OT?-Petition To Save Battleship Texas

alskdjfhg · Oct 13, 2017

As Floodwaters Rise, a Moment of Reckoning for Battleship Texas | Houstonia

Sign The Petition – The Battleship Texas Foundation

Battleship Texas is sinking, again. She's had a long history of corrosion issues and leaks, but what's to be expected of a 105 year old ship? She was at Normandy, Okinawa and Iwo-Jimo to name a few.

They really need to quit messing around and build a dry dock for her, If I had the 50 million they'd probably need to do it, Id give it to them. But best I can do is sign their petition and link it here so maybe someone who hasn't seen it can sign.

At the end of the day I guess it's just 27,000 tons of iron, but it'll be sad to see it scraped. Always wanted to go on the tour of the engine room, but was too young at the time (had to be 14 to go down there). And now I never seem to have time for anything.

johnoder · Oct 13, 2017

I got to see the triple expansion engines - big un is 96" bore.

Recips of course, predating the commonplace turbines that came later

From the days when the Navy ran on COAL

rbdjr59 · Oct 13, 2017

I remember going on a tour of the Texas back in the 60's. I guess I was about 8 or 9. I slipped away from the group and made my way below until I came to the water line, in the ship. There have been a couple of half hearted attempts at refurbishment since then and I am sure you could never go down below like I did then with all of the lawsuits and such we have now. It is a fantastic piece of history and it would be a shame for it to be lost. They have been doing a lot of work on the San Jacinto Monument lately, hopefully they will fix up the Texas as well. I signed the petition.

Robert Lang · Oct 13, 2017

We can't spend 40 million dollars to save the ship but we can spend billions of dollars for sports stadiums.
One billion for just one here in Minnesota.

Rob

partsproduction · Oct 13, 2017

We can't spend 40 million dollars to save the ship but we can spend billions of dollars for sports stadiums.

And the ship will always honor the brave sailors unlike what is seen in stadiums recently.
I signed this and hope to someday get to see it, a Dreadnought!

I forgot, a PRE Dreadnaught, with recips.

alskdjfhg · Oct 13, 2017

partsproduction said:
I forgot, a PRE Dreadnaught, with recips.

The Texas is a Dreadnought, the last one from the WWI era.

johnoder said:
I got to see the triple expansion engines - big un is 96" bore.

Recips of course, predating the commonplace turbines that came later

From the days when the Navy ran on COAL

I've visited the ship a few times, one trip that sticks out is when I went with John Conney. He joined the merchant marines at 17 in early 1944. He wasn't at D-Day, but would be on ships that had be there not long after D-Day.

He started as an oiler (or some other lowly rank), and eventually worked his way up to be chief engineer.

He knew marine reciprocating and turbine steam plants like the back of his hand. Had countless stories of all sort about the war, and his later adventures.

He's still alive, turned 90 a couple months ago, next time he's in Houston I'm going to try and take him back to the Texas and maybe get down into the engine room.

He's quite a character; not the most mobile now, but even when Dad and I meet him probably over 10 years ago, he could still put in a day work. Neat guy too listen to and learn from.

9100 · Oct 13, 2017

Robert Lang said:
We can't spend 40 million dollars to save the ship but we can spend billions of dollars for sports stadiums.
One billion for just one here in Minnesota.

Rob

The Saint Louis Mercantile Library is the oldest library west of the Mississippi, at least until you get to Tokyo. Even though they owned their building, they had reached the point where they could not continue. They approached the various civic groups that were panting over getting the football Rams moved here. Nada. Watching retarded goons give each other concussions was more important than housing the library's incredible collection, besides books, the Barringer railroad collection and the Ruth Ferris steamboat collection, probably the best in the world. A couple of Audubon double elephant folios to boot. Finally, Blanche Touhill, who was dean of The University of Missouri Saint Louis at the time, found a place for it. She moved the collection AND kept the employees to run it. Great lady.

The Rams blackmailed the city into building them a stadium and now they are gone and we have an empty stadium. Then all these civic nutcases wanted to bring a soccer team here, but the old stadium didn't suit them and we needed to build yet another one. You can guess how I voted on that one. Saint Louis is a baseball town, anyway.

Bill

rj1939 · Oct 14, 2017

My only opportunity to see the Texas, was when I was down there in the late 80's. It was on the verge of, or under repair then, so no tours possible. Doubt that I'll have the opportunity again.

EastTex01 · Oct 14, 2017

Most if not all of the multi-million dollar high school football cathedrals built in Texas are financed through bond sales. I suppose if the citizens wanted the ship fixed badly enough, they could raise a bond to gather the funds. It's sure be a sad day if she sunk.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

moonlight machine · Oct 14, 2017

Robert Lang said:
We can't spend 40 million dollars to save the ship but we can spend billions of dollars for sports stadiums.
One billion for just one here in Minnesota.

Rob

The public trough is expected to cough up millions for stadiums so ignorant millionaire "athletes" can snub our flag, I for one am done with the nfl and any other team that "takes a knee". nfl = no fans left.......

partsproduction · Oct 14, 2017

The Texas is a Dreadnought, the last one from the WWI era.

In many aspects yes, but Fisher's Dreadnaught had turbine power, and that was one of the aspects common to dreadnaughts from what I read. With a precipitating engine many would not have called it a true Dreadnaught.

Another was the standardization of calibers, all big guns except the smaller anti torpedo boat guns, prior to Dreadnaught battleships often had 12" and 10" or 8" guns, which made shot spotting more difficult if I recall correctly.

WILLEO6709 · Oct 14, 2017

I thought there were 12’s on the Texas? Maybe 2 per turret but 12’s x maybe 40 caliber length where iowa class was up to 16 x 45’s

old_dave · Oct 14, 2017

Texas has 10 14 inch - 45's in five twin mount turrets. Iowa class has nine 16 inch - 50's. This from my trusty _The Ships and Aircraft of the United States Fleet_ by James C. Fahey. Copyright 1945.
David

old_dave · Oct 15, 2017

My same reference also comments that Texas and her sister ship New York were rebuilt 1925-1927; this included converting from burning coal to burning oil.
David

SouthBendModel34 · Oct 16, 2017

I hope they save her. She's not the only museum ship which the National Maritime Historical Society considers to be "on a lee shore," i.e. threatened.

Toured the ship circa 1972 when I was a teen. Felt bad that some equipment had been stripped and a few things, like gauge glasses, seemed to have been vandalized.

I was very impressed, even then, by the huge connecting rods. They had the bottom of the engine floodlit, so you could see them well.

The 5"/51 secondary guns seemed just as interesting as the main armament. Both are "bag guns" that load the shell first, then powder in silk bags.

About four years later, I had a summer job where my supervisor had been a CPO Gunner's Mate {hope I remembered the name of the rating correctly] on the Texas before and during the war. He had a lot to tell, including going through a storm in the North Atlantic which resulted in topside steel ladders being twisted and torn! He got a kick out of seeing some professional pictures of the ship which I'd purchased.

John Ruth

gking86 · Oct 17, 2017

9100 said:
The Saint Louis Mercantile Library is the oldest library west of the Mississippi, at least until you get to Tokyo. Even though they owned their building, they had reached the point where they could not continue. They approached the various civic groups that were panting over getting the football Rams moved here. Nada. Watching retarded goons give each other concussions was more important than housing the library's incredible collection, besides books, the Barringer railroad collection and the Ruth Ferris steamboat collection, probably the best in the world. A couple of Audubon double elephant folios to boot. Finally, Blanche Touhill, who was dean of The University of Missouri Saint Louis at the time, found a place for it. She moved the collection AND kept the employees to run it. Great lady.

The Rams blackmailed the city into building them a stadium and now they are gone and we have an empty stadium. Then all these civic nutcases wanted to bring a soccer team here, but the old stadium didn't suit them and we needed to build yet another one. You can guess how I voted on that one. Saint Louis is a baseball town, anyway.

Bill

Neat. I'll have to check out the collection someday soon. Always looking for things to do with my kids besides go to the Magic House for the 900th time.

9100 · Oct 17, 2017

gking86 said:
Neat. I'll have to check out the collection someday soon. Always looking for things to do with my kids besides go to the Magic House for the 900th time.

The main library is The Jefferson Library and the Mercantile Library is in its basement. It isn't nearly as cool as the hardwood finished reading room in the building next to the Boatman's Bank building, but they preserved the collections.

Ruth Ferris was my fifth grade teacher. She fed us the required reading, riting and rithmatic, then spent the rest of the time stuffing our little heads with St. Louis and river lore. I'm sure we didn't really appreciate much of it but many years later I would see something on the river and realize that I knew why it was there because Miss Ferris told me about it. John Hartford, who is best known for writing the song "Gentle on My Mind", was in the next class after me. He credited her with completely changing the course of his life and did a concert for her at the Jefferson Memorial, AKA History Museum. Her comment on him was "He was a difficult little boy."

She died at the peak of the '93 flood, which may have some sort of poetic meaning, but I can still visit her collection.

Bill

Search

Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web

Search

OT?-Petition To Save Battleship Texas

alskdjfhg

Diamond

johnoder

Diamond

rbdjr59

Cast Iron

Robert Lang

Stainless

partsproduction

Titanium

alskdjfhg

Diamond

9100

Diamond

rj1939

Stainless

EastTex01

Plastic

moonlight machine

Diamond

partsproduction

Titanium

WILLEO6709

Diamond

old_dave

Stainless

old_dave

Stainless

SouthBendModel34

Diamond

gking86

Plastic

9100

Diamond

Similar threads