We are targeting late 2025 for our grand reopening.

Battleship Texas is currently moored at Gulf Copper Shipyard in Galveston.

Yes.

Most of the 20 mm, 40 mm, 3″, and 5″ guns were removed for restoration. That work is not complete yet, but all six of the 5″ guns have already been reinstalled and one 40 mm as well. All of the guns that were onboard when Battleship Texas closed in 2019 will be reinstalled after restoration.

Yes, we are offering Restoration Tours while Battleship Texas is in the shipyard. The next best place to see Battleship Texas in the shipyard is from the Pier 21 area in Galveston. There is an excellent view from the pier, as well as restaurants and museums, and the pier is within walking distance of Galveston’s historic downtown. We also post pictures and videos from the shipyard on our news page and social media.

Galveston is a premier tourist city with visitors last year approaching nine million. It is the obvious and ideal place to put the battleship to maximize exposure and visibility in Texas. The synergy on the south side of the Galveston Ship Channel cannot be denied, with a combination of historic tourism, the cruise industry, and a thriving business community that we look forward to contributing positively to!

Studies show that, in Galveston, the battleship could attract over 250,000 visitors a year. Given the number of tourists already in Galveston, some of those would come from folks already there, but others who might not otherwise come would be attracted to come see the ship. Historical tourism is one of the fastest growing, and most profitable, subcategories of tourism. They are the folks who stay at the hotels, eat at the restaurants and shop in the stores. Many of Galveston’s visitors now come mainly to go to the beach and then simply return home without seeing other parts of the city or adding to the economy.  We think many of those folks would make the short drive to see the ship and end up staying longer, visiting other attractions and adding more to the local economy

The legislature specifically stated in the legislation authorizing the money to restore the ship that it could not return to its former location. One reason is economic – at San Jacinto the ship attracted less than 100,000 visitors a year, necessitating state support. Other historical ships receive 250,000-500,000 visitors a year, providing much greater revenue and lessening or eliminating the need for state support. Another reason is historical – the ship, as a World War I and World War II vessel, does not truly fit into the 1836 battlefield of San Jacinto.

Seawolf Park, while a historic and storied visitor attraction for the Galveston area, presents several drawbacks for the Battleship Texas. Namely,

1. the infrastructure costs of dredging, putting in bulkheads parking facilities, monopiles, etc., far, far exceed those on the southside of the channel;
2. from a safety standpoint, it is far more exposed to weather and hurricane type dangers than the southside of the channel;
3. there are legal issues as the Seawolf Park site is controlled, in part, by the Port of Houston, meaning its consent would be needed, and
4. current wastewater capabilities at the park would not be able to accommodate the visitors to the ship.

The State of Texas owns the battleship. It had been managed by and budgeted for by Texas Parks and Wildlife, since 1983. The Battleship Texas Foundation now manages the ship for the State pursuant to a 99-year lease and liaises with TPWD in regard thereto.

Between 1946 and 1948, legislation was passed at the state and federal levels to allow the US Navy to donate Battleship Texas to the State of Texas to be operated as a museum and memorial. This federal program still operates today and is the source of most former Navy vessels that have been donated to serve as museum ships in the US.

When the State of Texas received Battleship Texas in 1948, a state commission called the Battleship Texas Commission was responsible for the ship. This commission was established by an act of the legislature in 1947 and abolished by an act of the legislature in 1983.

After the Battleship Texas Commission was abolished, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department was given responsibility for Battleship Texas. Texas Parks & Wildlife operated the ship until August 1^st, 2020, when operational control was given to Battleship Texas Foundation at the direction of legislation passed in 2019. We are the Battleship Texas Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in the 1990s in support of Battleship Texas.

Battleship Texas Foundation does not own the ship. We operate the ship on behalf of the State of Texas, with oversight from Texas Parks & Wildlife and (as necessary for all historic sites in Texas) the Texas Historical Commission.

As mentioned above, it will increase tourism generally, especially the most desirable and profitable kind of tourism, will provide an attraction around which future development can occur, and will solidify Galveston’s role as one of, if not the most historic, cities, in Texas.

Building from her mooring at San Jacinto, which withstood Hurricanes Ike and Harvey as well as Tropical Storm Allison, she will be secured by being tethered to a series of steel monopiles driven deep below the surface of the water.  Sliding rings will allow the ship to rise up or down with the tide but will prevent it from breaking free of the monopiles. This tried-and-true system worked well in all the storms the ship faced at San Jacinto; for Galveston, it is being engineered for the increased environmental exposures of being on the coast and for much stronger storms.

Yes. There are currently under-utilized parking garages in downtown Galveston and the Port’s master plan calls for additional parking garages to be built in the very near future.

The plan is to make Battleship Texas the centerpiece of a world class museum.  In addition to the previous and traditional visitor attractions of the actual ship compartments and artifacts, there are plans for interactive exhibits, holograms allowing sailors to come to life and talk to visitors, guided and unguided audio/video tours, as well as a future separate museum displaying photos, videos and artifacts from the ship’s historic past. There are also plans for group events such as celebrations of historic occasions (July 4^th, Veteran’s Day,), reunions, educational opportunities such as school children’s visits and overnight experiences, social and quasi-social events that could include business gatherings, weddings and parties and celebrations of any type.

The Texas Legislature has funded $60 million of a projected $75 million restoration project for Battleship Texas. On August 31^st, 2022, Battleship Texas arrived at Gulf Copper and was raised out of the water for repairs. Gulf Copper has repaired and replaced hull plating below the waterline, totally about 700 tons of steel. The ship’s torpedo blisters (sacrificial exterior tanks added in 1925-1926 to protect the ship from torpedoes) have been entirely cut away below the waterline and reconstructed. The new torpedo blisters are of a slightly different design to reduce future maintenance needs and will be coated inside and out to protect from corrosion.

After the hull repairs and torpedo blister rebuild were completed, Gulf Copper applied marine grade paint coatings to the hull. The ship is being painted to the historical Measure 21 camouflage scheme, which she wore in the Pacific Theater in 1945. This will mean Navy Blue 5-N on all vertical surfaces and Deck Blue 20-B on all horizontal surfaces.

On March 5th, 2024, Battleship Texas left dry dock and moved to another pier at Gulf Copper for pierside work. This phase of the project includes various repairs to the ship’s superstructure funded in part by the Save America’s Treasures grant (the superstructure is the structures above main deck, such as the masts, smoke stack, and aft fire control tower), replacing some or all of the ship’s wood decking, and cleaning up, restoration, repainting, and installing exhibits in interior spaces. This work will prepare the ship to receive visitors again and we estimate this will take at least a year to eighteen months after Battleship Texas leaves dry dock.

No. In 2019, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department requested $100 million in funding for the construction of a permanent dry berth for Battleship Texas. This cost is far in excess of money that we can raise in the foreseeable future and so there are currently no plans to permanently dry berth Battleship Texas.

Usable scrap steel is being made into various items, which are available for donations here. There are currently a large number of Battleship Texas Artisans working on producing unique items from scrap steel, more information can be found here.

The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site is operated by the Texas Historical Commission. Battleship Texas Foundation has no involvement with San Jacinto. Please check their website for information.