USS Alabama BB-60

The USS Alabama BB-60, a military battleship with an honored and respected legacy, has played a vital role in a number of naval operations since her initial commission in August 1942. While the USS Alabama started off as a training vessel, she was very soon sent into battle, fighting alongside other battleships in Italy and Japan during World War II.

Amazingly enough, the USS Alabama has the rare honor of never having lost a life during any of its battles. However, because it was constructed in 1940, anyone who helped build or repair the USS Alabama may have been exposed to toxic asbestos fibers. For these shipyard and battleship repair workers, long-term asbestos exposure on the USS Alabama may have caused them to develop mesothelioma and other life-threatening asbestos diseases.

As a result, it's essential that anyone who worked on the USS Alabama or at a shipyard that serviced this battleship learn more about the health effects of asbestos exposure on battleships.

The USS Alabama's Early Missions
Here is a timeline of the USS Alabama's early endeavors throughout World War II:

• 1940: Production of the USS Alabama starts.

• 1942: The USS Alabama trains naval personnel on the U.S. east coast.

• May 1943: The USS Alabama takes on her first combat endeavor, which involves fighting alongside the British Royal Navy in Sicily (in the Mediterranean Sea).

• August 1943: The USS Alabama returns to Norfolk, Virginia to be repaired. Once these repairs were finished, she joins the Pacific Fleet via the Panama Canal. In her first act with the Pacific Fleet, the USS Alabama combated enemy fire while also rescuing soldiers from The Boyd, a fellow military vessel that had been damaged by the Japanese.

After this mission and the subsequently needed repairs, the USS Alabama continued working as an important part of the Pacific Fleet, playing a crucial role in the following endeavors and missions:

• Operation Flintrock
• Operation Forager
• Operation Stalemate
• The Battle of the Philippine Sea
• The Battle of Cape Engano

With the Pacific Fleet, the USS Alabama lost no lives to enemy fire and successfully took down 20 enemy aircraft. These admirable distinctions led the USS Alabama to eventually be nicknamed "Lucky A."

The USS Alabama After WWII

At the end of World War II, the USS Alabama stayed in the Eastern hemisphere to support the U.S. military still in Japan. Upon her return to the U.S., she brought about 700 soldiers back to San Francisco. While the USS Alabama was decommissioned in 1947, she wasn't taken off the Naval registry until 1962. Over her years of service, her stellar record earned her nine battle stars.

To honor the battleship with its name, the state of Alabama created the USS Battleship Commission, a charitable organization dedicated to raising money that would go towards preserving the USS Alabama and constructing a memorial to WWII soldiers. After raising about $1 million, the USS Alabama was brought to Mobile, Alabama, and construction of the "Battleship Memorial Park" began in September 1964.

While the park had its groundbreaking in 1965, another battleship (the USS Drum) joined the memorial in 1969. By 1986, this memorial and the USS Alabama had become a National Historic Landmark.

The USS Alabama, Battleships and Asbestos Exposure

The USS Alabama, like any U.S. battleship constructed before 1980, was heavily laden with parts that contain asbestos. Along with boilers and industrial ovens, other parts of battleships that are notorious for containing asbestos include:

• caulking
• drywall and wallboards
• engine parts
• fireproof gear, clothing and blankets
• hot water tanks
• pipes
• shingles
• tars
• tiles

These and thousands of other parts were generally made with asbestos due to this mineral's resilience to heat, chemicals and electric currents. As a result, sailors, shipbuilders and repair workers alike could experience asbestos exposure in mess halls, engine rooms, navigation rooms and nearly anywhere else on battleships.

How to File an Asbestos Claim

Because prolonged asbestos exposure is notorious for causing fatal cancers and diseases, if you or a loved one worked, at some time, on the USS Alabama, contact us today for more on information, news and resources on asbestos exposure on battleships.