I have been here several times it's awesome!!

Wilmington North Carolina

Battleship Texas traveling to Galveston in 2022. pic.twitter.com/Ki2dQmMn2O

— The Salty Dog Galveston (@SaltyDGalveston) September 6, 2025

The Battleship Texas in New York circa 1930. That's the Williamsburg bridge in the bacground. The ship is probably docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and had come into the harbor thru Long Island Sound. Really a cool shot. pic.twitter.com/H6cU5KS5jR

— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) September 13, 2025

LMCane said:

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I have been here several times it's awesome!!

Wilmington North Carolina

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I went through there a few years ago, and I was much more impressed with what I saw there than what I remember from the Battleship Texas. The last time I went to the Texas was probably more than thirty years ago.

A big difference may be that the Texas went through an extra world war and decades more service than the North Carolina. However, I think the North Carolina has been much better preserved since decommissioning. I thought the exhibits were well set up and really gave you an idea what life was like for a World War II sailor.

Vestal_Flame said:

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I've visited USS Midway and USS Lexington, and I came away from the visit to USS Midway with the fixed conviction that the key to preserving a ship is to generate the flow of foot traffic that enables a proper budget for proper curation and maintenance.

To that end, the bay side of Galveston will be much better than San Jacinto. Visiting San Jacinto is a pain in the neck for everyone. Visiting the bay side of Galveston is convenient for, quite literally, thousands of people.

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That's the plan. I believe the magic number they had was something like 200k visitors a year would keep the ship afloat and in good shape, and the extra money received from the state/donations/foundations will go to expanding the tourable areas of the ship.

I know the Texas was pretty much the first museum ship in the US, and they didn't know what they were doing early on. A lot of what has been learned about preserving ships was done through trial and error with the Texas, with most of that being what not to do (flooding fuel tanks with seawater and sinking her into the mud being one, covering decks with concrete being another). Most of the other museum ships had a longer post-war service life than Texas as well. The Iowa class went well into the 90's, and, I think, are technically still considered mothballed for naval purposes, and the Midway didn't go into service until after WWII.

And yes...San Jacinto was a pain. I never truly understood the mindset of stashing the Texas at the battleground, other than the namesake reasons. Between the refineries, out of the way location, and some of the worst damn mosquitoes outside of the Everglades, the only people visiting were school groups and die hard history buffs.

The Battleship Texas gets some love in the BBC documentary "The Dreadnaughts of Scapa Flow," in which it is recognized as the only remaining Dreadnaught-type battleship in the world. (8:17)

I do not understand berthing this ship in salt water, or even water at all. This multimillion repair will have to be repeated every thirty - forty years. They will need to start another fundraising effort soon.

If they want to truly preserve the grand lady, why not protect her?

Through past studies and estimates, they know the cost for a dry berth vs berthing her at Pier 15 where visitor count should be much higher than in the past and be able to meet her upkeep needs in the Galveston Channel waters.

mortal said:

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I do not understand berthing this ship in salt water, or even water at all. This multimillion repair will have to be repeated every thirty - forty years. They will need to start another fundraising effort soon.

If they want to truly preserve the grand lady, why not protect her?

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I think there are also severe downsides to dry-berthing a ship of this size. It was designed to be on water, and its weight would eventually cause collapse. There's also the way they preserved the Mikasa, but placing it in concrete will cause problems too

I asked the same question the last time I toured her, just before they moved her.
The answer I was given was that to do that they would have to gut everything below the main deck and essentially fill her with struts and concrete. The hull would eventually rust away to nothing and it would just be the main deck and above that would be preserved.

That is essentially what they have done with the IJN Mikasa. She is preserved at the secondary gun deck just below the main deck. She is also a much smaller and older ship than the USS Texas.

By keeping the Texas at the pier with more attention and better attendance driving funding upkeep will be possible that will prevent the need for major future overhauls.

What USS Texas needs is a dry indoor museum, like the Vasa or U-505.

Sure, USS Texas is roughly 25x the displacement of either of those ships, but why the hell not?

More seriously, the "foot traffic" factor is real.

In spite of having lived the first 18 years of my life in Houston and probably never having lived a full year that did not include a visit to Harris County, I suspect that I have only once visited USS Texas.

In spite of never having lived in Chicago, I have visited U-505 on at least three separate occasions. It's simply more convenient. I've also visited Elissa at Galveston on at least 3 occasions, and she will be right next to the new location of USS Texas.

FWIW, the Vasa is also conveniently located, such that any business that puts you in the center of Stockholm puts you within an easy walk to the Vasamuseet.

Agreed. If I had flown to Stockholm only for that ship, and returned immediately afterward, it would have been worth the hassle.

The Vasa is absolutely worth a trip. Lots of information about the ships in many exhibits.

Really a pretty neat video about the USS Texas:

That documentary is really solid.

For those finding themselves in Portsmouth, England the Mary Rose is a sight to behold. Very cool.

Plus the HMS Victory is there as well which is also an incredible experience.

Plenty of other boats too. Really an incredible place to visit.

flown-the-coop said:

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For those finding themselves in Portsmouth, England the Mary Rose is a sight to behold. Very cool.

Plus the HMS Victory is there as well which is also an incredible experience.

Plenty of other boats too. Really an incredible place to visit.

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I walked around Portsmouth in June 2024 and visited the Sea Castle and DDay Museum, as well as other sites of interest

Royal Caribbean is planning to homeport Icon of the Seas at Galveston in August of 2027. The ship carries a crowd of something like10k people. The foot traffic aboard Texas will benefit from that crowd.

A sailor onboard the USS Battleship Texas as it as on North Atlantic convoy duty, 1942.

Taken by Frank Schershel for Life Magazine. pic.twitter.com/tqKd1uUt8D

— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) July 18, 2022