Get the Kid a Tee-Shirt

It has been 77 years since she was last angry and fired at anyone.

          At 110 ten years old, she is showing some age, and  even though she was born with her “matronly” shape, she somehow still is able to maintain that figure when, in comparison,  all of her contemporaries have faded from memory and have passed on into history.

          If you feel another History Lesson is coming your way, you would be correct.

          But I promise to keep it short!

          Almost exactly one month and year to the date of the day the RMS Titanic foundered, The USS Texas was launched in Newport News, Virginia. The Texas is a ship of firsts, both in battle and peace.

          She was the first to have anti-aircraft weapons installed to fight that pesky new-fangled contraption, the airplane.

          She was the first US battleship to launch an airplane, and one of the first to employ another new idea and invention…. Radar.

          In peacetime, she was the first to become a permanent Museum Ship, the first to become a National Landmark and the only WW I era dreadnaught battleship still with us today, and she is still afloat!

          There is something about still doing what it was designed to do that must be an alluring aspect because it would seem to me that it would be far easier to prepare a harborside site somewhere, float her (or any ship) in, pump out the water and fill in around it, and never have the upkeep of a floating hull again.

          But no.

          That is not what is done with these awesome Museum-type ships.

          The respective organizations charged with the safe-keeping and maintenance of these vessels go to the ends of the seven seas to keep them afloat.

          Oh, and by the way, The USS Texas is the only battleship that fought in both WW I and WW II.

          Currently she faces the issues that I alluded to earlier, that is the ravages of Mother Nature on any man-made object that was not designed to last forever. The Texas lies in her berth just off of the Houston Ship Canal in San Jacinto State Park. She has undergone several re-fits and refurbishments in her storied career, all in an effort to preserve her for future generations to visit ….. and learn.

          Not too long ago, she was leaking to the tune of over a thousand gallons a minute and had numerous pumps working full-time in order to keep her afloat. Thanks to some timely repairs aided by some generous Texas based corporations, that number is now down to about fifty gallons a minute.

          Now that is a number that can be dealt with.

          Nonetheless, she is slated for a full-on, incredibly needed, much deserved, overhaul at a drydock in Galveston, about 75 miles away. Shortly, she will be towed there as soon as everything that needs to be prepped has been completed.

          From there, when the work is finished, she will be searching for a new home. It’s not that the present location is bad, it is just not good.   It is very easy to get to, but like they say, “It’s off the beaten path”.

          I took the trip there on Sunday because this past weekend was the last time that the Texas would be open to the public before she goes into that drydock in Galveston. It’s about two hours from where we are in Brenham to Houston’s port where the Texas is berthed. I wound my way in, around, and through the refineries that seem to stretch to the horizon.  In comparison, this place makes the refineries that line the NJ Turnpike in the Bayway section between  Linden and Elizabeth look like Bob’s Filling Station where Bob would actually pump your gas and clean your windshield.

          So, no one is just aimlessly driving by and saying, “Hey Look! It’s the USS Texas, let’s go visit her!”

          Nope. That is not happening.

           In order to generate the dollars needed for her maintenance, a more suitable location is being sought. One that has an already built-in or visible base to draw from. There are several towns that have expressed an interest in the Texas, one of them being Galveston. Having visited that port last year, I believe that is where she will end up and all things considered, is probably the best place for a permanent berth. Galveston is a resort town, a Cruise Port, and has the infrastructure to handle another large attraction.

          I watched as the kid scrambled over the same massive anchor chain that I was avoiding for fear of tripping over it. He clambered around in his brandy-new USS Texas tee-shirt that his dad must have bought him when they came on board. I had seen him previously back amidships plying the elderly docents with a plethora of questions and I could see that the guy stationed here at the bow was soon to be peppered with yet another barrage of young, inquisitive, queries.

          I watched the face of the man as the kid approached.

          It was all smiles.

          Someone has to tell the stories important and tales valiant, so when that kid grows up, and brings his kids to get their tee shirts, he can say, “I remember…..”