Length, beam and height

• The USS Alabama has a length of 680 feet. The ship's beam, its width at the widest point, is 108 feet 2 inches. Measuring 194 feet from the lowest point of the keel to the truck light at the top of the mast, the vessel's height exceeds that of the typical 20-story building. The ship's draft, the measurement from the waterline to the bottom of the keel, is 33 feet 8 inches.
  
  

Displacement

• The USS Alabama was designed to have a displacement, or weight, of between 35,000 and 44,500 tons, depending on what the ship was carrying. Today it weighs 40,000 tons, but during the Second World War, when fully supplied for combat, this figure exceeded 45,000 tons. A single shell for one of the ship's 16-inch guns weighed as much as 2,700 pounds. Each of the ship's four propellers weighs 18 tons.
  
  

Armor

• As is usual with battleships, the armor on the USS Alabama varies in thickness in different parts of the vessel. Each of the three turrets housing the 16-inch guns is protected by 18 inches of armor, while around the conning tower the armor plating is 16 inches thick.
  
  At the waterline, the side armor is 12 inches thick, though this falls to around an inch at the bottom of the hull.
  
  

Armament

• The ship's main firepower is the nine 16-inch guns mounted in three turrets. It would take 540 pounds of gunpowder to fire a single 2,700-pound shell over a range exceeding 20 miles. The turrets could rotate 270 degrees, and the 140 crew members of each could keep the guns firing at a rate of two shells per minute. In addition, the USS Alabama has 20 five-inch guns, 48 40-millimeter guns and 52 20-millimeter guns.
  
  

Visiting the USS Alabama

• If you would like to visit the USS Alabama at Mobile AL, opening hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily April through September, but 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. October through March. The ship is closed on Christmas Day. Allow at least two hours for your visit.