Battleship Texas on the move

[GeorgiaBob]

The Battleship Texas, the only surviving warship to have served in both WWI and WWII, is on the move today from her 70 year berth next to the San Jacinto Battlefield to dry dock for repairs.

https://www.khou.com/article/news/l...ston/285-b1759333-e7e4-4d6b-89cd-983bf8283165

There is also a live Youtube show

 

[GeorgiaBob]

I first visited the Battleship Texas (BB-35) in 1960 when my family visited cousins living near Houston. I have been back several times since. The last time was about 2002 or 2003, and she was in sad shape then. Her bottom was more rust than steel and she was leaking at a rate of 20,000 gallons per minute. Yes, that is a real number. The Battleship Texas has been leaking so bad that the only way she stayed afloat for the past 20 years was by pumping the equivalent of a swimming pool full of water out of her hull every minute.

Fortunately, the state came up with $35 million and private donations will cover enough to get her to dry dock and replace the rusted and ruined steel of her bottom. She is staying afloat long enough to make it to dry dock because they filled much of her interior hull spaces with expanding foam so there is no place below the water line for the water leaks to fill.

 

[Redbow]

I heard a while back the battleship North Carolina was in the same shape down in Wilmington with her bottom.

 

[The Original Rooster]

Glad they're able to save her. She's the last "Dreadnought" type battleship left in the world. Hopefully they'll build a cofferdam for her so that she can sit on her bottom in a dry space and not have to worry about leakage again.

 

[GeorgiaBob]

Glad they're able to save her. She's the last "Dreadnought" type battleship left in the world. Hopefully they'll build a cofferdam for her so that she can sit on her bottom in a dry space and not have to worry about leakage again.

As I understand the plan, she will have her bottom plating replaced and all other leaks (especially the torpedo blisters that leaked from the minute they were added in the 1920s) repaired so that the Texas can float and safely be moved for future repairs.

What I haven't heard is where she will be moved for her next home. Supposedly the San Jacinto memorial location only drew about 90,000 visitors a year and the Battleship trust says they need about 250,000 paying guests every year to pay for upkeep.