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Building & Fitting Out / 1940 - October 1942
Shakedown Cruise November 1942 - March 1943 / War in the Atlantic
April 1943 - July 1943
To Alabama, Very Well Done
War in the Pacific / August 1943 - September 1945
Postwar - Present
| Click On Image For Full Size Image | Size | Image Description | Contributed By And/Or Copyright |
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 | 70k | Capt. George Barry Wilson, 16 August 1942 – 17 March 1943. | Photo from the War Diary USS Alabama 1942 - 1944 via Bill Gonyo. | |
 | 80k | Capt. Fred Durell Kirtland, 17 March 1943 – 12 August 1944. | Photo from the War Diary USS Alabama 1942 - 1944 via Bill Gonyo. | |
 | 80k | Capt. Vincent Raphael Murphy 12 August 1944 – 14 November 1944. | Photo from the War Diary USS Alabama 1942 - 1944 via Bill Gonyo. | |
 | 116k | Capt. William Barnard Goggins 18 January 1945 – 26 November 1945. He was the Executive Officer of the Marblehead (CL-12), participating in the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942. The ship sustained heavy damage in action against the Japanese. XO Goggins was severely burned and was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of his injuries. He and other casualties were landed on Java while the Marblehead limped home. By the end of the month, Japanese forces were going ashore on Java, and the American sailors were hidden until the escaped to Australia aboard small craft. These adventures formed the basis for the book by James Hilton and a movie, "The Story Of Dr. Wassell," which starred Gary Cooper and was produced by Cecil B. DeMille. He assumed command of the Alabama on January 18, 1945 while the ship was being overhauled at Puget Sound Navy Yard. Upon completion of that task and training exercises she headed for the Far East where she joined the fleet at Ulithi in May 1945. The Alabama supported the operations at Okinawa and Kyushu and her gunners assisted in shooting down several Kamikaze planes. In one instance, a plane crashed only several hundred feet away. The Alabama, under his command, participated in the strikes against Japanese industrial installations, and other facilities from Honshu to Kokkaido. On one occasion her principle target was an engineering works about fifty miles north of Tokyo and after the surprise attack and shelling of more than on thousand five hundred tons of explosives the Alabama later learned she had done a very handsome job of demolishing the targets assigned her. He was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit, with Combat Distinguished Device "V" for Meritorious service as Commanding Officer of the Alabama from April 28, 1945 to August 3, 1945. "....The performance of his ship was exemplary during the 17 - 18 July 1945, in the bombardment of Hitachi, Honshu, Japan, during which the damages inflicted by his ship on the assigned target was the subject of special commendation by the Task Unit Commander..." Additional CO's would be: Pierce, Edward Harris, CAPT 6 [26.11.1945 / 12.08.1946] Bailey, Claude Fenn, CDR 7 [12.08.1946 / 20.08.1946] Phillips, Charles B., CAPT 8 [20.08.1946 / 09.01.1947] | Photo from the War Diary USS Alabama 1942 - 1944 via Bill Gonyo. Captains text courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves (of blessed memory). |
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The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
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