Battleship Texas is leaving San Jacinto on August 31

Rex Racer

5:00p, 8/25/22

Quote:
LA PORTE The Battleship Texas Foundation (BTF), with their partners, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Historical Commission, announce that the Battleship Texas will be departing San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site for repairs on August 31st. Repairs will be done at Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corporations' Galveston Shipyard. Due to weather or day of delays, the departure is subject to potential postponement. A livestream video of the departure will be available for the public to view for free on the BTF YouTube channel and Facebook group page.

San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, parts of Independence Parkway, and the Lynchburg Ferry will be closed from the early morning hours on August 31st until the ship has moved past the Lynchburg Ferry. The ship can be viewed throughout her route over most of the day. Good viewing locations for the public include, subject to the local authority, Bayland Island, Texas City Dike, Seawolf Park, and Pier 21. The ship should pass the Texas City Dike and Seawolf Park around early to midafternoon and be in Galveston by mid to late afternoon.

https://battleshiptexas.org/departure/

JABQ04

5:55p, 8/25/22

Already planning on climbing one of the structures at the plant I work at in Texas City to watch!

AgBQ-00

6:04p, 8/25/22

In reply to JABQ04

Get pics. Would love to see it.

JABQ04

1:28p, 8/27/22

In reply to AgBQ-00

I'll do what I can. Of course I'm sure now we'll be busy then

Mule_lx

12:45p, 8/30/22

They're disconnecting it now on youtube.

I Like Mike

4:07p, 8/30/22

dcbowers

7:03a, 8/31/22

Godspeed, Miss Texas!

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BrazosBendHorn

7:46a, 8/31/22

Live feed from KHOU

DevilD77

11:29a, 8/31/22

Going faster than I expected.

BQ_90

1:30p, 8/31/22

what happened to the feed

AggieMarkSA

2:12p, 8/31/22

Not sure. I'm out here right now at sea wolf park. She's about 4 miles away, running about 5 knots right now. Apparently it's all running smooth at the moment

AgBQ-00

2:59p, 8/31/22

Good sky cam stream of her coming into Galveston

ETA: It is so awesome seeing her underway

BQ_90

3:14p, 8/31/22

In reply to AgBQ-00

AgBQ-00 said:
Good sky cam stream of her coming into Galveston

ETA: It is so awesome seeing her underway

wonder which Navy ship is in the background

JABQ04

4:00p, 8/31/22

Didn't get good videos. Of course got busy at work about the time it was coming around the Texas City Dike. Could see it better with out zooming in on my phone. Followed it all day on Maritime Tracker.

ETA I could have climbed to higher vantage point but I was hot and tired and didn't feel it at 2:30 pm today

I Like Mike

5:54p, 8/31/22

JABQ04

6:48p, 8/31/22

In reply to I Like Mike

Great pictures

FTACo88-FDT24dad

9:07p, 8/31/22

Quick point of Texas pride:

Those of us who grew up in southeast Texas know this ship well. I have pictures of me in the early 70s with my WW2 veteran grandfather on one of the anti-aircraft guns and 40+ years later my son and I did a Cub Scout "spend the night on the Texas" event where we got to sleep "below" and get an amazing tour of the ship. She is 110 years old. She was the one of the biggest and baddest in the world when she came out of the shipyard in 1912 and she fought in both World Wars. She was there for the North African landings and then fired over the troops landing at Normandy (including a certain Texan named Rudder as he and his 2nd Rangers were ascending Pointe du Hoc) and then bombarded Iwo Jima and Okinawa with her 10, 14" mains. She survived the hellacious kamikaze attacks at Okinawa where over 4,000 sailors were killed by suicidal Japanese and 20 American ships were sunk and 157 damaged. The Japanese lost 1,100 planes at Okinawa. The suicide raids went on for so long that Nimitz actually changed out the commanders (Halsey for Spruance) during the battle so they could rest from being in such a non-stop, high stress environment from March 23 to April 27.

My great Uncle, a native Houstonian, was on a ship at Okinawa and told us the story of the Kamikazes a year or so before he died. His battle station was a .30 caliber machine gun that he fired repeatedly throughout the 30+ days of the battle. He told us how he could see the goggles of the pilots sometimes and he specifically talked about the battleships firing so many rounds that the rifling of their barrels were worn smooth and they had to be changed out. I don't know if he was on the Texas. I don't think he was. But I don't think it matters. He was there nonetheless. He said half-heartedly "that's probably where I lost my hearing"

From Wikipedia: Texas was also a technological testbed: the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, the first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers, the first US battleship to launch an aircraft, and one of the first US Navy ships to receive production radar.
Texas was the first US battleship to become a permanent museum ship, the first battleship declared to be a US National Historic Landmark, and is the only remaining World War I era dreadnought battleship. She is also one of the eight remaining ships and the only remaining capital ship to have served in both World Wars.

I Like Mike

5:57a, 9/1/22

Maximus_Meridius

6:49a, 9/1/22

In reply to I Like Mike

Oh wow, that last shot is AWESOME!

CanyonAg77

9:05a, 9/1/22

In reply to I Like Mike

Holy crap, they already have her out of the water? I thought that would take days or even weeks.

BQ_90

9:33a, 9/1/22

In reply to CanyonAg77

CanyonAg77 said:
Holy crap, they already have her out of the water? I thought that would take days or even weeks.

no they said all along she'd be outta the water by today

out of the water she really is a beast

BQ_90

9:49a, 9/1/22

Also will they have webcam set up to watch the repairs?

p_bubel

12:00p, 9/1/22

Those are awesome photos!

AgBQ-00

12:16p, 9/1/22

You don't realize how fat she is until you see the whole torpedo blisters.

JABQ04

1:44p, 9/1/22

In reply to BQ_90

BQ_90 said:
Also will they have webcam set up to watch the repairs?

I read somewhere they're filming/cataloging the process with the goal of making a documentary about the restoration

aggie_sprt

2:23p, 9/1/22

The Visit Galveston website still has it's bayside webcam on the dry dock and you can now see the stearn.

You can see what looks like two large plates on the bow on the previous photo.

the webcam view of the stearn appears to show quite a bit of deterioration and possibly some buckling. I am guessing the coloring is from where the bottom of the vessel was in contact with silt and mud?

Curious how the the port and starboard sections of the keel look.

Taking another long look and it appears you can just make out some seam rips, running both vertical and horizontal, and the rudder looks distorted and jammed.

BQ_90

2:43p, 9/1/22

In reply to JABQ04

JABQ04 said:
BQ_90 said:
Also will they have webcam set up to watch the repairs?

I read somewhere they're filming/cataloging the process with the goal of making a documentary about the restoration

cool

Ciboag96

11:49a, 9/5/22

Curious. What percentage of the ship is original to its first production and launching? Anyone know?

I Like Mike

2:32p, 9/5/22

In reply to Ciboag96

Engines for sure. Triple expansion steam engines like those used on Titanic.

aggie_sprt

8:13a, 9/12/22

A walk around Texas with overview of the condition of the lower hull. Included an explanation as to the large dents on the torpedo blisters.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton

8:24a, 9/12/22

What is the purpose of a torpedo blister? Does it allow the ship to launch torpedoes or is it some sort of defensive counter-measure?

If you say you hate the state of politics in this nation and you don't get involved in it, you obviously don't hate the state of politics in this nation.

Rabid Cougar

8:34a, 9/12/22

In reply to Ghost of Andrew Eaton

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:
What is the purpose of a torpedo blister? Does it allow the ship to launch torpedoes or is it some sort of defensive counter-measure?

Absorbs the blast from the torpedo without damaging the integrity of the hull. Usually contained bunker oil or sea water.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton

10:25a, 9/12/22

In reply to Rabid Cougar

Rabid Cougar said:
Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:
What is the purpose of a torpedo blister? Does it allow the ship to launch torpedoes or is it some sort of defensive counter-measure?
Absorbs the blast from the torpedo without damaging the integrity of the hull. Usually contained bunker oil or sea water.

Thanks.

If you say you hate the state of politics in this nation and you don't get involved in it, you obviously don't hate the state of politics in this nation.

BuckshotJ

12:36p, 9/18/22

He pointed out the dead eye for "???" At the bow. What is that for?

Ag_of_08

10:22p, 9/20/22

In reply to Ciboag96

All the main gun turrets, some of the forward super structure. Her boilers and engines are refit into oil units, but retain much of the original. And casement guns left are original as well. They modernization that was done was an effort to move her into the same capabilities as the "satndards" that already existed, as she was built j7st before that requirement..

Her hull is original, it just has blisters attached. Listening to them, they're planning to cut most of the blisters away below the waterline, she should look the same above, but the internals of the tanks are shot. Doesn't help they ballasted her with brackish water when they towed her in, and thought intentionally burying it in the mud was a good idea...

At least with the blisters opened up underwater, they can patch and repair and leaks with a diver and an external patch.