Love seeing all the progress. Yall are doing amazing work. As a vet that served on a 1950s vintage aircraft carrier, I remember all the work we did on a regular basis just to keep her afloat.
@@hond654 No amount of foam will create more buoyancy than the weight of that old steel and concrete. She would sink if enough water got in. Hence why they're taking it all out and replacing the metal
@@bmused55 you're wrong my friend I have floated three boats and put enough material in them to get them off the beach on the Aleutian chain you're not familiar with the material the only reason that that went anywhere is because of the material yes there were a few pumps
Wow! I am impressed by the amount of work that has been accomplished so far, and she is looking good. From what I see Gulf Copper is treating you guys and your Lady right. I agree with you about preserving the fittings and equipment removed wherever and whenever you can. I also agree that while many are asking about "The Guns," it is the hull that needs the most TLC right now. The guns can be worked on either ashore (as has been shown for the secondary batteries) or once Texas is back in the water and you are not so pressed for time. May all the surprises you find from here on be pleasant ones.
Wow the inside of the blisters looks great. So good to see all the new steel on her sides. A lot of new ship, she will last a damn long time now. Even with the new steel she will probably be a lot lighter than she was before with all the patches, foam, mud and rust. Can’t wait to see it in person
Future dry dock periods will, hopefully, be more scraping off the bottom and giving a new hull coating and not as intensive of work as we are doing now.
Hello, I’m a Canadian from up in British Columbia. I have been following the plight of the Battleship Texas for about a decade and a half. I must admit that I was fearful at times that this treasure was heading for the scrapper’s torch. I am really happy this is not the case. Keep up the great work! Keep the videos coming please. I hope I get to visit her one day.
So excited to see all of this progress. I hope, some day, I can make it down to Texas to visit her and truly appreciate all of this work, time, and energy spent to restore her.
This is turning into a major refit. When the ship floats again it will basically have a brand new bottom. Since it will be static as a museum ship you wont have to do any work on that for probably 50 years. Smart to do all this now that way you can focus on the interior for a long period of time. What a fascinating engineering piece of history.
Thanks for sharing the progress towards getting Texas back into a good state of repair. This video raised a question in my mind - with all the concrete, rust, foam, lower portion of the blisters being removed, and some replaced with new metal what sort of weight change are you expecting?
109 years since her commissioning, two world wars, both major oceans, A storied ship with a proud name, and brought very nearly all of her crews home. The last time I walked her decks was when I was about 13 years old (I'm 70 now) and she was pretty rough then. This major work will make her shipshape and Bristol fashion when done. Come on, Texas!
The restoration project is coming along quite well. I can't believe how many patches were in the ship trying to keep the water out. The last surviving/existing super-dreadnaught battleship needs all the love she can get.
The ship was known as “the lucky ship”. Not only does that mean protecting the men who served on her, but it also refers to the men and women working to preserve her.
She survived being scrapped thanks to the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty and then survived being scrapped in 1938-39 because some Admiral smartly predicted that we will need some emergency reserve battleships just in case if a Pearl Harbor type of disaster happens
@@nogoodnameleft She was scheduled to be replaced by USS Washington (BB-56) when that ship was completed, but a little event that came to be known as World War Two changed that plan. They needed every ship that could float, move and fire. Texas proved she could do all three very well from the beginning. The old girl was well-loved by the army troops she supported with her guns. Her reputation for accuracy was known by everyone.
@@firestorm165 One of my Great Uncle's was in the 45th Infantry Division during WW2. He saw a LOT of action! 3 purple hearts and a bronze star! His favorite story was about the Invasion of Southern France... They were taking heavy fire from a certain hill, and called for fire support from the ships off shore. The voice that answered assured them everything would be okay. They were going to fire two spotter rounds, and would correct as necessary. The two rounds came in.... ...and the top of the hill was GONE! There was nothing left! Both rounds were spot on target! That calm, reassuring voice came back on the radio, asking if they needed further assistance. My GU assured them the target was destroyed, and thanked them. They were advancing again. It was two weeks later that they found out who fired those rounds... USS Texas! The men of the 45th loved that ship! And they weren't alone! As I said, her reputation for accuracy was well known! Same as the ship that came after her, USS Nevada (BB-36). I last was on Texas in the Summer of 1986. I plan on being there Opening Day! I already have money put aside for the trip.
I am thrilled to see that Texas is finally getting the “long view” treatment she deserves. Fact is that doing it this way makes all the donations much more meaningful and impactful. No one wants to throw good money after bad, and Lord knows Texas had gotten into a death spiral that would have seen her scrapped if you folks hadn’t committed to breaking that cycle to get ahead of the problem. Good on you for being good stewards of not only the artifact, but of the donors’ contributions as well. Now it’s our jobs to keep Texas in front by keeping the funding coming! We can all clearly see that it is put to effectual use!
Thank you for the update. Don't worry about being slow to give updates. Take care of the ship. If you continue to release updates even after you are out of drydock that would be great!
Great presentation Travis (as always)...If anyone is asking themselves, why not just apply the rust inhibitor and seal it and save time sandblasting. It's because rust creates itself in layers and the rust inhibitor only works with direct contact of the piece. So sand blasting knocks it down to the single surface layer where the inhibitor is most effective to probably 100%. Metal technology has advanced to far since this ships last dry dock and that means these applications will ensure she will be with us to teach future generations about her for a long time. I've said this in past responses, I've been down in the steering section well over a decade ago and you could smell the rust it was so prevalent. Thus as Travis states, he feared of a possible collapse...I can attest to the same eerie feeling that if you touched something, it would break.
From 2013-18 they did something like $50 million in repairs to completely replace the flimsy rusting away frames holding those huge engines, boilers, and evaporator as well as many other areas of the ship. This $35 million drydock is nothing in comparison.
@@nogoodnameleft Knowledge nugget TY, ...I would ascertain that the reason for that cost was doing such patch work in place? ...tight condition and such and reinforcing on old metal. Being on a dry dock allows so much easier access, especially since the hull is being replaced and panels being removed.
Great to see the ship getting all that much needed love. I worked with a guy that served on Texas before WWII. He said she was a worn out rust bucket back then. Amazing she survived all this time!
Thank you for posting these updates. I am a veteran of the other USS Texas (CGN-39). I hope someday to make the pilgrimage to see the Battleship in Galveston. Any thought of sending a piece of the Battleship off to the current USS Texas (SSN-775) so they can have the set? They already have a piece of the Cruiser.
I think this was the best one yet. You could see how far they have come and how far they have to go. The areas where the torpedo bulges narrowed show significant deterioration from rust that likely resulted from inadequate coating etc at the time the bulges were installed. The space just becomes to confined to get it perfect, plus, the blisters were an add on. It is looking great from the view inside the new blisters. Keep up the great work. SOS
BB Texas videos are the only ones where I don't hit "skip" on the ads. I have bought a BUNCH of stuff off the website but adding to the channel's "minutes watched" metric and never skipping ads are the *easiest* way to help the project!
Before this I watched Ryan's (BB-62) April Fools tour of CV-6 USS Enterprise. So my dream, OK, fantasy would be for USS Texas and USS Enterprise to be drydocked side by side getting maintenance. What a sight that would be!!! I do hope you can get a weekly update going. Maybe video a walking tour group doing a tour? Still not bad for a 100+ year old grand lady!
CV-6 Enterprise no longer exists. They foolishly scrapped her like when they nuked Saratoga, another OG scrappy carrier like CV-6 during the chaotic 1941-42 naval battles and crises. That Enterprise that still exists is an impostor and is not the CV-6 that served so bravely and long like the sole survivor of those old aircraft carriers that were sunk or heavily damaged in 1941-42.
It is a true joy and privilege too have so many highly qualified and History minded folks running and working the Great Battleship Texas. She is named after a Great State but the hands that built her were from every State and of Every creed and color in the Union. Not too mention the 1000's of sailors who called her home over her service career.
But the people of Texas are the ones who have been paying for her survival and upkeep since 1948. From 2007 to 2019 alone $85 million was spent to repair her and prep her for the drydock repairs. $35 million has been spent on the drydock which was separate from that 12 year period. Without Texans saving her in 1948 Texas would have been nuked or scrapped. When they were named after states they were meant to represent their state first and foremost and they were all christened by the First Lady of each state, showing how they were directly part of each of their states. These battleships were very special and symbolic.
@@nogoodnameleft I never implied otherwise. The People of Texas have done a Wonderfull service of on going preservation of such a complex National Museum of which Texas is the Sole survivor of a Battleship of that era. Texas has been Great in seeing and ensuring she is a Living Historical record of our times and our People. God Bless.
Well good morning Travis was always looking forward to your next video really like the way that you talked about part of the project that I was part of including the concrete
Glad to see ya'll going to such lengths to enthusiastically combat rust and replace steel where needed. This will greatly extend the ship's quality of life and longevity. Keep up the great work and Come on Texas!
Impressive amount of hard work. As you go through the hull on these vlogs, the real amount of damage caused by water intrusion and age comes to full light. Texas deserves to be looked after like this. Great video.
I got to visit the USS Alabama and those vessels in Galveston. I’m looking forward to visiting the USS Texas. At 70, I hope it is finished in time for me to be able to visit.
Alabama is lovely. She is one of the most visited museum ships in America. She is in the perfect location and day trip stop for road trips from Texas/Louisiana/West to Florida on long drives.
Doing a great job to keep the old girl alive and well. Concrete was one of the worst things ever put into a ship or boat. I bought a 30ft wood cutter back in 85. Seems the owners wife tended to get sick as the boat was a bit tender. So, he lifted the floor boards and put in steel scrap and cement. Fast forward til I bought her. The garbord strake on both sides was flopping loose, and the ribs were like powder. Chiselled out the cement and steel and found the oak keel and ribs were literally dissolved into just the fibres. 30 pairs of ribs and the top of the keel to a depth of 3 inches. all the 3 inch thick floors were just about toast. NEVER ever put cement into you boat.
Beautiful work they are doing. It's stunning to see the difference between the tired old girl that was lifted out of the water and this refreshed image that is taking shape.
I hope we will move up to the Houston Ship Channel in the Turning Basin area and have a concrete dry dock for the ship. I think this would be the best place for this. Thank you for all the best !!!!
Eww. Mikasa is rotting as we speak. She already is only 40% of the original Mikasa and now the hull is rotting away while encased in concrete. Texas should be and thankfully will be a floating museum. Heavy ships like her will collapse due to gravity if encased in concrete. She is like twice the size of Mikasa also.
It's great getting to Fall River (Battleship Cove) when I can and seeing the Massachusetts and the other ships there. One of my favorite displays is the PT boats, so great having each a 617 (Elco) and 796 (Higgins). I'm hoping to get up there (FL) in the next few months....have to hit BT's Smokehouse in Sturbridge as well.
@@Normandy1944Battleship Cove is great. USS Texas is very unique though. Make sure you visit the USS Salem in Quincy when in Boston area. It is also one of a kind.
@@danam0228 What a shame that only one light cruiser and one heavy cruiser were saved as museum ships and neither one even served in WWII....they should have saved a handful of WWII cruisers. Texas is very special because they scrapped all pre-1941 battleships. Texas is the only surviving dreadnought and all the Pearl Harbor battleships looked just like Texas and were sadly nuked or scrapped.
Until I saw this video, I didn't really appreciate how large the space inside the new blister tanks is. Looking at the pictures of the modules sitting on their own, I wondered how the welders could fit inside. Wow, was I mistaken.
Any chance of adding Trumpeter's 1/350 scale model of the Texas to your online store? I'd seriously buy it. The included paint chart has Texas in her current overall dark gray scheme, but I have seen pics of a time when she wore Measure 22 (Navy Blue up to the main deck, and Haze Gray above).
@@Mortarshot I'm at that same point. I've built quite a few small 1/700 scale battleships, and a couple in 1/350, but otherwise, I'm literally running out of room. So I'm probably going to just do one last kit until I get around to making more room.
