According to this AP report, the Battleship Texas needs some serious repairs:
Age, relentless corrosion from saltwater and tight budgets are doing what no bombs, torpedoes or bullets could accomplish.
Sixteen years after the state spent $14 million to help preserve it, the nearly century-old Battleship Texas — the only remaining battleship to survive World Wars I and II — needs an overhaul to keep it from rusting away.
“The ship is in need of significant repair,” said Steve Whiston, director of the infrastructure division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which maintains the 573-foot-long, 34,000-ton vessel in a berth on the Houston Ship Channel. “There is corrosion at the water line. We’re continuing to experience problems that cause us concern. And the ship, given its age, is pretty fragile.”So fragile that chronically leaky air tanks — known as blisters and added to the exterior during the 1920s for stability — sprung a serious leak one recent night. Workers were greeted the next morning with the ship sporting a 4-degree starboard list.
“It got all of us excited but we’re satisfied it’s stable,” Whiston said.
The water was pumped out and the leak was patched, at least temporarily.
“If you are going to acknowledge you’re going to keep some historic ships, there is a very strong argument this is at least as good, if not the best, one to keep,” said Barry Ward, curator of the Texas.
Ward said the ship is a unique piece of technology in terms of the time period it represents. “This goes from the very beginning of the age of flight through the nuclear age,” he said.
The battleship is a great place to visit. The history of the ship is fascinating and you can go all over that big boat, exploring below-deck quarters, checking out the mess hall, sitting in the anti-aircraft gun seats and climbing up the main mast, among other things.
Let’s hope she can be repaired and enjoyed for years to come.
