Ship's ball cap of the battleship USS Alabama (BB-60). Having been in the Navy myself, I'm a little bit quirky about wearing ball caps from ships or commands I didn't serve on. I normally won't think of wearing a ball cap from a ship I didn't serve on, or a command I wasn't attached to, so I won't be seen in a SEAL team cap, for example, simply out of respect and not having earned the right.
I'm going to make an exception with this cap from the Alabama, however. This ship was the single reason I was inspired to join the US Navy in the first place; permanently moored in Mobile Bay, Alabama, as a tourist attraction, I visited her in 1970 when I was approximately 9 years old, and my life was changed. I ran all over that ship for the hour or so that my parents allotted, playing at shooting the various machine guns and anti-aircraft cannon fixed about the ship, sneaking into restricted areas, checking out all the aspects of a WWII sailor's life; I knew from that day what I wished to do with my life, college was never a consideration. I entered the Navy when I turned 18, and lived four magical years as a sailor before leaving to do something else, a decision I regret to this day.
So, although I never served onboard that wonderful ship, I'll wear a cap with her name and hull number to commemorate the part she played, albeit briefly, in my life.
Here's what she looks like these days:
2 comments:
We had a great vacation at Destin 10 years ago, but didn't take the time to go see her. Wonder if I'll ever be back there, now.
@Borepatch: A good book listing all of the old Navy vessels available for touring is Steel Ships and Iron Men by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones. There's a few ships that aren't in there (the USS Wisconsin, in Portsmouth, VA, for example) because they became tourist ships after publication of the book, but otherwise it's a good reference.
In this area I live in we have ships in Wilmington, NC; Charleston, SC; and Portsmouth, VA.
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