A Final Visit to the Battleship Texas
At the San Jacinto Battleground - August 24th, 2019
Visit the Battleship Texas on the last weekend its open at San Jac
Erin comes along to experience the mighty ship a final time
The entire Houston area comes out and cars park in the over flow lot where the Monument Inn once stood
The ship will be closed and prepared for transit to an out of state drydock for much needed hull repair and may not return to San Jacinto
We will go visit it where ever its new home turns out
It is great to see the deck full of visitors today
The Texas was most powerful weapon in the world in 1913
We pay our entry fees and make our way to the concrete gangplank
The rusty sides tell the tale for its needed drydock excursion
Have never viewed the stern of the ship from the water
Come aboard at the #4 turrent and head below deck near #3
The only reason to join the Boy Scouts, to sleep aboard the Texas!
Arrive too late to fill our plate at the chow line
Pass by the mail room in 90° heat below deck
Find the first Texas' ship bell in the air conditioned Ward Room
Many other visitors view the ships silver settings in the cool Ward Room
Various dignitaries offered silver settings to the mighy warship
Good angles are hard to come by in the cramped quarters
This setting was presented to the 1895 Texas, renamed San Marcos in 1911
Awards and trophies won by the Texas in the nineteen teens
View out the port hole in the Ward Room toward the bathrooms
Visit the bathrooms, no heater needed today
Second deck dentist office
Soda Fountain and ship's store
Taylor shop and laundry room
Cool water would be greatly appreciated in the crew washroom
Plexiglass wisely put over the toilets in the bathrooms
People passing out on 3rd deck yesterday could have used the Sick Bay
Erin has been ready to back up top as it is hot below deck
Pass the operating room as we circle the second deck
The barber shop has three chairs but no mags to read
Radar Room - Texas was one of the first US warships with radar
Erin is happy to get back out into the cool 88 degree temps
Head forward from the #3 middle turret
Erin checks out the starboard side 5 inch guns
Pre WWI dreadnoughts hadn't put 5" guns in turrets yet
Rear starboard 5 inch gun discourages interlopers
Visit the forward starboard gun and continue toward the bow
20mm Oerlikon gun fired 450 explosive rounds/minute
Make our way beyond the forward big guns
I'll miss the view of the San Jacinto Monument from the Texas' future home
Line up our big guns portrait photo
Erin gets her photo with the Texas' forward 14 inch guns
David has posed here many times before and will so again
Angle on the anchor chain on one of two port side exits
Erin beside the #1 turret with line to glimpse inside it
We skip the turret line and check out the port side 5" guns
She aims the forward 5" gun towards daddy's car in the grass
The rear port 5" gun watches over the ship channel & Buffalo Bayou
Out of the covered first deck and back toward the #3 turret
Rear superstructure beyond the #3 turret
Look back at #3 and access to the sauna called second deck
Continue for a view of the #5 turret
Beyond which has been a ship restoration work area for many years
Raised #4 turret and access to below deck
Erin poses between a deck 3" gun and the #4 turret
The 1913 ship's bell is mounted below the rear superstructure
Angle for the middle turret barrels shot with forward superstructure
Another view of the broadside only middle turret
Erin climbs a deck 3" gun beside the rear superstructure
Erin with her 3" gun and the #3 turret
Every visitor has had their photo taken here the last 70 years
Instead of soap, some water seal should be used to swab the deck
Another view of the rear superstructure beyond the #3 turret
Erin mounts a port side 3" deck gun and takes aim at . . .
The 30 year younger, Ellington based, B-17 flying over the Texas
Port side overflow parking is full and with at least one car proudly sporting a San Jacinto Monument/Battleship Texas license plate
I think I see it, right before the red pickup
Not allowed to climb any higher than this in today's heat
Go ahead and climb into the machine gun nest with two 20mm Oerlikon guns
Port side guns haven't been refurbished too recently
Wish we could climb up to the pilot house, site of only combat death
People passed out from the heat yesterday & then its hard to get them down
Someday, we'll climb all the way up to the Battle Lookout Station
Raised view of San Jacinto Monument and turrets #2 and #1
Move further out to view visitors out on deck
Erin captures David on a quad Bofors 40mm gun mount with the Monument
Range Finders & Sky Lookouts extend out of the forward superstructure
Capture every angle including the cranes
Erin poses by David's JSC RaPID Lab coworker Mark
Look down on the #3 turret before heading back down
Just need four 105 lbs propellant charges to make these 14" shells giddy-up
Farewell Battleship Texas, come back home soon, fully repaired
Look back at turret #5 and we exit the ship
Close up view of the rusty hull that will soon fail w/o needed repairs
Walk out to try to get a stern photo of the Battleship Texas
Can see 35 but not quite the name "Texas" on the stern
Visitors will walk aboard her one more day at this location
What will be come of the gift shop and ticket booth when Texas is gone?
A final view of visitors boarding the Battleship Texas at San Jacinto
Erin poses before the starboard 5 inch guns
A panarama would have been more timely here
Get both docking posts with visitors boarding the Texas
All four docking posts holding the Texas steady
Erin makes her final visit to the Battleship Texas at the San Jacinto Monument
She is a grand ship, the former flagship of the US Navy
She took President Coolidge to a conference in Cuba
Walter Cronkite made his first war correspondence on her at Casablanca
She shelled Normandy, Cherbourg, Iwo Jima and Okinawa in WWII
May her new location have a parking lot this full when she returns from drydock and finds a new anchorage
The last dreadnought, the last warship that served both WWI & WWII
The first battleship with 14 inch guns (1914) and anti-aircraft guns (1916)
The first US Warship to launch an aircraft from its deck (1919)
Drop by the San Jacinto Monument on the way out, the cradle of Texas liberty
At 567 feet, it is 12 feet taller than the Washington Monument in DC
The Texans had asked no quarter & gave none, victory complete & Texas free!
A listing inside the museum of officers & men who fought at San Jacinto
Tell Pee Wee Herman the San Jacinto Monument has a basement!
The battleship Texas beyond the monument's reflecting pool