Moving the USS Texas

[Chad Fuck 17567]

Didn't see a thread on this but it's going to be quite the show.  Trying to move a 100+ year old battleship that's been sitting in the same place for a good portion of its life only getting minimal maintenance is going to be something.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/galveston/article/Battleship-Texas-undergo-repairs-in-Galveston-17401319.php

Quote

Lots of men live with the challenge of carrying on their family’s legacy. 

Spoiler

Tony Gregory’s just weighs 27,000 tons, is nearly two football fields long and could — but probably won’t — sink into Galveston Bay on Wednesday. Gregory, president of the Battleship Texas Foundation, will watch from land as the warship his grandfather helped the state acquire, and where generations of schoolchildren have learned a little about the sea, military service and Texas history, eases back into the deep.

What happens after that is what Gregory has spent three years planning with an army of assistants, advocates, volunteers and veterans. Either the only dreadnought battleship still in existence will creak and crack as tugboat chains tighten, her stern slides across some silt, her riveted hull holds true and the big girl leaves La Porte in her wake; or somewhere along 40 miles of Texas coast the Battleship Texas will list into the brackish waters and become a lost relic.

“Everything we can plan for, we have planned for and considered,” Gregory said. “But there is something you cannot plan for. There is an element we won’t know until we are in the move. Does that worry me? Sure. You are not sure what is going to happen.”

Months of technical details, analysis and subsurface planning boil down to one thing: On Wednesday morning, absent an 11th-hour cancellation, tugboats will yank on the 110-year-old ship and hope it slides loose of the sandbar holding it in place.

Workers with Matthews Brothers Dredging spent Memorial Day weekend and some other shifts carving a channel to the Houston Ship Channel itself, giving the Texas a 31-foot-deep slot from the ship’s stern to deeper water.

“It is going to come out like it is backing out of a driveway,” said Trey Taylor, vice president of business development for Matthews Brothers.

Unlike 1988 — the last time the ship moved when it went into drydock in Galveston for two years of repair — the ship floats much better on its own.

Or at least officials hope it does once it breaks free and is pulled into deeper waters.

“The risk is leaking, and leaking severe enough that it might sink,” Gregory said.

The Mighty-T as some call the ship has been in rough waters before, but in her condition simple ripples could make an ocean of difference.

Prior to 2017, the consensus was that the Battleship Texas would never leave port in one piece again.

“For the first eight years I was here, it was pretty much drilled into my head you cannot move the battleship,” said Bruce Bramlett, executive director of the battleship foundation.
Decades of sitting in the salt and foam and silt left her leaking. A battalion of bilge pumps pushed water out as more came in. At times the ship took on 2,000 gallons of water per minute, simply sitting there.

Gregory said getting that intake to 20 or so gallons per minute was the first step in readying the ship for its journey.

“We injected foam into the blister tanks,” Gregory said, referring to the space in the ship designed to absorb the force and blast of an enemy torpedo.

The foam makes the ship more buoyant, but also needs counterbalance with some water that will help the center sit lower in the water where it will have better balance.

“We spent years and years pumping water and now we’re putting it back on,” Gregory said.

Victory at Sea
The risky trip is hardly a first for the Texas — which spent the first third of her life as a warship. Built between 1910 and 1912, the Battleship Texas was commissioned in 1914, and hastily sent into action along the Mexican coast. Her presence was more a detraction to hostilities as the U.S. and Mexico ironed out an incident in Tampico.

During World War I the Texas traveled the northern waters of the Atlantic and North Sea, again more a deterrent than a combatant as German and British forces vied for sea supremacy.

“We say she didn’t fire her guns in anger until later,” said Kandace Trujillo, vice president for visitation and special events for the battleship’s nonprofit foundation. “Then she really did.”

By the time naval warfare intensified in 1942, Texas no longer was the shiny new flagship she was during WWI, Gregory said. The bigger, stronger battleships were the ones miles off the coast clobbering cities.

“The Navy was happy to put her close to shore,” he said.

When she did come guns blazing into World War II, however, the Texas crew fired fast and often. She shelled North Africa to support amphibious landings and played a critical role in the D-Day invasion of Normandy by attacking Nazi positions.

“She began churning up the coastal landscape with her 14-inch salvos,” the Navy’s research department said in its summary of the Texas’ wartime service. “Meanwhile, her secondary 5-inch battery went to work on another target on the western end of Omaha beach.”

Later in the day, she closed from 12,000 yards away from the beach to about 3,000 yards offshore to “to fire upon snipers and machine gun nests hidden in a defile just off the beach,” the Navy said.

After the war, Texas was deemed no longer of value to the Navy, which would have scrapped her if Texas benefactors had not urged Washington to give her to the her namesake state. Among those supporters was Lloyd Gregory, Sr., Tony’s grandfather, and general manager of the Houston Post newspaper.

“The plan was to save her for no other reason than her name was Texas,” Barry Ward, the ship's former curator, told the Chronicle in 2006.

That link remains a draw, well outside of Houston. Mark Kinsey, 73, who said he opted for the Navy rather than risk being drafted into the Army, said he planned to trek from his Frisco home to Houston for Wednesday’s move.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, certainly my lifetime,” Kinsey said. “She may never put to sea again, and without our support she won’t be here for your children or my grandchildren to see.”

Prepare to be Boarded
Officials expect the most harrowing part of the journey — where they will be holding their breath and hoping she does not start to dive into the deep — will be the first hour of the trip over the sandbar and along the coast.

From there the trip turns into a waiting game.

“We are not sure exactly how fast we can go until we are in it,” Gregory said.

Divers will be on board the Texas, monitoring its buoyancy.

A salvage and shipping company, Resolve Marine Group, and Valkor Marine — which works to rehab and engineer vessels and sea platforms — will oversee the move.

A team of tugboats will pull the ship away from the San Jacinto shoreline, then turn it for the journey south to the east side of Galveston.

In the Houston Ship Channel, time is money, and the move is taking away some of that time. All commercial traffic will be held out of the lane, likely starting a few hours prior.

“It is going to be closed long enough for us to get out of there,” Gregory said.

If all goes according to plan, the battleship will be in Galveston by mid-afternoon, officials said.

The work, however, will be far from over. Tugs will maneuver Texas into place and push and pull her bow-first into a floating drydock where she will spend the next couple years.

The floating drydock, which the battleship foundation helped bring to Galveston from the Bahamas, puts the ship in a safe place out of the water without tearing it apart. Tugs will put the Texas into the drydock, which will be submerged across from Pier 21 at the Gulf Copper & Manufacturing Corp repair yard.

After the ship arrives and is positioned exactly where it needs to be, around early evening if all goes as planned, workers will turn on the pumps and the floating drydock will expel all the water and start to lift up the Texas onto supports.

Once Texas is on dry land — or what amounts to dry land balanced on some very large boxes — Gregory said he can breathe a sigh of relief. Then he will get back to work on the rebuilding efforts, and finding where the battleship’s next journey will take her.

Part of the agreement with the state for the $35 million to rehab the ship is Texas lawmakers will not spend any more money on the ship or host it at the San Jacinto Monument. The foundation will be on its own.

Gregory said the hope is “we can put it someplace where we can sell enough tickets and T-shirts,” that maintenance and operations can be covered.

Otherwise, the Battleship Texas could sink another way.

 

[956 Worldwide 34444]

I remember clambering all over her on a hot July day at 9 years old. On the way to Wally World from the Rio Grande Valley. Never been so proud to be a Texan, I thought she was magic.

I will never understand the aversion the lege has had to taking care of her. She should have been named a state park and maintained. 

[Brisketexan 104628]

We gotta get her in fighting shape so she can stop those commie rooskie bastards!  I read about it in a book.....

[Chad Fuck 17567]

1 minute ago, 956 Worldwide said:

I remember clambering all over her on a hot July day at 9 years old. On the way to Wally World from the Rio Grande Valley. Never been so proud to be a Texan, I thought she was magic.

I will never understand the aversion the lege has had to taking care of her. She should have been named a state park and maintained. 

The aversion is now and has always been $$$$$.

Museum ships take an incredible amount of maintenance.  The only ones I've ever seen that are "run like they oughta be" are in major urban centers - USS Intrepid, Midway, etc., or are still maintained by our tax dollars - USS Constitution, Missouri, etc.

They're mind bogglingly expensive for essentially a bunch of Navy retirees to keep up.

[PRONG HORN 3102]

I think they should drag it onto the land like the boats at Seawolf park in Galveston. In 50 years no one will really care about it, so If it's not cheap and easy to take care of, they'll eventually quit on her.  It will just cost too much.  

[Chad Fuck 17567]

I think they should drag it onto the land like the boats at Seawolf park in Galveston. In 50 years no one will really care about it, so If it's not cheap and easy to take care of, they'll eventually quit on her.  It will just cost too much.  

I think there is something to this. Maybe something like Mikasa in Japan.

Ships of this size are a lot to handle with volunteers. Hell, they were a lot to handle with 1000 paid 18 year olds scrambling all over scrubbing, chipping and painting. It’s a wonder it’s lasted this long.

[atomheartbevo 89450]

8 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

We gotta get her in fighting shape so she can stop those commie rooskie bastards!  I read about it in a book.....

I read all three of the Republic of Texas books as a kid.  They were awesome.

[Reagan1k 3016]

A few years ago I made a donation to the restoration or a restoration project of the day - Got a commemorative set of 1911 wooden grips as a thank you.  (Not special to me - part of the deal).  Wood for the grips came from the original decking from the ship.  Pretty cool.  Nice, well made grips with a medallion embedded and inscriptions on the back.  I should buy another 1911 to pair with them come to think of it.

[FartingMonk 3606]

I'm gonna be in the minority but I think it needs to be sold to a scrap yard and made into razor blades.  While I love our history of the Navy but sometimes shit gets too expensive to maintain.  

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

1 hour ago, PRONG HORN said:

I think they should drag it onto the land like the boats at Seawolf park in Galveston. In 50 years no one will really care about it, so If it's not cheap and easy to take care of, they'll eventually quit on her.  It will just cost too much.  

I think that becomes an issue as the hull is designed to be supported from all sides in the water and starts to sag otherwise. HMS Victory was having that issue. Perhaps, as suggested above, encased in concrete like the Mikasa might be an option. 
 

Where to park it so that it draws the visitors needed to support its upkeep will be interesting.  

 

 

[Surly Bevo 24696]

Just now, Bobby_Batronic said:

Where to park it so that it draws the visitors needed to support its upkeep will be interesting.  

 

 

They still haven't done anything with the Astrodome right?  Put your hands together Houston.

[bmbmd 1027]

After touring the ship, my then five year old Hunter (now 31)  proclaimed "I'd like to be the boss of a boat".

[Bobby_Batronic 1994]

27 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

They still haven't done anything with the Astrodome right?  Put your hands together Houston.

Great idea. The Roman figured this out 2000 years ago. Flood the dome and stage mock battles with the Texas reliving the a ruins it participated in. 
 

Profit. 

[TwiceHorn 31283]

Although it's barely recognizable as one, it has got to be one of a few or the only dreadnought type battleships surviving.

[Captainant 27467]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

Although it's barely recognizable as one, it has got to be one of a few or the only dreadnought type battleships surviving.

I believe it's the only remaining dreadnought type, certainly the only one that fought in both world wars!

[Armybrat 40744]

Haven’t seen her since we took our kids for a visit 40 years ago.

 

[CleverNickname 1293]

Lady Lex > USS Texas

[Chad Fuck 17567]

Although it's barely recognizable as one, it has got to be one of a few or the only dreadnought type battleships surviving.

The last.

Lady Lex > USS Texas

Unpopular opinions thread is that way >>>>>.

[grazinhorn 472]

Great memories as a kid and with my children on the USS Texas - probably because of how much room to roam you get.

 

You can't preserve everything but we aren't preserving enough of the stuff that we could, in my opinion. 

[High Plains Drifter 10978]

 

better keep it ready to go. Never know when aliens might invade:

 

[Nueces River Rat 5530]

They should move it down to Corpus and park it next to the Lexington.    The success of the Lexington museum is due largely to number of retired Navy in this area who love to volunteer to help operate it.  Thus what money they make with admission, special events, etc goes to the upkeep. 

[Telegraph_it 3354]

Visiting the USS Texas was a multi-sensory event for a kid that grew up in The Woodlands. 

First. Travel by refineries. WTF!? The smell. The sights. The fires!!! Where are all the pipes going??!? Rotten eggs in my nostrils! Shit is on fire!? Why do we need petroleum products?

Second. Fast food. DQ, to be specific. I don’t know where we stopped. I was probably busy playing with my red GameBoy pocket to know. But damn, we didn’t have DQ in The Woodlands. 

Third. That cool ass monument with the star. Texas was born here? Odd choice. 

Finally, the battleship. Badass. Majestic. Walking over the gantry to the deck and immediately putting yourself on one of the anti-aircraft guns. Nothing like it. 

Going with my grandfather, who was a Korean War vet. Listening to his stories of circumnavigating the globe in his destroyer. Learn what ports he got his tattoos in and hear him talk shit about the officers as we walked through their quarters—seeing his quarter—I definitely needed to be an officer. 

The anchor. Wow. I did not know chains could be that big. Learn how my grandfather hid from those POS officers in the anchor well while at sea. Probably dangerous and easily I don’t exist. 

The engine room! Fantastic!!! How far down are we!? I think I’d rather be on the bridge. 

And finally, the big guns and seeing the size of the shells. I do not want to be on the receiving end. 

What a great boat. 

[butthurt 1520]

As someone who lives SETX, I'd like to move to Beaumont.

[RPM 26230]

5 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

What a great boat. 

Ship. Battle SHIP.

[Reagan1k 3016]

11 hours ago, Reagan1k said:

A few years ago I made a donation to the restoration or a restoration project of the day - Got a commemorative set of 1911 wooden grips as a thank you.  (Not special to me - part of the deal).  Wood for the grips came from the original decking from the ship.  Pretty cool.  Nice, well made grips with a medallion embedded and inscriptions on the back.  I should buy another 1911 to pair with them come to think of it.

Found them.

 

 

[Chad Fuck 17567]

[TwiceHorn 31283]

9 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

better keep it ready to go. Never know when aliens might invade:

 

That movie was stupid as hell.  And vastly entertaining.

[BabaYaga 15213]

Time to bring in the experts

 

[SquishMitten 10401]

I'm gonna be in the minority but I think it needs to be sold to a scrap yard and made into razor blades.  While I love our history of the Navy but sometimes shit gets too expensive to maintain.  

From the article, that’s the conclusion of the legislature. The state is giving $35 million and cutting them off. No more future maintenance will be funded by tax dollars. It’s now somebody else’s problem. It’s neat, for sure, but there’s only so much value the general public gets from something our kids might visit one time in their lives.

[BabaYaga 15213]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

That movie was stupid as hell.  And vastly entertaining.

Colonel Greg Gadson, I got to help drive him around at the Ol' MIss Game Texas played in years back in Oxford.  Good friend was a RB @ Miss but also great friends with Author Johnson, the Director of Athletics at Texas.  Mack brought him in to talk to the players at halftime.  So after the game we drove him back to his hotel.  Amazing guy.  Played on the line at WestPoint.  Lost both legs to an IED.  Guy's pretty special.  No CGI in that movie for him.  Did all his own stunts.  

2 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

From the article, that’s the conclusion of the legislature. The state is giving $35 million and cutting them off. No more future maintenance will be funded by tax dollars. It’s now somebody else’s problem. It’s neat, for sure, but there’s only so much value the general public gets from something our kids might visit one time in their lives.

Surly group buy?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

I like the idea of museum ships because they can spark interest in history. But I don't understand keeping something in water unless it will periodically move, like the USS Constitution.  Repair her, pull her into a permanent boat slip, and then fill it in.  I'm sure it's not quite that easy but some smart people should be able to figure out to do it so she's safe for another 100 years.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Nice Guy Eddie

[BabaYaga 15213]

9 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I like the idea of museum ships because they can spark interest in history. But I don't understand keeping something in water unless it will periodically move, like the USS Constitution.  Repair her, pull her into a permanent boat slip, and then fill it in.  I'm sure it's not quite that easy but some smart people should be able to figure out to do it so she's safe for another 100 years.

USS Texas belongs in Austin.  Put that big mother on campus, right outside DKR, and fly the biggest Texas flag we have over her!

[TwiceHorn 31283]

I did a deep dive on dreadnought and inter-war battleships.  Like most early 20th century US battleships, Texas was launched with cage masts.  Trivia, it was also the last coal-fired US battleship and the last with reciprocating steam engines.

The cage masts were replaced during a refit in the 20s, and they were on most battleships of the era as they were a pretty colossal failure.  Yet, this iconic photo of the Pearl Harbor attack shows two still with cage masts.

I had somehow assumed that Arizona had cage masts and was in this photo, but it's not, it's West Virginia and Tennessee, both of which were commissioned around the time Texas and Arizona were refitted with tripod masts.

Also interesting, these two ships, which survived to fight later, had turbo-electric propulsion installed.  They were hybrids!!

Edited August 30, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31283]

28 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Time to bring in the experts

 

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Chad Fuck 17567]

31 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

From the article, that’s the conclusion of the legislature. The state is giving $35 million and cutting them off. No more future maintenance will be funded by tax dollars. It’s now somebody else’s problem. It’s neat, for sure, but there’s only so much value the general public gets from something our kids might visit one time in their lives.

This is kind of a short sighted view.  Sure, maybe our kids visit one time in their lives.  If that's true for only half the kids in Texas, that's six million kids it could affect. 

While I get the maintenance costs are a huge issue, framing it as "well my kids would only visit once so it's of no value" is a weird way to evaluate historical artifacts. 

[Chad Fuck 17567]

34 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I like the idea of museum ships because they can spark interest in history. But I don't understand keeping something in water unless it will periodically move, like the USS Constitution.  Repair her, pull her into a permanent boat slip, and then fill it in.  I'm sure it's not quite that easy but some smart people should be able to figure out to do it so she's safe for another 100 years.

Constitution is an unusual case as she's still a fully commissioned US Navy ship, maintained by our sailors and our tax dollars. 

 

[Chad Fuck 17567]

10 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

better keep it ready to go. Never know when aliens might invade:

 

If we're going sci-fi battleships, this one is always #1 for me:

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

52 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

This is kind of a short sighted view.  Sure, maybe our kids visit one time in their lives.  If that's true for only half the kids in Texas, that's six million kids it could affect. 

While I get the maintenance costs are a huge issue, framing it as "well my kids would only visit once so it's of no value" is a weird way to evaluate historical artifacts. 

No to get CR but our state legislatures don't care about secular history.

[Chad Fuck 17567]

10 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

No to get CR but our state legislatures don't care about secular history.

I agree, there seems to be an emphasis on myth rather than fact.

But before I climb too far out onto that CR limb, to be honest, if it doesn't make money or bring in votes, the Leg isn't going to be terribly interested in it.  Especially if it costs more money than it brings in.  But there's no way to really tell that here.  How much can Battleship Texas attract in the future?  Who is going to gain/lose votes because of it?

The suggestion upthread to birth it next to Lexington seems to be a decent one.  I've been to a lot of museum ships, and I have to say by far the best maintained, with the best history program, was the USS Midway in San Diego.  It has been maintained in great condition and they educational programs for adults and kids are outstanding.  So there's a major metro area (lots of paying people to show up) and it's literally right across the bay from a major Naval station (lots of skilled vets to volunteer/maintain).  

Intrepid is probably a close second.  It trades an even bigger metro area to draw upon, but maybe less direct access to Navy vets compared to San Diego.  

Alabama is very well maintained, also near a major metropolitan area.

I think the only place in Texas that currently exists is in Corpus.  Willing to be proven wrong though.  

[CooterBrown 17913]

They should move it down to Corpus and park it next to the Lexington.    The success of the Lexington museum is due largely to number of retired Navy in this area who love to volunteer to help operate it.  Thus what money they make with admission, special events, etc goes to the upkeep. 

The problem is no one ever plans a trip around touring these ships. It’s always something else you do on your trip. For Corpus, the expense and effort would double but tourism income and donations would stay flat. No one that was going to Galveston will change their plans and go to CC just to walk on a second boat.

[Chad Fuck 17567]

1 minute ago, CooterBrown said:

The problem is no one ever plans a trip around touring these ships. It’s always something else you do on your trip. For Corpus, the expense and effort would double but tourism income and donations would stay flat. No one that was going to Galveston will change their plans and go to CC just to walk on a second boat.

Those people exist, and I've met them.  But this is a great point and you are absolutely correct they're a very small subset of people and not enough to make a difference in the big picture.  

[SquishMitten 10401]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

This is kind of a short sighted view.  Sure, maybe our kids visit one time in their lives.  If that's true for only half the kids in Texas, that's six million kids it could affect. 

While I get the maintenance costs are a huge issue, framing it as "well my kids would only visit once so it's of no value" is a weird way to evaluate historical artifacts. 

I don't completely disagree with you. But it's a cost-benefit analysis. Would I like to see it around forever? Sure. It's cool as hell. But it's expensive to keep floating. If that expense can be offloaded to the people who care about it the most, then I have no problem with that.

[GreenspointTexas 9568]

1) Texas, especially Houston, doesnt really give a shit about preserving history or historical buildings/sites. Its pathetic

 

2) There are 3 spots to place her in Texas.

In Galveston at Seawolf park/Moody Gardens marina/end of Pleasure Pier.

Next to Lexington.

Port Isabel by the Lighthouse.

 

Anywhere else aint gonna get the foot traffic and/or visitors.

 

 

[Brisketexan 104628]

3 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

1) Texas, especially Houston, doesnt really give a shit about preserving history or historical buildings/sites. Its pathetic

 

2) There are 3 spots to place her in Texas.

In Galveston at Seawolf park/Moody Gardens marina/end of Pleasure Pier.

Next to Lexington.

Port Isabel by the Lighthouse.

 

Anywhere else aint gonna get the foot traffic and/or visitors.

 

 

You missed the 4th spot:  somewhere in the Red River, where it can relentlessly shell Oklahoma.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

Texas has never really cared about the San Jacinto battlefield. It will become even that much more irrelevant wo the USS Texas.

I can understand that repairs are needed but it's odd that the Texas is going off to the dry docks without knowing where her permanent home will be. 

[Chad Fuck 17567]

7 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Texas has never really cared about the San Jacinto battlefield. It will become even that much more irrelevant wo the USS Texas.

I can understand that repairs are needed but it's odd that the Texas is going off to the dry docks without knowing where her permanent home will be. 

I had the same thought.  It's just so far out of the way and there's absolutely nothing else out there to see but petrochemical facilities.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

3 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

I had the same thought.  It's just so far out of the way and there's absolutely nothing else out there to see but petrochemical facilities.

In terms of a state historical building and artifacts, the San Jacinto monument is acceptable but you have to commit to 1/2 day on a visit. I'm sure school kids from La Porte, Pasadena or Texas City visit it but besides that it must be lonely out there.

A few years back I found myself with nothing to do during a work day so I wanted to see the USS Texas. But it had a leak and was listing too bad for visitors so I only toured the Monument. Some school kids were wrapping up their visit and I spent a hour or so looking around. 

[davidg 4029]

Spent a cold winter night on the battleship Texas when my son was a Webelo.   

 

They got to raise the colors over her which was a pretty cool thing to do

 

Would have sucked to be sleeping stacked 4 or 5 high 

 

 I hope they get her repaired and find a good place for her to reside.  I'm kinda partial to San Jacinto but anywhere they can put her and she will generate enough revenue to cover her maintenance will be fine.

 

[Reagan1k 3016]

If the legislature isn't going to fund it beyond the current allocation, it needs to be located within eyeshot of a Interstate like the Alabama so it can grab eyeballs.

Done right, it could generate enough gate fees to pair with preservation foundation funds or corporate sponsors to keep it around.

Would chew up someone's shoreline, so the right partner would be an entity looking to siphon off traffic into an area anyway; willing to trade shoreline for traffic.

 

[Nueces River Rat 5530]

4 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

The problem is no one ever plans a trip around touring these ships. It’s always something else you do on your trip. For Corpus, the expense and effort would double but tourism income and donations would stay flat. No one that was going to Galveston will change their plans and go to CC just to walk on a second boat.

I know it's not "the' draw, but there is decent chance for the preserving history the USS Texas would be embraced.    These old Navy dudes and dudettes for that matter who are retired down here live for this sort of thing.