Battleship Texas will be refurbished in Galveston

5,488 Views | 31 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by RebelE91
RebelE91
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Battleship Texas Foundation announces shipyard where repairs will happen (msn.com)

That would be a nice day trip to go down there and see her in dry dock. On a side note they used 750,000 gallons of expanding foam to help stop the leaks. That's a lot of foam.
AgBQ-00
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2K Gal/min is an astounding amount of water leaking in. Glad the foam cut it down to 20 gal/min
p_bubel
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BQ78
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Maybe Phil Swift is on the job

Cen-Tex
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Would love to see what kind of condition the hull is in before repairs begin.
Ciboag96
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T&P for the ship channel and our economy is that thing sinks
BQ78
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Will not even be noticed with Joe Biden at the helm.
AggieZUUL
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Amazing history there...last remaining battleship to have served in both world wars including Normandy invasion and Iwo Jima. First Battleship to have launched a plane. Only 1 death from enemy fire. During the Normandy campaign, a German shell landed in the bed of a sailor, unexploded. It was disarmed and now on display. Amazing service history and an excellent museum. Highly recommend a visit when it goes back online.
p_bubel
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p_bubel
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Quote:

The ship had spent just 20 days off Iwo Jima, retiring in the evenings to deeper waters, before returning each morning to provide firing support as needed. Japanese aerial attacks on the US fleet had not been an issue at Iwo Jima, allowing the ship's crew to maintain a normal routine of duty rotations.

Okinawa was expected to be a different story. The only other fighting the Japanese were engaged in was in the southern Philippines, which freed up a significant number of aviators. Okinawa was home to several airfields, and others were close. American planners estimated 2,000-3,000 Japanese aircraft would be available to carry out raids on the US fleet. In preparation for these potential attacks, a series of radar pickets were deployed to catch incoming aircraft at ranges up to 100 miles from the island. The destroyers and other small craft stationed at these pickets would ideally intercept enemy aircraft before they could move in closer to the capital ships. Despite all the precautions, every ship would have to be on high alert for Kamikaze attacks.

Life for the crew of Texas off Okinawa was vastly different. For over 50 days, the crew of Texas remained confined to their battle stations. Men three or four decks below in powder handling spaces and magazines had to remain there. Turret crews crammed into the small main gun turrets had to remain in place. Already confined to the ship, as is the reality for every sailor, they were further confined to gun tubs, ammo lockers, engine rooms, and plotting rooms.

Sailors confined to interior spaces recalled sending waste buckets topside to be emptied, and clean buckets being lowered with food. Not the food they were accustomed to, either. Off of Iwo Jima, the crew had been able to maintain a more regular schedule, with hot meals for breakfast and supper, and lunches of K Rations. In their time off Okinawa, all meals were K Rations or sandwiches, passed out and eaten in place. K Rations were meant initially as a short-term food option, but for the Texas crew, it was 50 plus days of crackers and canned "pork luncheon meat." Every third day or so, men would be relieved long enough to shower, put on fresh clothes, and return to their battle station. Over these seven weeks the Texas expended a tremendous amount of ammunition, estimated to be four shiploads worth: 2,019 fourteen-inch shells, 2,643 5-inch shells, 490 3-inch shells, 3,100 rounds of 40 mm, and 2,205 rounds of 20 mm ammunition.

It was a huge sacrifice. The men, in true military fashion, complained to one another. But they all stayed put. They all did their part to keep the ship and their shipmates safe. Over those seven weeks they mourned the death of President Roosevelt, learned of the end of the ar in Europe, and watched their shipmates suffer as kamikazes struck in a final desperate attempt to silence the US Navy. In the end, the sacrifice paid off. Texas left the combat zone unscathed, with all hands in good shape. No other ship is known to have kept its crew at General Quarters for so long a time.
Link
aalan94
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Quote:

T&P for the ship channel and our economy is that thing sinks
I too was worried about this, but it's very very unlikely, the way they're doing this.
SRBS
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The last of the Dreadnoughts.
agracer
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Are they going to leave it in Galveston where it might actually get visitors?
Stat Monitor Repairman
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SMR plan:

Dredge out a slip somewhere near seawolf park.

Cofferdam it in.

Raise well above sea level.

Fill in hole.

Concrete around battleship.

Make some sort of reflecting pool where it looks like its floating but it's high and dry.
p_bubel
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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

SMR plan:

Dredge out a slip somewhere near seawolf park.

Cofferdam it in.

Raise well above sea level.

Fill in hole.

Concrete around battleship.

Make some sort of reflecting pool where it looks like its floating but it's high and dry.
I've posted this before, but what they did for the SS Great Britain is excellent.



The SS Great Britain salvage
jkag89
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cslifer
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The Japanese have a ship of roughly the same vintage they preserved this way if I recall.
nortex97
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cslifer said:

The Japanese have a ship of roughly the same vintage they preserved this way if I recall.
The Japanese have a WW1 era battleship/warship they have saved? Curious, would like to learn more. I figured most of theirs are still scattered about the Pacific/South China/Java etc. seas.

Edit, wow, good to know:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Mikasa
terata
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Yessir!!
terata
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Agree, with you. Give a permanent drydock.
nortex97
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They don't seem to be doing anything actively but I hope the conservators group succeeds to redevelop/prevent the break up of the (very rusty) SS United States.

74OA
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"Over these seven weeks the Texas expended a tremendous amount of ammunition, estimated to be four shiploads worth: 2,019 fourteen-inch shells, 2,643 5-inch shells, 490 3-inch shells, 3,100 rounds of 40 mm, and 2,205 rounds of 20 mm ammunition."

That expenditure would have required repeated reloading at sea in the near vicinity of Okinawa. It took a lot of guts to sail on a soft replenishment ship crammed full of explosives in a war zone, particularly operating so close to such a dangerous battle.
CanyonAg77
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74OA said:

It took a lot of guts to sail on a soft replenishment ship crammed full of explosives in a war zone, particularly operating so close to such a dangerous battle.
Nearly 150 ships were hit by Kamikazes at Okinawa. Imagine sitting in a ship full of aviation gas or ammo and dodging suicide planes.
JABQ04
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Ammunition Ship USS John Burke hit by a Kamikaze in the Philippines




First time I saw the video I thought it was a new angle for Bikini Atoll tests.
Smeghead4761
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74OA said:

"Over these seven weeks the Texas expended a tremendous amount of ammunition, estimated to be four shiploads worth: 2,019 fourteen-inch shells, 2,643 5-inch shells, 490 3-inch shells, 3,100 rounds of 40 mm, and 2,205 rounds of 20 mm ammunition."

That expenditure would have required repeated reloading at sea in the near vicinity of Okinawa. It took a lot of guts to sail on a soft replenishment ship crammed full of explosives in a war zone, particularly operating so close to such a dangerous battle.

That brings up an interesting question: could they do underway replenishment with ammunition, and if so, what, if any, limitations were there on size/mass of the items being transferred?

Or would they have sailed to an anchorage of some sort for ammunition transfer?
74OA
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Langenator said:

74OA said:

"Over these seven weeks the Texas expended a tremendous amount of ammunition, estimated to be four shiploads worth: 2,019 fourteen-inch shells, 2,643 5-inch shells, 490 3-inch shells, 3,100 rounds of 40 mm, and 2,205 rounds of 20 mm ammunition."

That expenditure would have required repeated reloading at sea in the near vicinity of Okinawa. It took a lot of guts to sail on a soft replenishment ship crammed full of explosives in a war zone, particularly operating so close to such a dangerous battle.

That brings up an interesting question: could they do underway replenishment with ammunition, and if so, what, if any, limitations were there on size/mass of the items being transferred?

Or would they have sailed to an anchorage of some sort for ammunition transfer?
They did at sea ammo replenishment, not underway. The ammunition ships rotated back to rear bases for resupply and then returned to the battle area. The first underway ammo replenishment occurred in 1945. Texas remained on-station off of Okinawa for seven weeks and could only have expended that amount of ammo with at-sea replenishment.

Fleet Train
Rabid Cougar
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SRBS said:

The last of the Dreadnoughts.
Technically the Iowa Class is a Dreadnought . The use of the word fell into disuse when the pre-dreadnought style ships ceased to exist.
Smeghead4761
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For myself and the other land lubbers, what is the difference between at sea and underway replenishment?
74OA
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Langenator said:

For myself and the other land lubbers, what is the difference between at sea and underway replenishment?
Underway means ships pass supplies between themselves while still moving. At sea means they pause next to each other to do the same. Most everything at-sea is now also underway. (P.S. I'm a landlubber, too, this is book-learn'in.) UNREP
Stat Monitor Repairman
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JSKolache
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AgBQ-00 said:

2K Gal/min is an astounding amount of water leaking in. Glad the foam cut it down to 20 gal/min
I took the fam down there on a whim daytrip in July 2020 and there were a ton of workers on the ship. Makes sense if thats when they were foaming.

Seriously, yall should to SJ if you havent been in a while. I hadn't been to SJ since i was a kid, and we had a good time. Saw the monument, ate at Monument Inn and watched tugs/barges, played in the new county park across the street. Also found the Santa Anna capture site marker off not far away. Good little day trip.
RebelE91
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Update: The ship is supposed to be moved in mid-August. Still no firm date yet.

https://battleshiptexas.org/battleship-updates/
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