USS Alabama and Hurricane K.
Ian W. Douglas
I would be interested in how the museum battleship USS Alabama, which if I
recall correctly is parked at Mobile, Alabama, fared in the hurricane.
Regards, Ian D.
Jack Linthicum
Battleship Park sees extensive damage
Everything on the Causeway is flooded,' says Spanish Fort police
spokeswoman
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
By GEORGE WERNETH
Staff Reporter
Battleship Memorial Park on the Causeway sustained extensive damage
Monday from the winds of Hurricane Katrina, which left the park's
aircraft pavilion apparently battered into a "total loss" and its
centerpiece USS Alabama listing, officials said.
The damage appears to be "between $1.5 and $2 million," said Bill
Tunnell, the park's executive director, and he noted that this was just
a preliminary estimate and was "conservative."
As for the rest of the Causeway, dotted with some of the area's best
seafood restaurants, the news also was not good. "Everything on the
Causeway is flooded," according to a spokeswoman for the Spanish Fort
Police Department, which has jurisdiction over much of that strip
across the northern end of Mobile Bay. The extent of the damage to
these establishments was not immediately determined.
Meanwhile, Tunnell said the park could possibly be closed for weeks for
repairs but said a further inspection of the damage would have to be
made before he could know for sure. He said there was also about 2 feet
of water in the park's gift shop.
"One of the leading tourist attractions in the state of Alabama has
taken it on the chin," Tunnell said.
"From all reports, damage to the park was worse than damage (inflicted)
by Frederic," Tunnell said, referring to Hurricane Frederic, a Category
3 hurricane that hammered the Alabama coast in 1979.
The park's director said about 18 members of the park staff and their
families rode out Katrina's fury inside the battleship as members have
done voluntarily dating back to Hurricane Camille, a Category 5 storm
which made a direct hit on the Mississippi coast in 1969.
Tunnell said the 18 members on the vessel were not in any danger but
said they could be stranded on the World War II battleship for several
days as much of the park was under 4 feet of water Monday. He said
their vehicles -- which they drove up a gangway onto the ship before
Katrina struck -- also could not be removed right away.
He said the concrete gangway that was used to drive the vehicles onto
the ship was badly damaged and could not be used to drive the vehicles
off the vessel.
Tunnell has said in the past that the USS Alabama, which has been the
centerpiece of the park since it opened during January 1965, is "the
safest place in the area to be during a hurricane." He noted that the
680-foot-long battleship weighs 80 million pounds and is anchored in
some 20 feet of Mobile Bay mud.
While the battleship was left listing toward the port side, Tunnell
said, it is not believed to have incurred any serious damage. "The ship
has shifted its position, and will have to be straightened back up." He
said this also occurred during Camille.
While Tunnell reported that damage to the aircraft pavilion was severe,
he said the dozen or so vintage warplanes inside apparently "are all
repairable."
Bill Parsons, who has been an employee of the park since it opened more
than 40 years ago, said the damage inflicted on the park by Katrina was
the worse he had ever seen there in any hurricane, Tunnell said.
John Lansford
>
>I would be interested in how the museum battleship USS Alabama, which if I
>recall correctly is parked at Mobile, Alabama, fared in the hurricane.
People slept undisturbed on USS Alabama through the worst of the
hurricane, and except for the ship being shifted somewhat at its
mooring, Alabama was not damaged. The vehicles on the main deck were
not damaged at all, although the gangway from the deck to the ground
was damaged.
John Lansford
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PaPaPeng
<jackli...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>Tunnell has said in the past that the USS Alabama, which has been the
>centerpiece of the park since it opened during January 1965, is "the
>safest place in the area to be during a hurricane." He noted that the
>680-foot-long battleship weighs 80 million pounds and is anchored in
>some 20 feet of Mobile Bay mud.
If that be the case should the park authorities open up the ship to
shelter locals who who wished to stay in mobile during hurricane
weather?
John Lansford
I wondered that as well, but I think what limits the capacity is the
ability to park vehicles on the main deck. If they were parked on the
park grounds they would have been washed away. The vehicles were
parked aft of the rear main gun turret and not disturbed at all.
Andrew C. Toppan
>If that be the case should the park authorities open up the ship to
>shelter locals who who wished to stay in mobile during hurricane
>weather?
It's a museum, not an operating ship. That means no food, no berthing,
no running water. Snack bars to serve junk food to tourists and
facilities for Boy Scouts to sleep overnight aren't proper evacuation
facilities. When the municipal power, water, and sewer go out, the
ship would become just like the Superdome.
--
Andrew Toppan --- acto...@gwi.net --- "I speak only for myself"
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