I pass near to her each day, travelling to and from work.

I've seen her declining over the years.

Now there may be a way to save her.

She is the Bstate's last surviving veteran of both world wars

She is a welcome friend and a formidible foe.

She is a battleship.

She is USS Texas.

The Battleship Texas may soon win a battle that few warships survive.

The nearly century-old dreadnought could be raised from the water and displayed permanently in a dry berth to stop rust from eating its hull.

"Rust is the ship's enemy," said Barry Ward, director and curator of the Battleship Texas State Historic Site. "The drier it is, the better it is."

Commissioned in 1914 and a combat veteran of both world wars, the oft-decorated battlewagon rests at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River near the Houston Ship Channel. It was moored there in 1948 after the U.S. Navy decommissioned it and gave it to the state.

It serves as a floating museum at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Park and is operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Help save this piece of American maritime history.

Posted by: Greg at 01:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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