Tag Archives: Battleship Texas museum

Update to the USS Texas

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Well, the historic– the only Great War dreadnought preserved– USS Texas (Battleship No. 35) has been in dry dock and ongoing restoration at Gulf Copper in Galveston for just over 4 years (since August 2022).

Thankfully, she is looking great and is sporting much of a new deck.

The updates from the museum include:

New Home?

We’re proud to have finalized an agreement with the Galveston Wharves Board securing Pier 15 as the new home of Battleship Texas. Learn more at https://battleshiptexas.org/coming-soon

What’s Next?

Battleship Texas will remain at Gulf Copper Shipyard for now and restoration will continue until her new home at Pier 15 is ready for her.

Current Projects?

Ongoing work includes replacing the wooden deck, running electrical cabling around the ship, paint prep in interior spaces, replacing the turret watersheds, restoring the 20 mm, 40 mm, and 3″ guns, and other projects.

Touring?

No tours are being offered at this time. Specialty tours, like the Normandy Tour, Gunnery Tour, and Engineering Tour will return after our 2027 reopening.

Reopening?

There is a lot to be done before the ship is ready for touring at her new home at Pier 15, Galveston, Texas. We are targeting 2027 for reopening at Pier 15.

The most recent video update, below:

Battleship Texas has new permanent-ish home, afloat at Galveston

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Three years after being uprooted from her long-time shallow berth under the San Jacinto Monument– where she rested for nearly 75 years– USS Texas (Battleship No. 35), the country’s only Great War-era Dreadnought, has a new home.

As released yesterday by the Battleship Texas Foundation:

Big news for Battleship Texas! After years of hard work and dedication, we’re thrilled to have the support of the Wharves Board to bring TEXAS to Pier 15 in Galveston- just a short walk from Pier 21 and the historic Galveston Strand. TEXAS, the last ship of its kind, will promote tourism, educate future generations, and create a visitor experience worthy of her crew and legacy.

It’s about time this was ironed out.

For a deeper dive, The Houston Chronicle details that the spot next door to the port’s newest cruise ship terminal nails down a heartburn-filled effort and secures the historic ship’s future at least for the near term. She just completed a $40 million drydock and extensive refit, raised through a mix of state funds and private donations.

There are more steps to the process including paperwork and building shoreside infrastructure as well as getting everyone from the USCG on down to give a final stamp of approval, but it looks like she could be back on public display by the end of the year and looking better than ever.

It would have been better for her 110-year-old hull to be in fresh rather than brackish water, but as long as the Foundation gets in touch with some serious cathodic protection on the hull and splash zones, coupled with a strict internal monitoring program and aggressive maintenance, she should still be good to go for another couple of decades.