Via USNI News by John Grady
The last World War I-era American dreadnought USS Texas (BB-35) will remain in the Port of Galveston as a museum ship, the city’s Wharves Board of Trustees announced.
Texas will move to the city’s Pier 15. The non-profit Battleship Texas Foundation welcomed the unanimous decision on its Facebook Page.
“We’re thrilled to have the support of the Wharves Board to bring TEXAS to Pier 15 in Galveston- just a short walk from Pier 21 and the historic Galveston Strand. TEXAS, the last ship of its kind, will promote tourism, educate future generations, and create a visitor experience worthy of her crew and legacy.”
The decision ended months of contention over where the battleship, owned by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, would be placed.
The main consideration in locating the ship at Pier 15 was safety within the Galveston Ship Channel, “which was really the driving force,” Jeff Patterson, board vice president, said after the meeting. Online news site Chron’s reported Patterson said that Pier 15, adjacent to the port’s fourth cruise terminal set to be completed in November, was unlikely to interfere with its future expansion plans.
About 1.7 million passengers will pass through Galveston’s port this year. That number is projected to grow to 2 million in the next two years, the trustees’ finance staff reported, making Galveston the fourth busiest cruise port in the United States. The other three are in Florida. At the same time, Galveston voters approved a $155 million bond issue to improve the port. The port has already started expanding its cargo-handling capacity.
Patterson added the Wildlife Department, Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, pilots association and public were consulted.
Since 2020, the foundation has operated the battleship, which is undergoing extensive restoration at a Galveston-area shipyard. The work is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
USS Texas, (BB-35), laid down in 1912 at Newport News Shipbuilding, served in both world wars. It is pierside at Gulf Copper’s shipyard on Pelican Island. The battleship was towed to the facility in 2022 for a multi-million dollar rebuild of its steel hull.
A year ago, the battleship foundation told news outlets that the “restoration project involves transforming the ship into a state-of-the-art visitor experience featuring interactive and technology-driven exhibits, augmented reality, holograms, guided tours, and integrations with cell phones. The ship will also be climate-controlled for year-round access.”
The other historic ship laid down in Newport News making news this week was SS United States. The one-time great liner was maneuvered to a berth at the Modern American Recycling Services facility in Mobile for the next phase in converting her into the manmade artificial reef to attract sports fishermen and divers to the Florida Gulf coast.
“In the spirit of her record-breaking history, America’s flagship concluded her journey from Philadelphia to Mobile [Ala.] faster than anticipated,” said Susan Gibbs, President of the SS United States Conservancy on Monday. “As she moved through the waves for the first time in 28 years, countless onlookers and admirers along the country’s eastern seaboard were inspired by her majesty and beauty,” the news release said.
SS United States is now owned by Okaloosa County in Florida. The conservancy sold the ship to the county in October.
The 1800-nautical mile tow from Philadelphia was the 401st voyage in the liner’s history. SS United States, the holder of the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing, made its maiden voyage to France in 1952, according to a statement from the SS United States Conservancy.
In Mobile, Modern American Recycling Services will remove hazardous material, including non-metal parts and fuel, to ensure the ship is clean and not harmful to the environment. Items like command bridge components, engine room equipment, wires, cables, loose items, flooring, furnishings, fuel, paint, and contaminants – possibly including asbestos – will be removed, USNI News reported earlier.
The work in Mobile will include removing the two iconic funnels and the radar mast, which will go to the Conservancy for its proposed museum at its Florida location. Other artifacts, including the builder’s plaque, will be removed for the conservancy, while the preparation includes removing all the portholes as well as onboard contaminants.
The SS United States Conservancy calls reefing the best option for the vessel. The organization will put the proceeds from the sale, in addition to $1 million from Okaloosa County, toward the cost of establishing a permanent museum and visitor center for the ship. It will display the collection of artifacts from the vessel and tell the story of her design and speed record.
Contractors will also make modifications to ensure that when the vessel is deployed, it will land upright underwater, Nick Tomecek, the public information officer for Okaloosa County, said in a news release.
Those modifications include poking holes in the ship’s hull to facilitate its sinking about 20 miles off Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
Read in its entirety at news.usni.org.
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Yep SS US is a reefr for marine life
& TX remains a Museumship
None of the Chief Engineers of “The United State” ever had the “guts” to run her at FULL POWER.