.

The USS Alabama was also getting a complete repaint on the outside by contractors with donated paint and was looking great. It was very dark by the time Owen was done showing me around and I would like to thank him for taking his own time to make my visit special. Hopefully my next trip there won't be so long and I look forward to seeing what the museum will be doing next.

I plan on posting some shots from my visit later this weekend when I figure out how.

Dave in NJ

I have never had a trip to Mobile without having Owen treat me as if I was family.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

I've visited Battleship Park three times now, most recently the summer of 2013. They really do a great job caring for both the ship and the aircraft. I first visited about a month before Katrina. The next time was five years later, and I was amazed at how well they'd recovered.

SN

ditto

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I was stationed in Mobile back in the mid-80's and the wife used to work in the office there at the hotel. Went to the park a few times. I remember them moving the B-52 there via a barge from Brookley. That was big news then.

I saw her in 2012, for the first time since the 90s (I was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, not too far away, but I rarely ever went over there to see her). She needed some serious paint at the time. The planes on display still had lots of post-Katrina issues and a few were sitting on the concrete next to the ship in various states of bad condition from the storm. But the interiror displays were good. They treat vets really good there, they'd asked if I was a vet and when I said I was (Army, no less), I was teated like a VIP. A real class act, those folks! I threw a substantial wad into the donation box, based on that.
Does anyone have photos of the Alabama being towed into Mobile in the 60s? Would have been neat to have seen that but I wasn't alive for another 5 years at the time...
How about shots of her at Bremerton? I bet that was one heck of a tow job to get all the way to Mobile from there!

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Some day I will have to get down there and have Owen show me around.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Great pictures here of the USS Alabama under construction:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/60a.htm

Follow the links at the top of the page for pictures of her throughout her career...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Thanks for the kind words, y'all! I only hope y'all enjoyed your
visits as much as I did. Know you're welcome back any time!!!

Dave, post some of those pics. I like to study other folks perspective,
to see what they think is important.

Now, what did you like the most? What do we need to work on?

Thanks,
Owen

I want to test adding pictures and I am not sure how big they can get. I know these are small. I will add more once I see how this works.

Dave in NJ