| The USS Alabama (SSBN 731) is the sixth
Trident-class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine, and
the fifth United States ship bearing this State name. |
| Her keel was laid 14 October 1980 at Gorton, Connecticut, by
the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation, and the crew
was formed in July 1983; launched on 19 May 1984; sponsored by Mrs. Barbara
E. Dickinson, wife of The Honorable William L. Dickinson, United States
Representative from Alabama. |
| Builders Sea Trials were conducted between February and April
1985. Each sea trial set a record for efficiency and the ship was delivered
sixty-eight days early. |
| Alabama was Commissioned at Naval Underwater Systems Center,
New London, Connecticut, on 25 May 1985, Capt. Wade H. Taylor (Blue Crew)
and Capt. Malcolm S. Wright (Gold Crew) in command. at Naval Underwater Systems
Center, New London, Connecticut. Vice Admiral B. M. Kauderer, USN, was the
Commissioning Officer. The principal speakers for Commissioning included
Congressman Dickinson; The Honorable Jeremiah Denton, United States Senator
from Alabama; Admiral Kinnaird R. McKee, USN; and Admiral Thomas H. Moorer,
USN (Ret.), a native Alabamian and former Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. |
| The nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarine (FBM) departed
the Connecticut coast three days later to conduct her shakedown cruise off
the coast of Florida. The Blue Crew completed its shakedown training late
in July, and launched the ship's first Trident (C-4) missile. The
warship stopped at Port Canaveral, Florida, on the 22and for the Gold Crew
to take over for its cruise. At the conclusion of the Gold Crew's shakedown
training late in October, the Blue Crew came on board again at New London
on the 20th to take Alabama back to the yard at Electric Boat for
post-shakedown availability. Those repairs occupied the warship until
mid-December when she completed sea trials in Narragansett Bay. |
| Alabama enjoyed a brief holiday standdown from 22 to 31
December and then go underway on New Year's Day 1986 for sound trials in
the Bahamas. She completed that assignment on 30 January and shaped a course
for her namesake state to participate in Mardi Gras festivities. The ballistic
missile submarine visited Mobile, Alabama, between 2 and 11 February before
heading for the Panama Canal. She passed through the canal on the 17th and
arrived in Bangor, Washington, on 6 March. The warship remained at Bangor,
where she exchanged crews, until 13 April when she put to sea for independent
ship's exercises. Alabama operated out of Bangor until mid-May when
she embarked upon her first deterrent patrol. Operating from the Pacific
Northwest, the ballistic missile submarine carried out four deterrent patrols
during the last seven months of 1986. As of the beginning of 1987, however,
she was undergoing refit at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. |
| In May 1988, the Gold crew conducted a highly successful Fleet
Operational Test Missile firing, launching two Trident I (C-4)
missiles. |
| On 1 September 1988, USS Alabama moored at Bangor, Washington,
completing the ship's 9th patrol and the 100th Strategic Deterrent Patrol
by a Trident submarine. An official ceremony commemorating the event
was held pierside with then Under Secretary of the Navy, H. Lawrence Garrett
III, heading the official greeting party. |
| Since commissioning, one or both crews of Alabama have
received the following awards: |
-
FY87 Battle Efficiency "E"
-
FY87 Anti-Submarine Warfare "A" (Gold)
-
FY87 Communications "C" (Gold)
-
FY87 Supply "E" (Blue)
-
FY87 Ney Award (Small Mess Afloat) (Blue)
-
FY88 Anti-Submarine Warfare "A" (Blue)
-
FY89 Deck Seamanship (Blue)
-
FY90 Battle Efficiency "E"
-
FY90 Strategic Weapons "S" (Blue)
-
FY90 Damage Control "DC" (Gold)
-
FY90 Engineering "E" (Blue)
-
FY92 Damage Control "DC" (Blue)
-
FY92 Engineering "E" (Blue)
-
FY92 Communications "C" (Blue)
-
FY92 Administration "A" (Blue)
-
FY95 Battle Efficiency "E"
-
FY95 Strategic Weapons "S" (Gold)
-
FY95 Tactical "T" (Blue)
-
FY95 Damage Control "DC" (Blue)
-
FY96 Engineering "E" (Gold)
-
FY97 Engineering "E" (Gold)
|
| The USS Alabama was selected for the FY95 U.S. Strategic
Command "Omaha" Trophy. This award is given to the top performing ballistic
missile asset in the U.S. Strategic Command. |
| Additionally, the Gold crew was selected by the Bremerton chapter
of the Navy League for the 1990 "Outstanding Submarine Performance
Award." |
| In the fall of 1990, the USS Alabama Gold crew spearheaded
a program to assist the community of Silverdale in educating local school
children on water quality issues. "Water For Life," as this program was
christened, has become a landmark project educating elementary school students
and involving local, county, and state agencies in a major cleanup of the
local watershed. |
Displacement: surfaced, = 16,764, Submerged = 18,750; Length, 560';
Hull Diameter, 42'; Draft, 36'; Armament, twenty-four Missile Tubes; Complement,
154 |
|
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