(Editor’s note: This story originally published in May 2024.)
By Troy Turner
Movie goers are reveling this month over the 24th anniversary of the smash hit and Best Picture winner “Gladiator,” released May 5, 2000; and perhaps more so with the announcement of its sequel, “Gladiator 2,” set for release in November 2024.
Both are directed by highly acclaimed movie director Ridley Scott, who in one of many sets of photos published across social media show Scott with an Alabama connection during film production.
Scott in those photos is shown talking with star Russell Crowe while wearing a red cap representing the USS Alabama SSBN 731 ballistic missile submarine.
Other photos seem to indicate that Scott enjoys wearing various baseball-style caps during his directing work, and although there are no details of a direct connection to the Navy’s Alabama, there is another connection to the state of Alabama — with the Scott family:
Ridley Scott’s younger brother, the late Tony Scott, directed the 1995 hit film, “Crimson Tide,” which starred Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in a film about a mutiny aboard a nuclear missile submarine fictionally named USS Alabama.
There also is a brief scene in “Crimson Tide” that does show the actual SSBN 731, that being when the fictional vessel dives for the first time in the film and footage of the real sub diving is used.
Regardless, Ridley Scott’s choice in wearing the SSBN 731 cap during filming of “Gladiator” brought attention to the honored sub.
USS Alabama history
The USS Alabama SSBN 731 is the seventh U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, according to Navy records.
The keel of Alabama was laid on Oct. 14, 1980, and the first crew was formed in July 1983. Alabama was christened on May 19, 1984, at Groton, Conn., by Mrs. Barbara Dickinson, wife of U.S. Rep. William L. Dickinson.
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. Kauderer.
Guest speakers at the ceremony were Rep. Dickinson, U.S. Sen. Jeremiah Denton, Adm. Kinnaird McKee, and Adm. (ret.) Thomas H. Moorer, former chief of naval operations and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Originally equipped with the Trident C4 ballistic missile, Alabama was later converted to carry the Trident II D5 missile.
The USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, located in Mobile, includes the World War II battleship BB-60, which also sailed with the USS Alabama name. The museum ship is open year-round, hosting tours and numerous informational displays and events honoring the ship’s history and those who served on her during the war.
The USS Drum World War II submarine and more than 30 aircraft also are on display at the park.
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