A half-century ago today, the fourth ship bearing the name of the port city of Mobile was christened for service in the US Navy.

A cargo ship, the USS Mobile went into immediate service for the Vietnam War and supported more than a dozen missions. With a helicopter platform and powerful cranes, the Mobile was well-suited to support the buildup and execution of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

The Navy decommissioned the Mobile in 1994 and sent it on to a maintenance facility at the port of Philadelphia.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)