Don't Tread On Me Anymore: Officials Close USS Texas To Tourists Due To Leakage
For decades, Battleship Texas has attracted tourists from around the state to marvel at its mountain of steel and firepower. Now leaks and rust are doing what enemy combatants in two world wars could not. Texas Parks and Wildlife officials at the San Jacinto Battleground site noticed a serious tilt Monday morning, as the ship began to list approximately six degrees from taking in water through a 6-by-8-inch hole 15 inches below the water line. Crews are pumping out 2,000 gallons of water a minute until repairs are made.
The ship was launched in 1912 and officially commissioned in 1914. The USS Texas has seen action in World War I and in both theaters during War War II, providing fire support for beach landings at Normandy, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The ship was decommissioned in 1948.
There is no word yet on when the exhibit will reopen or what caused the leak, but such repairs are becoming all too common for the aging ship. The ship closed for three months in 2013 as more than 90 leaks were repaired. The situation has caught the attention of lawmakers, who have unsuccessfully pleaded to permanently take the ship out of the water.
