Recently spotted while wandering around the Alabama Battleship Memorial Park on Mobile Bay.
Thought some of you guys who are scale modelers or just general naval history buffs, would find it of interest and should generally cover not only USS Alabama (BB-60), but also her sisters USS South Dakota, Indiana, and Massachusetts.
Click to big up 3449×3424
“Big Grey Al” has been a regular feature in Mobile Bay for over 50 years, guarding the entry to Mobile along the Moon Pie City’s Western Shore.
Note her distinctive large SK3 radar antenna array near the top of her mast. Photo by me on Leap Day 2020
The thing is, the lucky SoDak-class fast battleship spent her brief but very active WWII career typically dressed in camo of various schemes, starting off with Measure 12 for her Atlantic tour then haze grey augmented by Measure 22 for her Pacific career.
Original color photo of USS Alabama (BB-60) In Casco Bay, Maine, during her shakedown period, circa December 1942. Note her Measure 12 (modified) Atlantic camouflage scheme. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-K-445
Alabama (BB-60) anchored at Lynnhaven in Hampton Roads, on 1 December 1942. Via Navsource
With that being said, USS Alabama (BB-60) is gaining some Measure 22 Pacific camo, courtesy of the Living History Crew, complete with dungarees.
