Later in August, "Alabama" departed for the Pacific theater; the ship was assigned to the US Third Fleet during the amphibious operations in the Gilbert islands, particularly Kwajalein in early 1944. During the night of 21 February 1944, "Alabama"s 5-inch guns were firing upon Japanese aircraft in the area. The ship turned in the direction of the Japanese aircraft in order to better engage them, but the rearmost turret was masked behind the amidships mount. The gunner in the rearmost turret accidentally overrode the safety mechanism that prevented the gun from firing in that circumstance, and when the gun was fired, it hit the 5-inch turret in front of it. Five men were killed and 11 wounded in the incident; an investigation revealed that the override switch was faulty and prone to accidental operation.