looking from the base of the monument towards the Texas

a Texas thunderstorm

There's a small museum that's free of charge inside the monument that documents Texas history from the first Spanish settlers through the Texas Revolution, and then on through WWII. I didn't take many pictures, but I couldn't resist the case o' guns.

For $4, you can take an elevator to the observation deck. It's 473 feet high.

It was raining pretty hard when we left the monument, so we had a late lunch and then came back to the battleship.

The USS Texas (BB-35) is a New York-class Battleship.
Launched in 1912 and commissioned in 1914, decommissioned in 1948.

Served in WWI and WWII.
Shelled North Africa, Omaha Beach, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

Texas was the first US battleship to:
have a permanent contingent of US Marines
mount anti-aircraft guns
have a dedicated gunfire control system
launch an aircraft from a catapult

27,000 ton displacement
length = 573 feet
width = 95 feet
speed = 21 knots

In her final configuration, armed with ten 14"/45 guns, six 5" guns, ten 3" guns, forty 40mm bofors guns, and forty-four 20mm oelikon cannons.

The Texas isn't in the best of shape. She'll never sail again, and her lower deck is partially flooded. It will take a lot of money to repair her.

lulz' gf mans a 3" gun

a look inside the main deck galley

one of the 5" guns

inert 5" shells on display

5" gun ammunition hoist

20mm guns

looking back towards the monument

neat

We first saw these on the deck of a model of the Texas. No clue what they were at the time.

one of the aft cranes

signaling light

It's a bit hard to tell here, but there were places that the deck had rusted through. I was kind of afraid that my fat ass would fall through.

gun director

inside the second deck galley

second deck corridor

flash off of the plexiglass

decontamination room

dishwashing?
lulz pointed out the sanitizer in the back

yep, definitely in officer's country.

since the third deck and engine room are closed to the public, they had a nifty hologram

the Texas' propulsion was huge; oil-fired boilers driving triple-expansion steam engines, driving two screws

officer's quarters

officer's head

my camera died at this point, so that's all i got.

awww mannnnn.

I really do want to go do this soon, I delayed my hike due to inclement weather until next weekish.

Great pics thanks 556

It's a real shame that thing is in such shitty shape :|

They barely managed to scrape together $20m to fix a huge leak that sprung in it, and it's still leaking pretty severely even with the emergency repair work. IIRC it needs another $40m to fix it to decent condition.

40 million USD to fix the USS Texas?
Scrap it.

USS Texas (BB-35), a New York-class battleship. The ship was launched on 18 May 1912 and decommissioned on 21 April 1948.

- USS Texas in San Jacinto State Park, October 2006. The battleship is painted as it was in 1945 with Measure 21, Navy Blue System Camouflage. The camouflage was intended to make the battleship more difficult to detect from the air.

If people are so concerned about the bloated government budgets, they can torpedo the Texas.

USS Texas (SSN-775) a Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN).
Probably will never see a day of combat (attacking enemy subs or ships) aside from launching Tomahawk cruise missiles at desert peasants.

A Virginia-class SSN costs around 1.775 billion dollars in 2007.
$2,707.1m per unit (FY2014) and $50 million per unit (annual operating cost).
The USS Texas went in for a 20-month maintenance overhaul in 2012 for nearly 30 million dollars.
http://www.navsea.navy.mil/NewsView.aspx?nw=NewsWires&id=74
http://www.navsea.navy.mil/NewsView.aspx?nw=NewsWires&id=58

>40 million USD to fix the USS Texas?
>Scrap it.

>>9137
OK, you keep that money mausoleum afloat.
It is an obsolete weapon that has no realistic or significantly useful purpose.
Aside from testing new weapons on it.

Pacific Ocean (October 9, 2002) -- The decommissioned ship USS Towers (DDG-9), an old Charles F. Adams-class destroyer, slowly sinks in the Pacific Ocean after being used as a target hulk for live-fire sinking exercises (SINKEX). Using decommissioned ships for live-fire operations gives ships’ crews the experience of launching operational weapons and honing their war-fighting skills. The decommissioned ships are first made environmentally safe prior to towing and sinking in safe waters off prospective coastlines. Ultimately, the Towers will serve as a man-made reef for marine life in the area.

The battleship USS California (BB-44) sinking alongside Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 7 December 1941.

Battleship USS Arizona sinking in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

>>9137
what purpose does it serve?

>>9133
The Texas receives no federal funding.

>>9142
What purpose does a museum serve, or what purpose does any other preserved ship serve. Shit, let's just scrap the USS constitution while were at it because "its an outdated weapons design" I mean come on people.

>>9132
>>9133

just remember, one day your hardware will become obsolete too...

http://imgur.com/a/rW4iZ

should I dump them? Question mark?

I also found this at the local Greek Burger Joint.

>>9143
I did not mention the Federal budget, guessing this battleship museum was funded mostly by the government of Texas.

I had visited the USS Missouri around 1981 or so when she was a battleship museum. Later, the Reagan administration had the four Iowa-class battleships overhauled, modernized, and put to sea as warships in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan. Big Mo fired some Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War (something nearly any US frigate or destroyer could do) and actually bombarded the Iraqi shore defenses with her 16 inch guns (something pretty much only a big gun battleship can do as the 3-inch and 5-inch guns of the frigates and destroyers pale in insignificance in this task). But the US Navy just did could not justify the continuing operating expenses of the battleships. One factory made the 16-inch shells and that factory closed down and the battleships required a crew of 1,851 squids where an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate requires only 176 and the more modern littoral combat ships require less than 75. So when the cuts were called after the Soviet Union called it quits, the battleships were again struck from the lists and mothballed as they are expensive weapons that are obsolete anachronisms in a modern navy. The heyday of the battleship was in 1916 at Jutland where the belligerents were shy to risk their expensive symbols of national pride in a pitched battle. The Japanese proved in 1941 that the aircraft carrier was the decisive killing arm of the fleet.

The few battleships in slips as museums fight a losing battle against leaks and the elements. I see little problem in scrapping such ships that become too expensive to maintain as museums.

- The museum ship USS Texas (BB-35), built in 1914, is in the foreground. She is the last of the type of battleships built during that period. Across the field is the San Jacinto Monument, marking the site of the battle where the residents of Texas won their independence from the government of Mexico in 1836.

>>9143
The USS Constitution emerged from a three-year repair period in November 2010. During this time the entire spar deck was stripped down to the support beams, and the decking overhead was replaced to restore its original curvature, allowing water to drain overboard and not remain standing on the deck. In addition to decking repairs, 50 hull planks and the main hatch were repaired or replaced. The restoration continued the focus toward keeping her appearance of 1812 by replacing her upper sides so that she now resembles what she looked like after her triumph over HMS Guerriere, when she gained her nickname "Old Ironsides". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution

The USS Constitution is a 44-gun frigate, launched in 1797, and became famous for her actions during the War of 1812 against Great Britain, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships: HMS Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane and Levant. Used for training and ceremonial duties (still being a fully commissioned warship) as well as a museum where she receives half a million visitors per year. Once a year, she will sail (or be towed) around Boston Harbor on Independence Day.

There is no question of scrapping since the USS Constitution is still a commissioned warship.

- The USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship, sails under her own power in Charlestown, Mass., Aug. 19, 2012. This was the second time in 131 years the ship sailed without assistance. The exercise commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Constitution’s victory over the British frigate Guerriere during the War of 1812.

But the USS Constitution's usefulness as a warship has been questioned.

Eh, she probably brings in good money as a museum and a focus for tourism.

>>9143
The constitution has a claim to fame as one of our six original warships.

The texas does not.

>>9155

The Texas is the last existing pre-dreadnought battleship on earth. Not to mention its combat record in two World Wars, while it may not have the historical cache of the Constitution, it in effect is the last link to an entire era of ships on earth.

I do note that at this point it would be nearly impossible to sell if for scrap, as it is not seaworthy in the least to even be towed to a scrapper. It has essentially no real value beyond historical and cultural value.

>>9150
The Texas is funded by partially state money, and partially donations.

As stated above, anti-ship missiles and other such weapons could be tested on the battleship Texas. But that would damage the whole docking slip the battleship is attached to. And the Texas would make a poor target as she does not imitate other contemporary warships very well (too much armor). Would be difficult to break the Texas into pieces to melt down for useful purposes. And it would be wasteful to lavish great sums of taxpayer's money keeping the Texas afloat as a museum. If private donations can do it, fine. Better to use that money making cleaner oil refineries and cleaning up polluted refineries in the region (don't live anywhere near those things; the cancer rates are through the roof).

- A Martel TV-guided anti-ship missile photographed at RAF Elvington on 18 of August 2007. In the background is a captured Argentine Air Force Mirage jet fighter.

USS Texas (BB-35) in 1914.

USS Texas crow's nest gun.
Hell of a sniper.

USS Texas tampion of one of her 12-inch guns, adorned with Spanish-American War battles, ca 1900.

This is probably on the first USS Texas, a second-class battleship built by the United States in the early 1890s, the first American battleship commissioned. After the Spanish-American War, the USS Texas was renamed San Marcos in 1911 to allow her name to be used by a new battleship. She became a target ship that same year and was sunk in shallow water in Chesapeake Bay. She was used as a gunnery target through World War II and was finally demolished in 1959 because her remains were considered a navigational hazard.

They weren't nostalgic about old and obsolete warships, back then. When they outlive their use, blow them apart in gunnery practice of new ships and crew.

The first USS Texas.

>>9160
>As stated above, anti-ship missiles and other such weapons could be tested on the battleship Texas.

Yeah sure, and why don't we just test JDAMs on the Smithsonian. Eat a dick dude.

The reason it causes so many headaches and costs so much money is because its still floating. End game of preservation efforts is to dry dock and set it permanently. But I think that was gonna cost $70 million. It serves no practical purpose, however you don't judge pieces of history by their practical worth.

If these were used as target practice in the 1940s, I would understand, but it's 2013, we still have them, and their worth is now in their historical value. I think it's very valuable for kids 50 years from now to be able to visit the USS Texas/Alabama/Iowa/Wisconsin/New Jersey/Missouri and actually explore the ship. I don't want WWII to be some dry blurb in a textbook, I want them to see giant fucking gun platforms and grasp that thousands of men worked together to kill or be killed. That we felt it necessary to employ these grandiose weapons to kill the shit out of 'the axis' for trying to take over the world. That humans are capable of terrifying resolve ranging from industrial genocide to flash-cooking a stubborn enemy. Its' value is no longer in being the most capable ship of war, but rather its place as a physical manifestation of human nature and philosophy. I think $70 million is a small price to pay to help teach those lessons to future generations.

>>9167
You can judge pieces of history by their practical worth when they are going to cost 70 million dollars to maintain. You know what nice practical things the state of Texas can BUY with 70 million dollars? Or spend it maintaining a 100-year-old battleship that hardly anyone gives a shit about. The USS Constitution is significant, the USS Missouri is significant, the Smithsonian Museum is significant, all deserving expense maintaining them as museums and important objects of history. The USS Texas (BB-35) does not have significant claims to fame aside from being the only remaining dreadnought battleship, though she is not the oldest surviving battleship; the Japanese Mikasa, a pre-dreadnought battleship ordered in 1898, is older than the USS Texas.

- Japanese Mikasa pre-dreadnought (1902-1923) with a statue of Admiral Togo. Togo used his flagship, the Mikasa, to lead his fleet triumphantly against the Russian fleet in the battle of the Tsushima Straights during the Russo-Japanese War. This victory paved the way for Japan to exert herself as an international naval power, even (insanely) daring to fight the United Kingdom and the United States. Perfect example where your pride gets you to write checks your ass cannot cash.