Free admission!

On Saturday, Aug. 12, Battleship Memorial Park will celebrate the 75th anniversary of a state icon, the USS Alabama. The park will offer free admission and other festivities throughout the day, including a Mobile Big Band Society concert at 10 a.m., a commemoration ceremony at 11 a.m. and a living history crew drill at 1 p.m. The Alabama was commissioned on Aug. 16, 1942, and was honored with nine Battle Stars before being decommissioned in 1947. The ship was moved to Mobile in 1964 and opened as a museum ship in 1965. For more information, visit www.ussalabama.com.

Lawrence Specker |

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Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com

Wartime

An archival photo shows the USS Alabama in a wartime paint scheme designed to make its outline harder to identify. (File photo)

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Official U.S. Navy Photograph

The Alabama is shown in an official U.S. Navy photograph described as one of the first ever released of the new vessel.

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Final voyage

The USS Alabama was launched on Feb. 16, 1942; commissioned on Aug. 16, 1942; and decommissioned Jan. 9, 1947. In May 1962 the Navy announced plans to scrap the vessel, inspiring an Alabama campaign to bring the "Lucky A" to Mobile for use as a museum ship. In this photo, the battleship is shown being towed near the Farallon Islands off San Francisco Bay on her way to Mobile. The voyage took BB-60 from Seattle, Wash., down the West Coast and through the Panama Canal. (US Navy photo)

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As the ship was making its voyage to Mobile, schoolchildren all across the state were saving change to create the park where the ship would be placed. Kids earned "Charter Member" cards for their donations. Among them was Bill Tunnell, who went on to become executive director of Battleship Park in 1997. He still had his card when he retired in 2015. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)

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The battleship USS Alabama is towed through the Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal on her way to Mobile. It was a tight squeeze for the Alabama because her 108-foot beam left only one foot clearance on each side as she was carefully maneuvered through the three sets of locks. The tug Margaret Walsh out of Mobile was sent to help in the last leg of the long open sea voyage.

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This picture was taken on August 26, 1964, by a U.S. Navy photographer as the USS Alabama neared the Gulf of Mexico entrance of the Panama Canal. (Courtesy of Bill Tunnell).

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A new home

This general view shows crowd attending dedication of the battleship Alabama as a state memorial on Jan. 9, 1965. (AP Wirephoto)

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The first name in the visitor's register was "GCW." Mrs. Cecile Cuevas held the ship's guest log as Gov. George C. Wallace, left, did the honors. At right is Undersecretary of the Navy Paul Fay. (United States Navy)

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Going Hollywood

"But there's just one thing they didn't count on: The cook." The USS Alabama was used extensively as a set during the filming of the 1992 Steven Seagal action movie "Under Siege." That connection still draws visitors -- and it wasn't the last time the Alabama would be used as a set.

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Under surge

The storm surge generated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 annihilated coastal communities in three states. And it left a reminder of its power in Mobile, where it left the USS Alabama listing to port. (John David Mercer/Press-Register file)

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Volkert Inc. performs repairs to the USS Alabama in Mobile, Ala., following damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Courtesy Volkert Inc.)

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Overnighting

Countless children have spent nights aboard the battleship, mostly through Scouting programs. On this occasion in 2007, 130 Girl Scouts from several Baldwin County units took part. (File photo)

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Light her up

In 2013, "light painter" Xavier De Richemont, supported by Centre for the Living Arts Director Robert Sain, presented a proposal to use the battleship as a canvas for projected light. The idea generated some interest, but never advanced beyond the conceptual stage.

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Pledge

Candidates for citizenship participate in a special Naturalization Ceremony aboard the USS Alabama on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014. (Carol McPhail/AL.com file photo)

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More Hollywood

In 2015, a crew used the USS Alabama as a stand-in for the USS Indianapolis in scenes filmed for the Nicolas Cage movie "USS Indianapolis: Men of Honor." (Courtesy of Hannibal Pictures)

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Director Mario Van Peebles walks with star Nicolas Cage before beginning a scene aboard the USS Alabama. (Courtesy of Hannibal Pictures)

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Real memories

Edgar Harrell, a survivor of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, visited the USS Alabama on July 29, 2016. Being aboard brought back memories both good and bad, he said, describing the horrific ordeal men endured after the Indianapolis was sunk. "It's much easier to die than it is to live," he said. "You've got to struggle to live."(Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)

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Members of the USS Alabama's crew also have come to visit. Shown here in a 2016 photo, Earl Shive of Horseheads, NY, stands in the boiler room on the USS Alabama where he worked from 1942 until 1945. "We did what we had to do. We did a good job and we hoped we never had to do it again," said Shive. (Sharon Steinmann/AL.com file)

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Another 2016 visitor, Frank Radulski, 92, of Summerfield, Fla., stands in the Combat Information Center on board the USS Alabama, where he worked as a radarman (RDM2C 2nd Class) from 1943 to 1946. Radulski is the last surviving radarman that worked on the USS Alabama. "I think everyone should know about WWII because it was a turning point for long-time peace," said Radulski. (Sharon Steinmann/AL.com file photo)

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Changing of the guard

In 2016, Battleship Park's longtime executive director Bill Tunnell, right, welcomed his successor, U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Gen. Janet Cobb, left. Cobb is the eighth person to serve as park director, and the first woman. (Sharon Steinmann/AL.com file photo)

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Living history

Staff and volunteers at Battleship Memorial Park don't just work to preserve history, they try to bring it to life for visitors. Here, Jim Grupcznski, 72, of Fairhope, works with an Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery piece he restored for use in re-enactments. (Sharon Steinmann/AL.com file photo)

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Living History re-enactors conduct a drill aboard the battleship. (File photo)

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Past, present, future

On July 2, 2016, officials at Battleship Memorial Park unveiled "The Recruit," a bronze statue created by Mobile sculptor Casey Downing Jr. to honor all those who take an oath to serve their nation. The day featured an enlistment ceremony in which more than 100 recruits swore their oath. (Sharon Steinmann/AL.com file photo)

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A marker on the USS Alabama, seen during the Pearl Harbor reenactment at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Ala., Saturday, December 6, 2014. (Scott Donaldson/AL.com file photo)

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