Nostalgia & History > OT - Battleship Texas at Galveston, TX, Dry Dock

Veterans Day Weekend I toured the dry docked Battleship Texas (USS Texas) undergoing major repairs.  Ship was commissioned Aprl 1914 and used in World War I and World War II.  Retired to the State of Texas in 1948.  Moved to Gulf Copper Dry Dock September 2022 and plan is to refloat ship in March 2024 for display at Area 21 Galveston, Texas.  Unbelievable dry dock experience to view this impressive ship.

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In her prime

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Wow, very nice shots!  I would have loved to have been on that tour.  For a couple of years I worked on restoring the radio and radar rooms back in the mid-1990's. right after it's first drydocking  Until overhaul in 1925 the ship ran on coal-fied boilers and even in the 1990's in some of the remote below-deck spaces you could still smell the lingering odor of coal.

Tom Kline
Houston, Texas

USS New Jersey, BB-62 will go into dry dock next year. 

The alternative to dry docking -- a permanent cofferdam around the ship that can be pumped out -- has been used for hull repairs to USS North Carolina, BB-55 and USS Alabama, BB-60.  

Was the Texas a sister ship to the Arizona?  In pictures, it looks somewhat smaller and the forward turrets on the Arizona had 3 barrels rather than 2 as shown on the Texas?  

No, the sister ship to the Texas was the New York. The BB sequence went like this:
Wyoming class: Wyoming and Arkansas. 12 12-inch guns.
New York class: New York and Texas. 10 14-inch guns.
Nevada class: Nevada and Oklahoma. 10 14-inch guns.
Pennsylvania class: Pennsylvania and Arizona. 12 14-inch guns.
New Mexico class: New Mexico, Mississippi, and Idaho. 12 14-inch guns.
Tennessee class: Tennessee and California. 12 14-inch guns.
Colorado class: Colorado, Maryland, and West Virginia. 8 16-inch guns.
North Carolina class: North Carolina and Washington. 9 16-inch guns.
South Dakota class: South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Alabama. 9 16-inch guns.
Iowa class: Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin. 9 16-inch guns.

This omits ships that were never completed and ships that preceded the Wyomings. 

Isn’t this a train site? 😀Great pics, I saw it years ago at its previous location, but it was closed at the time. Also thanks for the additional info. I’ve seen the USS Arizona several times, very sobering. I find the history of battleships fascinating. Thanks again.

Thanh’s again.

Randy in PHX.

Posted from iPhone

I was in Galveston back in September teaching a class at The Railroad Museum (obligatory RR content). They had a film playing regularly that outlined the history of the Texas, along with the saga of bringing her to Galveston for repair. She's the only remaining navy vessel that fought in both world wars. Built as a coal burner, Texas was coverted to oil in the 1920s. During her years as a museum ship (now far longer than her time in active service) she's already had one major overhaul in dry dock. This latest was due to hull issues that resulted in major leaks. From the posted pictures, it looks like she's getting plenty of love! I wish I'd gotten to see her up close during my trip.Thanks for the pix!

When I was about 14 years old, 1962, I was a Sea Scout (Think Boy Scouts with boats). Our Ship 54 Scouts went to the Phialdelphia shipyard to tour the under construction state of the art Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier.
There were hundreds of Sea Scouts there, maybe even a thousand? We toured living quarters and other facilities, dined in the mess, saw a steam catapualt launch an inflatable life raft hundreds of feet out into the Delaware River. Impressive!
 The Kitty Hawk has since served and decommissioned and cut up as scrap. :(.
  Do I feel old?
Argh!
Gonut

First photo seems to somehow omit the necessary blocks under the hull.

Don Allender

Got to tour her in the late 80's.  Glad to see her getting the attention she deserves.