What You Need to Know: The USS Texas (BB-35), a storied battleship that served in both World Wars, faces an uncertain future. Despite a recent $60 million overhaul, it has no permanent home.

-The battleship’s former berth at the San Jacinto battleground is no longer viable, while options like Seawolf Park and Corpus Christi have been ruled out due to logistical and financial constraints.

-Galveston, where Texas was repaired, also wants the ship gone, citing concerns over obstructed waterfront views. As a unique piece of naval history, the USS Texas deserves a permanent location that respects its role in American heritage.

USS Texas Battles to Find a Permanent Home After Major Restoration

An Orphan In Its Land: The Sad Fate of the USS Texas - The Second World War may be long over, but one of its most iconic battleships, the USS Texas (BB-35) is fighting its most important campaign in its long, storied life. That is the fight for this legendary steel beast to find a permanent home. 

After $60 million, 300,000 man-hour, stem-to-stern refurbishment of the great ship, the USS Texas is ready to return to duty, the service of showcasing itself for throngs of curious onlookers seeking a greater understanding of the role this warship played in our national history, and it is being prevented from returning to the San Jacinto battleground where she was once housed.

Peter Suciu explained in these pages that, “bureaucratic and financial challenges prevent its return,” to San Jacinto. Suciu further states that, “Proposals to move the ship to Seawolf Park or Corpus Christi have been scuttled over logistical and funding issues.” 

Its present temporary home in Galveston, where the extensive repairs took place, wants the storied warship gone. 

So, one of the greatest embodiments of twentieth-century U.S. naval power is made to float aimlessly in the friendly, albeit uncertain, waters of an increasingly ambivalent Texas, the state not the ship.

The History

The USS Texas is a unique boat. Sure, there are a few other battleships still around, such as the USS North Carolina. But Texas is a rarity. 

You see, the USS Texas has the virtue of being the only battleship in existence to have seen action in both world wars that defined the twentieth century and shaped the tumultuous century we live in today. 

Texas was launched in 1912, the same year that the Titanic sank and just two years before the outbreak of the Great War. 

A Victim of Yuppie Culture & NIMBY

The yuppies who live in the seaside parts of Galveston, Tex., want the battleship gone. Should the original plans to house the Texas in the port at Galveston be realized, then, multiple local businesses will have their waterfront views obstructed. Restaurants do not want to have their water views impeded by the masts and gray barrels of the Texas.

It’s quite embarrassing. 

This battleship played a role in securing the very freedoms that these business owners wanted to use to deprive Texas of a home.

Having a battleship museum in Galveston, by the way, might take away from some of the waterfront views but it’d more than make up for it in terms of revenue generated for the locality. The fact that Texas was able to receive the lifesaving repairs it did at the cost of $60 million is proof that there’s a demand for this great ship to live on and be available to the world. But that’s not how the business owners of Galveston see things. 

Some Other Options 

Similarly, Seawolf Park and Corpus Christi are out, even though both cities are home to impressive naval museums. For the former, it’s too cost-prohibitive to move Texas there because the association in charge of the Texas museum would have to pay gobs of money that it doesn’t have to dredge the channel for the Texas to even be moved into place. 

In the case of the latter city, Corpus Christi, state officials oppose moving the battleship there even though it’d be moored next to another WWII icon, the Essex-class aircraft carrier, USS Lexington (CV-16).

It is a mortal sin that a great piece of American history, like the USS Texas, would struggle to find a home. But this is the case. The Corpus Christi option, frankly, makes the most sense. Let’s just hope that they see this as an opportunity and move the warship there forever.

About the Author 

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is available for purchase wherever books are sold. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

 Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.