For several years, we have followed the efforts to save the USS Texas, the last surviving dreadnought, as well as the only battleship in existence today that fought in both World War I and World War II. Since 1948, the ship has been a museum docked at the San Jacinto Battleground Historic Site in La Porte, TX. In recent decades, the old ship, owned by the State of Texas, has been in a losing battle against time and rust. Texas taxpayers currently spend about $2 million a year to keep it from sinking with small fixes and steadily running pumps.
A bill recently passed the Texas Senate 31-0 to provide $35 million to repair and restore the historic battleship. There has been disagreement in the Texas House on some of the terms of the bill, that states, after the ship is repaired out of state, they would “bring it back to a prominent place in the state for future generations to enjoy and preserving its status as a museum and giving it the respect it deserves for this last standing ship of its kind.”
Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, was not happy with the wording, suggesting he heard the ship could end up in Galveston, according to reporting by the Austin American Statesman.
In the end, the House agreed to fix the battleship but will take up the issue of where to put it at a later date. Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign the legislation.
Finding a place where it can live on the hard seems like a good idea. Not as picturesque as floating at a dock but also not axiomatically futile, which is how preservation in salt water pencils out.
As long as they don’t do what the British did to the Cutty Sark clipper and cut the bottom off a perfectly re-usable ship just to “improve the visitor experience”.