Vintage Battleship Close To Sinking
The 1914-built battleship TEXAS, a veteran of both World Wars, has been moored at the San Jacinto Battleground, Texas since 1948. Her hull was last repaired in the late 1980s and has since become dangerously weakened from years of exposure to the brackish water of the Houston Ship Channel. A piece of rag and a backup pump are keeping the storied battleship from sinking at its moorings, according to state park officials.
According to park manager Andy Smith, a park employee noticed that the ship appeared to be sitting a bit lower in the water than normal. When he returned to work the next morning, the ship was noticeably lower. In fact, the USS TEXAS had sunk some two to three feet overnight.
When park staff checked below decks, they discovered a previously unknown leak on the starboard side of the ship, near the waterline in the vicinity of frame 80. Water also was found building up in the aft steering compartment.
A pump in that compartment had burned out, causing the vessel to take on more water than normal. That, in turn, pulled a seam separation below the water line, in effect causing another leak. The broken pump was replaced with a backup, and other pumps were employed. Some 105,000 gallons of water had to be extracted from the ship, which rose to its normal level. As a temporary fix, a cloth rag was stuffed in the starboard leak, which is now above the waterline.
“Currently, a rag and pumps are keeping her afloat,” said Justin Rhodes, regional director of the area that includes the San Jacinto site. “The sooner we get her out of the water, the better.”
Plans are in progress to dry-berth the ship. The Texas Park and Wildlife Department recently selected an engineering firm to design the dry berth and is currently negotiating design fees. After that, the team will develop a project plan and construction schedule. Current plans are to complete the dry-berth by 2014, the centennial of the ship’s commissioning.
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A cloth rag to to stop a leak and prevent the ship from sinking !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boy oh boy, thats the best I’ve ever heard.
I went aboard her when I lived in Houston. She is a great classic American warship. It would be great if someone still local in the area could keep us updated on her progress, maybe get some pictures of her in drydock.
It’s great that Texas is at least constructing a plan to keep her for future generations to see.
Sadly, there is no such plan in the works to save the USS OLYMPIA which is moored at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia. In September the Seaport plans to shut her down and turn her back to the Navy. So far there are 2 plans if funds can not be raised to renovate her, sink her as a reef or scrap.
OLYMPIA was the flagship for Admiral Dewey in the Spanish American War. Hopefully, someone will do some arm twisting and come up with a plan like the Texas will receive or another piece of American history will be lost.
PLEASE Martin and anyone that has the feelings for historic ships, not just the liners that we all love, what can we do the save the USS OLYMPIA.
PLEASE, Martin, and article here may be the first place to start
Pat, it reminds me of an old pilots saying, “Any landing you can walk away from is a good one”
In this case, any think that keeps her afloat is worth the effort
Maybe a seaport museum like NY or Baltimore could add the OLYMPIA to their roster? Even maybe sell her to a foreign interest to aid in her preservation? Interesting quote from the Christian Science Monitor:
“But I suspect that finding the money isn’t the ultimate problem, even in these days of shrunken wallets.
The ultimate problem is that we can’t find the shame.
So if, this fall, the Olympia takes her final voyage down the Delaware, I hope she takes with her all the memories of Dewey and Gridley that are left (and there probably aren’t too many, courtesy of the inept priorities of our school systems), all the memories of The Unknown Soldier and the War he died in, and all the memories of the Stars and Stripes, flung out to a stiff Pacific breeze in the days when the nation felt young and self-confidence pumped through every vein.
On the day she takes her final voyage down the Delaware, I wouldn’t want those memories hanging around to remind us of what the Olympia did for us, and what we didn’t do for her.”
The city of philly should be embarassed to disregard a treasure such as the oiympia. I’m going to Philly next month and I’ll go see her. If Philly can’t save her they won’t save the united states.
philadelphia has no real interest in preserving historic things. come check this sh*t out
http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=22710
place was a gold mine of history and architecture (such as art deco) and they trashed it…>:@
I for one believe that Olympia need sto be saved. In my opinion only one place has the right attitude towards ships like this, San Diego. They have a great waterfront and one thing that Philadelphia does not, a steady stream of tourists from cruiseships that dock right next to the ships. I was in San Diego for navy boot camp and school and spent as much time there as possible aboard the Star of India and the museum ships. Since then the USS Midway has been added and is without a doubt a very sucessful attraction, not mention my home for two and a half years of my Navy life.
I wish that I had the time and effort to launch a fund raising campaign to save the Olympia and get her moved to San Diego. That is if San Diego would take her.
The cost could approach $50 million dollars. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
PLEASE MARTIN MAKE THIS A FIRST CLASS ARTICLE HERE. I KNOW THAT MOST OF US PREFER LINERS BUT THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF OUR MILITARY HISTORY!!!!!
San Diego would be perfect. I go to the midway about once a year and the ship is kept up very nice. San Francisco would be great at their maritime museum . I’m a liner guy but I m into battleships and before aircraft carriers the battleships were countries power. How do we save her ?
Corey I am not sure what can be done. I have emailed a letter to Mayor Sanders with an idea and am waiting for a reply. San Diego is the PERFECT place for Olympia. I am going to write to some people about possibly contributing towards moving her, Mickey Arison of Carnival Corporation for one. Cruiseships from his various lines call at San Diego regularly and would be among the best possible target candidates to advertise visits. The Navy has to be involoved also. This would be a perfect”salvage” exercise for some of her salvage and rescue crews to perform. If they can tow her from Philly to San Diego without sinking her then they should be ready for any task.
Awareness of the seriousness of this project is key. Peolple need to become involved and help raise funds to save this great ship.
I live in San Diego, and to be honest our Maritime Museum has gotten, well, a little old. I have nothing at all against a few tall ships ‘n company, but over the years I’ve gone there like 12 times, and a new addition would really add some pizazz to the place. The Olympia would be wonderful, but we could use a liner at the Museum. Heck, there’s Hermes, United States, Maestro… Yeah, like there is a chance any of these would end up in SD. But really, Olympia could be an addition to the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, alongside the Midway.
Towing OLYMPIA from Philadelphia to San Diego would be an extensive and perilous journey. I wonder if she would survive? It would take roughly 45 days and the weather would be a huge factor. I have read reports of tows that hit extreme weather off of Baja California with 50 knot winds and very rough seas. I would hate to see her founder at sea in the middle of a campaign to save her.
Thanks for the nudges. I am working on getting something up on the site about USS OLYMPIA. – Martin
Unknown for me!.The only BB i know is the BB WISCONSIn because he stop 2 times in Brest during his lifecat sea.My target is to pay 1 visit on board at Nauticus site when it will be possible !!
Hi Matt,
I think that San Diego should form a group to save the following ship:
http://maritimematters.com/2010/06/canvas-bleak-for-artship/
It would make a nice hotel and museum. Although, one could try to save the former MS Pacific Princess, which was the featured ship on The Love Boat TV Show. Wouldn’t it be great to have the Love Boat in San Diego as a hotel ship?
I was at Patroits Point earlier in the year and they are trying to raise 100 million to get the bottom repaired on the Yorktown. If the money is not raised they said they will have to turn it back to the Navy as they are the ones telling them to fix it as a condition to keep it. I dont think the Navy is hurting for money. Maybe its because the Navy is being run by young people who just dont care about their beginings and history of the country .