Photo: Courtesy of Battleship Texas Foundation
Earlier this year, the historic Battleship USS Texas received a new paint job to match its coloring while serving in World War II, as a part of a $60 billion repair project at a drydock in Galveston, Texas. The Battleship Texas Foundation, a nonprofit organization in charge of the ship’s maintenance and marketing, announced the new paint project along with news that steel repairs on the hull had been completed.
The ship, which had been dry-docked for the last 18 months at the Galveston Harbor in Texas, is now reportedly headed back into the water as part of a re-floating process to continue its ongoing, multi-million-dollar restoration.
Photo: Courtesy of Battleship Texas Foundation
The 573-foot-long by 95-foot-beam ship was the last remaining dreadnought-style vessel used in both world wars. Decommissioned in 1948, the USS Texas was the first U.S. battleship to be converted into a memorial museum.
By the late 1960s, the ship’s hull was leaking, with the wooden deck also rotting and leaking badly. In 1971, $50,000 in charitable funding helped the hull get abrasive blasted and recoated. In 1988, the ship was towed to a Galveston dry dock, where it had 15% of its hull replaced at a total cost of $15 million.
In 2007, Texas voters approved a $25 million bond to get the ship dry-berthed to try to halt deterioration, but the funds did not disburse until June of 2010. The wait resulted in a corroding hull and new leaks in the ship.
Then, in 2013, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department awarded a $17.5 million contract to a North Carolina-based marine contractor for upkeep of the battleship museum. Two additional alternate work items were included as part of the final award amount.
Photo: Courtesy of Battleship Texas Foundation
The USS Texas was set to receive repairs on its deteriorating interior steel decking and its severely corroded framing along the bottom of the vessel. The framing served as a support for two engine rooms.
New steel framing was to be welded to the existing frame. Both the replacement deck and new steel frame were also to be abrasive blast-cleaned to a Near White Metal finish (SSPC-SP 10/NACE No. 2) and recoated with an epoxy system.
The project also involved abating hazardous materials, including the ship’s existing paint, which was presumed to contain lead and asbestos. Containment was required. Officials had also reportedly estimated the cost of completely dry-berthing the ship at $80 million.
Photo: Courtesy of Battleship Texas Foundation
However, by June 2017, the battleship was reportedly facing an uncertain future because of extensive corrosion found throughout the ship.
The battleship was closed down when crews at the site where it was docked in LaPorte, Texas, noticed that the ship was off-kilter. A sudden leak had caused the vessel to list to one side, and an investigation began to turn up a number of holes.
Dive teams and emergency crews had to patch a 6-by-8-inch hole, the first of seven found. Later, a total of 13 holes had been uncovered, and water was still pouring into the ship, according to reports.
The USS Texas was reportedly dealing with corrosion everywhere on the ship, and another $17.5 million in repairs from a $25 million allocation in 2015 had been underway at the time, with a projected completion date in early 2018.
“This story is about the fight between water and steel, and water always wins that fight,” Bruce Bramlett, Executive Director of the Battleship Texas Foundation, told The Houston Chronicle at the time.
Photo: Courtesy of Battleship Texas Foundation
As part of the most recent repainting work, the ship’s hull was coated with a special epoxy to guard against corrosion. The new coating is reportedly in the traditional shade of 5-N Navy Blue, matched from existing samples taken from both inside and outside of the ship, and mirrors the ship’s camouflage scheme when entering the Pacific Theater in WWII.
According to the report, the battleship participated in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, making the USS Texas one of only two museum ships currently decked out in their wartime coloring. New hull numbers have also been painted to match their positioning in 1945, down to the font.
According to the foundation, during that most recent work, some “troublesome areas” of steel were found once the abrasive blast-cleaning had been performed. These areas were reportedly repaired, then re-blasted and coated before the ship was submerged in the water once again.
In total, crews replaced over 700 tons of steel, in addition to painting the hull and undergoing quality control checks. Meanwhile, work has reportedly continued on the deck, superstructure, and aft fire control area.
Photo: Courtesy of Battleship Texas Foundation
The repaired and repainted battleship, which had been drydocked at Gulf Copper Dry Dock & Rig Repair’s shipyard for maintenance since August 2022, was reportedly lowered into the water on March 5 and taken on a short voyage to another part of the property, where crews will continue to work on the 122-year-old dreadnought over the next 18 to 24 months.
A report from The Houston Chronicle explained that tugboats were used to pull the ship into its new location for ongoing restoration efforts, which will reportedly include maintenance on the deck, interior rooms and superstructures, such as the radar and bridge towers, as well as maintenance coating work.
“It’s a huge milestone for the ship to go back into the water from her previous condition to where she is now,” said Matt Pham, the vice president of development for the Battleship Texas Foundation, which is the ship’s state-appointed caretaker. “We couldn’t be more excited.”
Pham stated that the plan is to change the Battleship Texas into a new tourist attraction with air conditioning, interactive exhibits, augmented reality and guided tours.
Though agreements have not yet been finalized, Pham explained that the long-term plan for the battleship is for it to become part of a Landry’s Inc. development at Pier 21 in Galveston. Landry’s is a multi-brand company, owned by Galveston native Tilman Fertitta, who also owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets.
The ship still has some time before it will be ready for the trip across the harbor to its long-term home at Pier 21, which the foundation hopes will happen in early 2025.
“The progress that we’ve seen has been incredible,” Pham said. “We couldn’t be more happy.”
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