Visitors to Battleship Texas will have until the end of 2019 to tour the 107-year-old piece of history which is presently docked at the San Jacinto Battleground. Due to declining numbers, this piece of our past will pull up its anchors and leave its present berth, which it has held for seven decades.
The historic battleship will be moved permanently from its home in the Houston area, due to cost, according to Bruce Bramlett of the Battleship Texas Foundation. There currently aren’t enough people visiting the ship to support its maintenance. “We need to get somewhere where there’s a lot of people,” Bramlett told abc13.com.
Photo: Facebook/Dan D Edwards
Although a bill passed the Texas legislature unanimously to provide Battleship Texas $35M toward its repairs prior to its departure, there has been no word with respect to its new location. The bill is presently on its way to the office of Governor Greg Abbott for review. The anticipated repairs are proposed to happen before the battleship is able to leave its port for the new location at the close of 2019. “At the end of the day, I think people will be really excited about the things we have planned,” Bramlett noted to abc13.com.
Photo: Facebook/Kevin Canada
In June 2017, it was reported that the famed dreadnought had closed for viewing due to necessary repairs for leaks. It reopened that same month, following the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s announcement that divers had fixed excessive leaks which were happening 15 feet below the surface. The USS Texas was first launched in 1912. It saw action throughout both World Wars and was decommissioned in 1948. Since then, its mission became that of a floating museum, moored in La Porte, outside the San Jacinto Battleground for tours by the public.
