The U.S.S. Texas is without a home.
The Texas is the only battleship still in existence that served in both World Wars. For decades, it sat in the Houston Ship Channel near San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site as a museum. Over the years, though, the ship fell into disrepair, with leaks threatening to sink her altogether if something wasn’t done.
In 2023, the state Legislature approved $25 million for repairs, and the ship was hauled to a dry dock near Galveston. Today, the ship is still there, but it’s not clear where it will go next.
Its old spot in the Houston Ship Channel didn’t attract enough visitors, so the board of trustees for the ship looked for a new home that would. They thought they’d found it along the north edge of Galveston Island – but last week, the local wharves board shot down the agreement to dock the battleship there.
Chris Gray, Gulf Coast reporter for chron.com, spoke to the Texas Standard about what’s next for the battleship.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Can you describe that area around Pier 21, the proposed location for the battleship?
Chris Gray: It is next door to the Elissa, which is the official tall ship of Texas. There’s a hotel there, the Harbor House, two restaurants owned by the Landry’s Corporation, Tilman Fertitta’s firm.
Wow. I mean, restaurants, hotels. You’ve got another ship, the Elissa, there, which is obviously a tourist attraction unto itself. Sounds like the perfect location, no?
Well, you would think so. The lease would be between the Port of Galveston and the Battleship Foundation. But in the process of these negotiations, there’s been a significant backlash spearheaded by Katie’s Seafood House and Seafood Market, who drafted a petition over the summer that got a lot of public attention.
Now, I should say that there is also a lot of support for the battleship to make its home in Galveston. But the wharves board, they seem to be more concerned about the logistical issues surrounding docking it there at Pier 21 or 19 or somewhere in that area.
But wait a minute. You say logistical issues, and you talk about this petition. What specifically would be wrong with having the battleship located there – I mean, conventional wisdom would suggest, if anything, it might draw bigger crowds?
Well, the No. 1 issue is should a significant hurricane, tropical storm strike the port, the wharves board is very concerned that if the ship was not moored correctly, it could wreak a lot of damage on the port area.
I believe there are also other concerns that, you know, they may not have the funding to close the deal.
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When you say funding to close the deal, what does that mean? Who’s getting paid, and how much are we talking about?
Well, right now, I believe the repair bill is up to $60 million. And the other main issue is there’s also concerns here that should they move it over here – the projection, I think, right now, and the dates keep shifting backwards, is for the ship to be ready to be open to the public, maybe in about another year or so, next fall or early 2026.
So is there a deadline for moving it right now? It’s docked at a shipyard in Galveston, right? So do they have to get it out of there by a certain time?
Not that I’m aware of and nobody’s ever mentioned anything about. I think the plan is for it to stay at this shipyard where it’s at until it is ready to move, which is at least another year, if not longer.
You think the battleship’s going to still end up in Galveston somewhere, or is there another site being talked about? What happens next?
All I’ve seen as far as that goes is theories. I know there’s been some talk at the port of possibly a different pier. There’s also – again, only theories – that it could possibly wind up in Corpus next to the Lexington.
But if I had to guess, just judging by the condition of the ship and the length of any journey to somewhere like Corpus or down the coast, I would think they would still want to do everything they possibly could to reach some kind of agreement to keep it in Galveston.
