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The USS Texas going to dry dock!

It's not going to Bahamas. Gulf Copper bought the drydock somewhere in south america (i think) and I guess they are refurbishing the drydock in Bahamas. The drydock is coming to Gulf Copper's shipyard in Galveston and the work to Texas will be done there.

Can't wait to see it towed to Galveston. I hope I can find a good spot to watch it float by.
 
mudtoy67 said:
It's not going to Bahamas. Gulf Copper bought the drydock somewhere in south america (i think) and I guess they are refurbishing the drydock in Bahamas. The drydock is coming to Gulf Copper's shipyard in Galveston and the work to Texas will be done there.
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Thanks for clarifying :laughing:
 
When I was down there in 2017 ir had a good amount of list to it and some of the lower decks were closed.

Honestly I think it would be cool to just dry dock it permanently so people can see what the hull looks like. And make it easier to maintain. I know they tout it being battle ready but it’s a floating museum. It won’t make it out of berth on its own power ever again.
 
Time to re-watch "Battleship'. (Best soundtrack eva.)
 
I remember tracking (on the computer) the towing of the Missoui BB63 from Bremington Wa. to Pearl Harbor. 1998. One sea tug.
 
Kyle said:
When I was down there in 2017 ir had a good amount of list to it and some of the lower decks were closed.

Honestly I think it would be cool to just dry dock it permanently so people can see what the hull looks like. And make it easier to maintain. I know they tout it being battle ready but it’s a floating museum. It won’t make it out of berth on its own power ever again.
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Easier to maintain to a degree. Still going to have corrosion and structural concerns. Loading is much more concentrated sitting on blocks than floating, which means more stress on the hull. Also need to have a pumping system to keep the basin dry. Finally, that's a considerable amount of land that has to be dedicated, and quite a lot on construction investment. Concrete under a drydock in tens of feet thick. Further, a fully relieved graving dock requires continual pumping of the drainage galleries to deal with intrusion - otherwise buoyancy will cause severe damage to the dock surprisingly quickly. Much easier to do for a smaller vessel like Albacore.
 
Kyle said:
When I was down there in 2017 ir had a good amount of list to it and some of the lower decks were closed.

Honestly I think it would be cool to just dry dock it permanently so people can see what the hull looks like. And make it easier to maintain. I know they tout it being battle ready but it’s a floating museum. It won’t make it out of berth on its own power ever again.
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i’ve talked to the head of the Battleship Texas Foundation on several occasions, as i understand the goal is a dry berth of some type after it gets patched up. They haven’t announced the final location, if they e even decided yet, but i’m putting my money on Galveston Harbor. It won’t be going back to the San Jacinto Battleground where it’s been up until now. I’m really hoping to get to do some more of the hard hat tours once the restoration is over,if my knees and ankles hold up that long..
 
sdmuleman said:
Easier to maintain to a degree. Still going to have corrosion and structural concerns. Loading is much more concentrated sitting on blocks than floating, which means more stress on the hull. Also need to have a pumping system to keep the basin dry. Finally, that's a considerable amount of land that has to be dedicated, and quite a lot on construction investment. Concrete under a drydock in tens of feet thick. Further, a fully relieved graving dock requires continual pumping of the drainage galleries to deal with intrusion - otherwise buoyancy will cause severe damage to the dock surprisingly quickly. Much easier to do for a smaller vessel like Albacore.
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When they parked the submarine in the yard near the USS Alabama, they cut a canal, built a levee to block it off, and raised the sub by pumping water into the new lake. From there, they shored it up, drained the lake, and opened it for tours a few hundred feet away from the bay.

Way smaller scale, but just another way they could do it without it being in a dry dock I guess.
 
DirtRoads said:
When they parked the submarine in the yard near the USS Alabama, they cut a canal, built a levee to block it off, and raised the sub by pumping water into the new lake. From there, they shored it up, drained the lake, and opened it for tours a few hundred feet away from the bay.

Way smaller scale, but just another way they could do it without it being in a dry dock I guess.
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Subs are different because they are much more well built being that they have to withstand the pressure at depth. They also don't have the 50 years of rust that Texas has, I don't think the ship has actually been 'floating' in years up until recently when they pumped it full of foam.

From what I have read and seen Texas is in pretty bad shape. I don't think it would stand drydocking for long. Hms victory(2,000 tons) has trouble with her drydocking and she was completely rebuilt and weighs nothing compared to Texas(27,000 tons).
 
mudtoy67 said:
It's not going to Bahamas. Gulf Copper bought the drydock somewhere in south america (i think) and I guess they are refurbishing the drydock in Bahamas. The drydock is coming to Gulf Copper's shipyard in Galveston and the work to Texas will be done there.

Can't wait to see it towed to Galveston. I hope I can find a good spot to watch it float by.
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I think they're getting one from Grand Bahama Shipyard, they had a crane collapse accident a few years ago that damaged one of the drydocks, so that'd make sense.

I was at that shipyard back in '08 for work (we supplied travel drives for the big cranes), got to crawl all over the drydock they used for cruise ships and cargo ships. I never realized a drydock that size was the kind of thing that you could sell and set up somewhere else.

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My reason for being there...

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Definitely will be interested to watch this whole process.
 
My grandfather served on the Texas in WW2 (he's 97 now). He worked in the powder magazines and hated it so much as soon as another assignment opportunity arose he took it - which up being the UDT in Fort Pierce FL in the fall of 1944.
 
DirtRoads said:
When they parked the submarine in the yard near the USS Alabama, they cut a canal, built a levee to block it off, and raised the sub by pumping water into the new lake. From there, they shored it up, drained the lake, and opened it for tours a few hundred feet away from the bay.

Way smaller scale, but just another way they could do it without it being in a dry dock I guess.
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The USS Cod is in Cleveland. It was towed to Erie last summer for some work, kind of cool to see it go by from the beach. There's no special cradle or anything, it's just moored not far from the Rock Hall.

Did the Battleship Texas tour in '82 while visiting some family friends in Houston. Nice day trip for a kid from out of town.
 
I was moving an AAGun as fast as it would go and smacked my cousin in the head with it. That was right before it went in to get freshened up in the 80s. We joked that his hard head was The reason it needed to be refurbed.
 
My eye doctor was out of Houston, usually it was dad and I driving down there, but my younger brother got to go with us and we toured what parts they allowed us back in the 70s. The only thing I remember was thinking they musy have all been midgets, because my 6 foot 200 pound frame had a heck of a time, finally I just went back up on deck and waited for them.
Glad to here they are going to work on the old girl!
 
Last of the Dreadnaughts. Magnificent ship. The Iowa class is an improvement tho. Such is progress usually. Not many vessels stand out in history to the general public. Such a shame. The stories of ships are of courageous men and great adventures. Accompanied by death and tragedy in many cases.
 
Has anyone seen a good rundown of what they are doing in drydock besides patching holes and restoration of equipment?
 
Pocahontas said:
Has anyone seen a good rundown of what they are doing in drydock besides patching holes and restoration of equipment?
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I thought there were some "on borrowed time" rust issues with a lot of the frames that need to be repaired and were the primary reason for the drydock getting done right now vs years from now.
 
arse_sidewards said:
I thought there were some "on borrowed time" rust issues with a lot of the frames that need to be repaired and were the primary reason for the drydock getting done right now vs years from now.
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I was looking for repairs to bulkheads a-e g-n skinning ship 2 feet above and below the water line ect. It could be they will figure out what all needs done when they pull the skin off.

I know she's a leaky old broad and this was pretty much the last chance she had to be saved. The last thing I remember them saying is that they spent 6 months spraying expanding foam into the hull in a bunch of spots to patch holes for the move and displace water.
 
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