Original U.S. WWI Navy Flat Hat for the USS Alabama - Flagship for 1st Division, Atlantic Fleet - Missing Stiffener
In stock
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Original Item. Only One Available. USS Alabama (hull number: BB-8) was an Illinois-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the United States Navy. She was the second ship of her class, and the second to carry her name. Her keel was laid down in December 1896 at the William Cramp & Sons shipyard, and she was launched in May 1898. She was commissioned into the fleet in October 1900. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 13-inch (330 mm) guns and she had a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).
Alabama spent the first seven years of her career in the North Atlantic Fleet conducting peacetime training. In 1904, she made a visit to Europe and toured the Mediterranean. She took part in the cruise of the Great White Fleet until damage to her machinery forced her to leave the cruise in San Francisco. She instead completed a shorter circumnavigation in company with the battleship Maine. The ship received an extensive modernization from 1909 to 1912, after which she was used as a training ship in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She continued in this role during World War I. After the war, Alabama was stricken from the naval register and allocated to bombing tests that were conducted in September 1921. She was sunk in the tests by US Army Air Service bombers and later sold for scrap in March 1924.
This is an interesting flat hat for the USS Alabama, but this example is missing the stiffener, if it ever had one at all. This example looks like it was a custom-made example with lovely designs on the cap talley and in the stitching. The interior has a nice pattern but there is heavy wear to the lettering of the cap talley, with some fraying as shown.
A good cap for a ship with a storied history, ready for further research and display.
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