Alabama was a South Dakota-class battleship, built at the Norfolk Navy Yard. She was laid down on 1 February 1940, launched on 16 February 1942, and commissioned on 16 August 1942 with Captain George Barry Wilson in command. The ship's history prints him as George B. Wilson.
She and South Dakota served with the British Home Fleet in the summer of 1943, then came to the Pacific. On 29 January 1944 she shelled Roi, and on 30 January she shelled Namur, with North Carolina and South Dakota. At the Philippine Sea on 19 June 1944 she was in the screen. Two small bombs were near misses and did no damage. The ship's history calls the captain of that spring Fred T. Kirtland. The compiled list spells the middle name Durrel.
The commanding officers are the NavSource list compiled by Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves, through the decommissioning on 9 January 1947. Neil Kittrell Dietrich held a temporary command from 17 to 20 March 1943. William Bernard Goggins had her from 18 January 1945. She entered drydock at Puget Sound on 18 January 1945 and stayed there until 25 February, the weeks of the Iwo Jima landings. The state of Alabama was awarded the ship on 16 June 1964. She was turned over on 7 July and arrived in Mobile Bay on 14 September 1964.