Matrix Games Forums

USS Texas

I read about this on Usenet a couple of days ago. My first thought, and this article is silent still, is where are the divers? Hull valves should have been gagged long ago and this volume of water is not a fast drip leak from an Aux Seawater system. They need a hull survey like two days ago . . .

Lieutnant Sakura H. never surrendered *nods*

Having visited the Texas a few years back, I recall that the ship's lower decks (what little we were allowed into) were in poor condition. The hull was very weak according to something I read as well, the caretakers were thinking about encasing the hull in concrete to preserve the vessel better. This was never done and now I'm assuming the hull simply rusted through somewhere under the water line. They don't move her and I can't imagine she gets anything but above water repainting occasionally. It's too bad, Texas really is a great example of a pre-WWI vessel.

i visited this ship in 99, shortly after the massive restoration effort. Even after that, the ship is so big and just so OLD, they can't keep up with everything. The old girl is over *100* years old and is exposed to the elements. Even the restored portions of the ship face this beating. The unrestored sections......including the ones i snuck into, are pretty much as they were when the navy handed over the vessel, and its there that you truely get an appreciation for just how old the vessel is. Lighter structures in particular are simply crumbling into dust. I recall the brig.....which was accessible, was falling apart. The light cell doors just rusting and disapearing right off the hinges. despite the Texas heat, its actually damp and cool down in the bowels of the ship.....perfect atmosphere for breaking down the metals.

At this point i'm suprised they continue to float the ship. Granted, they tried "beaching" it at first which caused the hull to rot even faster as well as making it inaccessible to the divers. What's really needed at this point is a permanent drydock such as the one encasing HIJMS Mikasa where the ship is out of the water. They did the same with HMS Victory.

Even 'younger' ships like the Missouri face similar challenges. When i visited PH in '06 I was rather shocked at the poor condition of the ship. In these fiscally lean times it gets harder and harder to save these old girls. We're now experiencing why the British with it's proud RN traditions were unable to afford to preserve even one WWI/WWII battleship as a memorial. It's a luxury manuy countries and states simply can't afford and volunteer donations only go so far.

The issue is funding and many of these nonprofits are way underfunded. The Olympia in Philly is a prime example. It is sad but metal and water never were meant to go together. The preservation problems are massive.