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For those who may have a flexible travel schedule ...


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... the Battleship Texas Foundation has announced that the drydock tours of the Texas in Galveston have been extended into June & July,  including July 30 before the convention.   The tours are on Sundays when the normal industrial work is at a minimum.  Tours are about an hour and you walk on the dock deck to examine the hull.   The ship herself is not open.   Tour cost is a donation to support the restoration effort.   Salvaged material is being made into souvenirs and there is a gift shop.  The ship is currently scheduled to exit the drydock in August.  More work to be done topside at that time.   No final location of the ship announced yet, although Beaumont and Baytown have been eliminated/

I could see the itinerary of starting in the morning in Galveston, then driving to Fredericksburg for a day or two at the Nimitz museum before arriving in San Marcos on Wednesday

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Got home today from my trip to Galveston to see the Texas in drydock.    My birthday present to me.

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The shipyard is working 6 days a week on the Texas.  Sundays are available to the Battleship Texas foundation to offer tours as a fundraiser (drydock time is $10K per day).   Got an hour & half + tour around the drydock deck,  mostly looking up.   But did get a chance to walk under and touch the docking keels (missing on the Trumpeter model!)    That big honkin' wart on the nose is the paravane downhaul fitting.

The black lower hull coating is an epoxy coating applied in the 1988 cosmetic refit.   The beige is the waterline area where it was blasted to remove the scum.   A coat of primer was applied to protect the metal until painting.   Above is the Measure 21 Navy Blue overall.   This again is the 1988 paint application with a modern commercial paint.   The battleship foundation folks are pleased with how it held up, and will go back over with the same.

The majority of the work is replacing the torpedo blisters and fixing the hull damage where the skin failed.    Over the years cement salvage patches and injectable foam were used.   These have been described as torniquets to keep the patient alive until higher care can be reached.   They are now jackhammering the cement out and waterjetting the foam.  New torpedo blisters are being fabricated and installed.  Failed hull sections are getting new steel plates or doublers.

Like I noted above, they're now offering tours in June & July.   The plan shared is to leave the drydock in late-August or September.   She will still remain dockside to complete interior work that doesn't necessitate  drydocking.    Beaumont & Baytown are still out of the running,    Apparently negotiations are underway to finalize a location and scope of work for a permanent facility.   Tourism numbers are a major driver.   A docent said that they've had people come off the cruise ships docked in Galveston and see the Texas in the drydock across the harbor and have tried to arrange a tour on the spot.  No luck.

Once I get my pictures in a better order I'll post more

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That is so cool!  I do hope they leave her in Galveston alongside the Lady Lex near the cruise ships. USS Iowa is next to the cruise ship loading docks and they get tons of traffic from them.

 

Thank you for these pics, looking forward to seeing more.

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47 minutes ago, Mark Deliduka said:

That is so cool!  I do hope they leave her in Galveston alongside the Lady Lex near the cruise ships. USS Iowa is next to the cruise ship loading docks and they get tons of traffic from them.

Err, umm,   Galveston is about 4 hours away from Corpus Christi & the Lexington. 
 

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Across the harbor from the seaport area.   This past weekend was the Galveston Tall Ship Challenge, including the hometown favorite Elissa, the Pride of Baltimore II, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy's boat, and the NAO Trinidad replica of one of Columbus' ships.    That and beer ...

Pictures working down the starboard side.    The blue is the 1988 cosmetic refit commercial paint.  It has held up well and they plan on going back with the same material.  The hull will be totally repainted before leaving the drydock.  The rusty red is the new torpedo blisters, primed.   They built the forward third of the blister piece by piece to fair smoothly with the hull.   The after 2/3 are shop-made parts attached as units.   They'll do the same on the port side.  Instead of smoothly fairing the bottoms of the blisters into the lower hull as was done in the 1925 refit they are truncating them just below the waterline.  This gives realistic appearance and will be easier to maintain (access, pump, and paint).   The blisters are primed and painted on the interior before installation.  One of these photos shows the access manway between blister sections.   That is not someone's pants leg, rather it is an air supply duct.

Interesting piece of history showing at frame 36  (F36).   That us a piece of 1912 teak that was the crush surface on the bottom of one of the docking keels.  Still doing its job after 111 years of submersion.  The redhat was the docent tour guide -- he can touch, but someone did pick up the chip off the deck.

More as I get around to it ...

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On 4/18/2023 at 3:52 PM, EFGrune said:

Err, umm,   Galveston is about 4 hours away from Corpus Christi & the Lexington. 
 

Well, gee, if I'm going to make a complete idiot of myself, I might as well do it right, yeah? Go big or go home! Thank you for the clarification, I don't know what I was thinking..

 

These pictures are fantastic I love being able to watch this happen here since I would never have the opportunity to see this in person.

 

I love the shot of Columbus' ship; I was on the Santa Maria replica moored in the river in the middle of Columbus Ohio. What a blast!

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Thats ok.    Everyone has heard about how big Texas is, they see it on a map.   But I can leave my house and drive west, and 8 to 10 hours later I'm still in Texas.   Until you drive it you don't know.   

Some more pix. continuing down the starboard and around the stern.   Looking up, the starboard 5"/51 guns swung out.   Those on the port side have been removed and are being refurbished at the Foundation's warehouse.   No crane access for these, they'll pull these later after drydocking.

They're replacing a lot of steel   These are outer hull showing the original 1912 framing

And the rudder.   Here are some details to add to your Trumpeter kit,  zinc attachments and access panels.   The rudder is set at 14 degrees,  supposedly the last rudder angle ordered when docked in 1948.  Thats their story and their sticking to it.  Regardless, the rudder motor was triple redundant -- steam, electrical, and manpower -- and the gearing is rusted solid.   Cost/benefit analysis if leave it as is.   One of those panels on the rudder stock also supposedly enclosed beef tallow for lubrication back in 1912.    There have been no volunteers to open and check 110 year old beef fat.  The oval panel at the center top is were the Navy cut the prop shaft supports in 1948.    They removed the props, prop shafts, and supports as part of the transfer to museum ship status.  A photo of the tour group under the rudder for scaling.   We were loaned those stylish yellow hats, and there was a dress code of no shorts and must wear closed toe shoes.

Going around to the port side aft, the damage where they are replacing the inner and outer hull panels.   They are cutting back to good steel then will replace the panels.   Shown too is some of the remaining concrete salvage patches that were placed  when trying to keel her afloat.   They're jackhammering that away.   They also used expanding foam in places.   That has been cut up and washed out using high pressure water jets.   Also visible is a fiberglass patch at the waterline.   The port side will be handled like the starboard, the forward torpedo blister fairing is being built in place and shop manufactured sections will be added.

Jumping all the way to the bow, another detail to add to your trumpeter kit,  the paravane hauldown fixture.    Chains run from the deck through this allowed the mine sweeping paravanes to be pulled down and flown through the water at the necessary depth.   See the chalk mark F0, Frame Zero.   This is the base point from which all fore/aft measurements are made, the length between perpendiculars.  The Length Overall accounts for the bulb nose.    The other chalk parks are the hull plate thickness as determined by fancy X-rays

 

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Wow, amazing pictures again! I cazn't express my appreciation enough for these.

 

Yeah, I did drive across Texas on Interstate 10 as I was moving from Florida to California. I stayed for a couple weeks with a friend in San Antonio, but subtracting all that time there, my total driving time was over 18 hours!  I almost felt like I was going to drive over the edge of the world before I ever left Texas!

 

It's such a great state! I loved staying in San Antonio!

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