Battleship Texas leaving San Jacinto Battleground for good over a decline in visits

LA PORTE, Texas (KTRK) -- Battleship Texas, a 107-year-old relic of both World Wars, is set to pull up its anchors and depart from the San Jacinto Battleground.

Visitors have until the end of the year to book tours of the historic battleship before it is moved permanently from the Houston area.


Bruce Bramlett with the Battleship Texas Foundation said the main reason for the move is because it doesn't have enough paid visitors to maintain the ship.

I recall hearing that the people that run the battleground/monument feel USS Texas detracts from the authenticity of the site and would be pleased if she moved on.

But where "on the upper Texas coast" will they find more visitor traffic? Deerpark isn't ideal to be sure but where are you going to put her -- Beaumont?

Galveston is what I've heard, but that goes against the protective nature of the ship channel

I read an article in the WSJ that talked about Civil War battle sites are getting record low visits as well. Is our interest in history dwindling overall?

Ag In Ok said:

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She belongs next to the Lexington in Corpus.

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I would think she would do better next to the Lexington. I saw that 250,000 people visit San Jacinto Monument each year (40,000 are school children)....but I'd be surprised if even 1/3 go aboard Battleship Texas. Around 220,000 visit the Lex each year. It would be cool if they were a "package" deal!!

Bighunter43 said:

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Ag In Ok said:

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She belongs next to the Lexington in Corpus.

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I would think she would do better next to the Lexington. I saw that 250,000 people visit San Jacinto Monument each year (40,000 are school children)....but I'd be surprised if even 1/3 go aboard Battleship Texas. Around 220,000 visit the Lex each year. It would be cool if they were a "package" deal!!

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I was going to say more visitors go to Galveston, but when i actually googled it the stats say more go to Corpus. 8 mil to 6.5 mil. That surprised me!

Maybe they should put it next to the lexington..

I'd be very concerned if they tried to move it to any of the locations suggested, I could see them losing it trying to move it since it is in such bad shape, the bow seems to be stuck in the mud right now.

Last I read, its hull is in such bad condition it can't support the ship any longer. If so, how will it be moved?

According to the article she will undergo 35 million in repairs before being moved

BQ78 said:

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I'd be very concerned if they tried to move it to any of the locations suggested, I could see them losing it trying to move it since it is in such bad shape, the bow seems to be stuck in the mud right now.

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It will be moved to Alabama for repairs, so I guess they know what's going on?

Battleship Texas could be relocated to Galveston if lawmaker has his way

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"I've lived by Galveston all the days of my life," Perez told Cyrier before the Texas House voted on the bill on May 16. Tourists only flock to Galveston in the summer, she said. What about the rest of the year?

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Probably more visitors to Galveston in the off-season than in La Porte, for heaven's sake ...

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As for location I like either Seawolf Park or next to the Lexington so long as the ship is properly preserved.

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It won't be.

The Cavalla was falling to pieces at one time (it may still be).
The Lexington requires constant maintenance.
We all know the problems with the Texas.

There's a reason there was a crew of 1000 aboard the Texas and over double that on the Lexington, they just require constant maintenance to make sure they aren't falling apart. Everyone wants to preserve them but nobody wants to pay the price or time to preserve them. So here we are. It's like old homes and ***** Everyone wants them to be saved, but same problem again - money and time. I love the Texas. Spent a few nights on board. Got a nice tour one night and saw about everything there is to see. But maybe it's time has come. It's sad but reality sometimes is.

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reflecting pond also detract from the authenticity of the site.

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It is so odd. Were they trying to duplicate the Washington Mall?

95_Aggie said:

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reflecting pond also detract from the authenticity of the site.

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It is so odd. Were they trying to duplicate the Washington Mall?

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I never understood the reflecting pool at this location. We kicked the **** out of Mexico and had our enemies begging for their life. It was a triumph and should be marked as such. I would prefer a statue of Santa Anna buried upside down with only the soles of his boots above ground.

I like the monument and the museum. But the reflecting pool has always been a blight. It could be a nice feature (see Hermann Park's Jones pool). Then we're back to funding again...

She needs to be permanently land locked. She would notnaurvive the tow to corpus, and she could not be kept floating next to the carrier....

Honestly corpus has its museum, she needs to be kept on the upper coast where she can be seen. Put her in Galveston in view of the ferry, and watch the feeding frenzy


If the fools try to tow her to corpus, please tow her offshore far enough that when she eventually goes down under tow, she's accessible to divers. She might make it to Galveston...maybe

Put her in the ground like the mikasa, whole lot less of a pain.

Ag In Ok said:

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She belongs next to the Lexington in Corpus.

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Nope, given that the Lex doesn't belong in Corpus to begin with.

Might be time to let her slip to the bottom of the ocean, maybe off the coast of Normandy and Pointe du Hoc

I am curious what location besides Galveston might even be possible. Freeport is a vague possibility, but it will have tone somewhere without raging currents, and that she can be moved without having to drop anchors or moorings.

She seriously will not survive the tow as far as corpus, parts of her hull below the belt is so thin they think you could push through it with hands, and she structurally is not sea worthy. If they're gonna do something like that, in serious about taking her at least 60 miles out before they turn for corpus in the hope she settles up right and somewhere we can at least make tech dives on her.

I figure that is what the 35 million in repairs would go towards. Making her able to be moved I would imagine would be a huge focus

AgBQ-00 said:

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I figure that is what the 35 million in repairs would go towards. Making her able to be moved I would imagine would be a huge focus

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Still have to beach her when she gets there. 35million would be a deop in the bucket to replacing whole chunks of her hull, and would make non sense for a move.

I know the last time I talked to anyone from INA, or that knew what they where talking about involved in the project, they wanted to build a composite internal support that would run along the keel, and use knees to transfer the deck loading down onto the hull once she was dry. The then planned to being her into a corresponding cradle, and settle her into it, so the internal bracing would start to take up the weight of the ships structure. Then they'd back fill around her, and land lock her.

That was 10 years ago, and none of them, at the time, where confident she'd survive a tow out into the channel , much less anywhere else.

Bighunter43 said:

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Ag In Ok said:

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She belongs next to the Lexington in Corpus.

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I would think she would do better next to the Lexington. I saw that 250,000 people visit San Jacinto Monument each year (40,000 are school children)....but I'd be surprised if even 1/3 go aboard Battleship Texas. Around 220,000 visit the Lex each year. It would be cool if they were a "package" deal!!

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Patriot Point In Charleston, SC seems to work out fairly well. It's been a while, but it is in very close proximity to Ft Sumter and we hit both. Not sure if they were a "package" though.

She belongs next to the Lexington in Corpus...

Was going to suggest that myself.

Patriot Point in Charleston...

Isnt there an aircraft carrier and another vessel located here also? I have been to Fort Sumter and the same day visited Pilot Point when the carrier was being refurbed. Again, maybe I'm wrong but the carrier was a jeep type carrier if I'm not mistaken, maybe the USS Belleau Wood? Again, might be confusing two different locations so I apologize.

This used to be part of my signature, but if anyone is interested in helping to save the Texas, here is a link"

Come and Save It

or

Battleship Texas Foundation

USS Yorktown...my bad; told 'ya I might be wrong.

Yep, the Yorktown it's the carrier, and the USS Laffey is the Sumner class destroyer next to her. Both ships are well worth the visit.