While Mitscher was occupied with the decoy Northern Force, Kurita moved in to attack the invasion fleet; in the Battle off Samar, he was held off by a group of escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts, TU 77.4.3, known as Taffy 3. guns, 1 x 100 lb.

The historian H. P. Wilmott speculated that had Halsey detached TF 34 promptly and not delayed the battleships by refueling the destroyers, the ships could have easily arrived in the strait ahead of Center Force and, owing to the marked superiority of their radar-directed main guns, destroyed Kurita's ships. The ships then escorted the carriers Bunker Hill and Monterey back to Efate, which they reached on 12 December. She entered the dry-dock there on 18 January 1945 for work that lasted until 25 February, at which point she was floated out of the dry-dock for further repairs, which were completed on 17 March. On 3 November, the fleet departed for another series of raids on Japanese airfields and other facilities on Luzon as the amphibious force prepared for its next landing on the island of Mindoro in the western Philippines. The next day, the carriers began their raids and Alabama stood by, engaging Japanese aircraft as they attacked the fleet.

On 30 October, the fleet withdrew to Ulithi to replenish ammunition and fuel. As the two vessels neared, Semmes opened fire first, while Winslow held Kearsarge's guns until the ships were only 1,000 yards apart. Understanding that these issues could only be resolved in Europe, he moved through the Straits of Malacca with the intention of reaching Britain or France. Her screws were removed for the voyage to avoid any damage. Though additional ships were sighted, the raider's fouled bottom and aging machinery allowed the potential prey to out-run the once-swift Alabama. The ship was powered by four General Electric steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by eight oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. After entering service, Alabama was briefly deployed to strengthen the British Home Fleet, tasked with protecting convoys to the Soviet Union. [7], Alabama and five other fast battleships bombarded Nauru on 8 December, which the Japanese used as a source of phosphate. Initially named Enrica, the new ship was powered by a direct-acting, horizontal condensing steam engine with twin horizontal cylinders which powered a retractable propeller. She also frequently bombarded Japanese positions in support of amphibious assaults. Alabama also received a TDY jammer. ... Citizens of the state of Alabama formed the “USS Alabama Battleship Commission”, which raised funds to secure the preservation of Alabama as a wartime memorial.

[7], Alabama remained on station, escorting the carriers while they raided Saipan, Guam, Tinian, and Rota throughout the campaign. She later received Mark 12/22 sets in place of the Mark 4s. With an escort of five destroyers on 9 June, Alabama, Indiana, and Massachusetts steamed to shell Japanese facilities on the island of Minami Daito Jima; they repeated the attack the next day.

[7], The Japanese fleet arrived on 19 June, leading to the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The museum was opened on 9 January 1965. The channel in Mobile Bay to her permanent berth had not yet been completed, and she had to wait until the end of the month before dredging work was finished. The latter two guns were placed on pivot mounts along the ship's centerline. The Japanese had massed significant reserves of aircraft for kamikaze strikes against the invasion fleet. While in the straits, Alabama made three captures. The longer he remained in port, the greater the Union opposition would likely become and the chances increased that the French would prevent his departure. CSS Alabama - Defeat of USS … 6 x 32 lb. COMSUBPAC She arrived there on 10 April, spent a week on additional training exercises, and then proceeded on to Ulithi, arriving there on 28 April.

After Semmes' arrival, work began to convert Enrica into a commerce raider. Secondary Armament #1. The 16" guns are the distinguishing mark of the USS Alabama. [7], At Ulithi, Alabama re-joined the fast carrier task force, which had by this point reverted to Fifth Fleet. Among those who received word was Captain John A. Winslow of USS (7). The fleet returned to Ulithi on 24 December and Alabama was detached for an overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
Following successful sea trials in April 1985, USS Alabama was commissioned on May 25, 1985, at Naval Underwater Systems Center in New London, Conn., by Vice Adm. B.M. The landing was a breach of Japan's inner defensive perimeter that triggered the Japanese fleet to launch a major counter-thrust with the 1st Mobile Fleet, the main carrier strike force. In need of refit and with Union warships searching for him, Semmes sailed for Cape Town, South Africa.

[19] Halsey detached Iowa and New Jersey as TG 34.5 to pursue Kurita through the San Bernardino Strait while Lee took the rest of his ships further southwest to try to cut off his escape, but both groups arrived too late. [16] The plan was a complicated operation with three separate fleets: the 1st Mobile Fleet, now labeled the Northern Force under Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa, the Center Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, and the Southern Force under Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura. [29] The ship was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986. [7][24], Third Fleet resumed control of the carrier fleet for these operations, which began on 1 July when the fleet sortied from Leyte Gulf. She escorted the carriers while they launched a series of strikes on the islands from 6 to 8 September to prepare for the amphibious assaults.
guns, 1 x 100 lb.

During one such attack on 14 May, while approximately 120 miles southeast of the Japanese home island of Kyushu, Alabama shot down two Japanese aircraft and helped to destroy two others, but one kamikaze nevertheless penetrated the fleet's anti-aircraft defenses and struck Enterprise.

About an hour after that attack, two torpedo bombers attempted to attack South Dakota again, but Alabama helped to drive them off with a barrage of anti-aircraft fire. A need to refuel destroyers further slowed TF 34's progress south. Ozawa's carriers, by now depleted of most of their aircraft, were to serve as a decoy for Kurita's and Nishimura's battleships, which were to use the distraction to attack the invasion fleet directly.

Over the next few weeks, Alabama cruised with the carriers, protecting them from Japanese aircraft, while the carriers struck targets on Luzon and the Visayas in the central Philippines. The ships of TG 58.2 sortied on 12 February to participate in Operation Hailstone, a major raid on the island of Truk, which had been the primary staging area for the Japanese fleet in the central Pacific.