THE BATTLESHIP TEXAS CELEBRATES 100Th
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Newsletter of the Battleship Texas Foundation Winter 2014 THE BATTLESHIP TEXAS CELEBRATES 100th COMMISSIONING ANNIVERSARY Two Centennial Celebration Events Honor the Past, Present and Future The Battleship Texas Foundation (BTF) working in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the commissioning of the Battleship TEXAS with two events: a private final crew reunion aboard the TEXAS on Wednesday, March 12 and a public family festival at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site on Saturday, March 15, 2014. Both events will honor the Battleship TEXAS, her legendary history and pay tribute to the surviving crew members who proudly served on the ship during World War II. Commis- sioned on March 12, 1914, the TEXAS served in both world wars and is the last remain- ing “dreadnought”. She is a beloved icon who was part of many firsts including the first US battleship to launch an airplane and to house anti-aircraft guns. She was awarded five battle stars during WWII. Battleship TEXAS Centennial Festival Saturday, March 15, 2014 Noon – 10pm San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Site La Porte, Texas This family friendly festival will honor the Battleship TEXAS, her legendary history and the men who served on her. This is an opportunity to pay homage to the last remaining dreadnought to have served in both world wars and the living crew members from "The Greatest Generation." The festival will be held on the grounds surrounding the Battleship TEXAS and will fea- ture educational exhibits, fun activities, concessions and live musical entertainment for people of all ages. Pre-sale tickets are available now for $14 at www.battleshiptexas.org through the day of the festival or at the gate for $20. VIP ship event tickets are also available for purchase. Children 12 and under are free. Discounted prices are available for veterans, $8 pre-sale and $15 at the gate. Battleship TEXAS Foundation Saturday’s Centennial Celebration will also feature: Tours of the TEXAS from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Headliner musical entertainment 12:30 – 2 p.m. Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison 3 – 4:30 p.m. Charlie Robison 5:30 – 7 p.m. Reckless Kelly 8 – 9:30 p.m. Robert Earl Keen A ceremony honoring TEXAS crewmembers at approximately 2 p.m. Dedication of donated house to US veteran by the Texas Sentinels Organization TPWD interactive booths for all ages WWII vintage aircraft flyovers Historical zones highlighting WWI and WWII including military artifacts Battleship TEXAS Walk of History “The Battleship TEXAS is an enduring symbol of strength and we want to celebrate her ser- vice and honor the men who served and risked their lives for our freedom,” said Bruce Bram- lett, executive director of the Battleship Texas Foundation. “Throwing the TEXAS a 100th com- missioning celebration is the least we can do and we know it will be an incredible and memo- rable day for former crew members, our local community and for our state. The community has been very supportive of the celebrations and we have received generous sponsorships from multiple corporations including HEB, Exxon, Centerpoint, Patriot Bank, Vopak and many local municipalities.” The Battleship Texas Foundation (BTF) formerly the Battleship Texas Commission, founded in 1948, was established in 1998 with the mission to work in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to preserve and enhance the Battleship TEXAS, and to help develop the historic ship into a premier hands-on museum and world class visitor attraction. For more information, please visit www.battleshiptexas.org. In addition to publicly acknowledging and commemorating the ship’s 100th commissioning anniversary, the Centennial Festival will help build awareness of this iconic piece of history, help highlight the urgent need to complete ongoing ship repairs and build support to ensure that the iconic ship is preserved for future generations. All funds raised for this one-time event will: Underwrite the cost of hosting this event for the community Support the Battleship Texas Foundation’s mission to preserve and enhance the Battleship TEXAS. Fund the Wednesday, March 12, 2014 Battleship TEXAS final crew reunion and commissioning celebration. To learn more or to purchase tickets, visit battleshiptexas.org MEDIA INFO: Madison Longust Jessica Manning [email protected] [email protected] 832-754-5856 713-398-2525 Page 2 since the spring of 2012 to In this issue . execute critical structural re- pairs to the Battleship Texas. Advisory Directors Centennial Celebration Pg.1 Similarly to what was re- Hon. James A. Baker, III Centennial Highlights Pg.2 ported in the last update, the repairs remain focused in aft 61st Secretary of State Repair Update Pg.3 trimming tank D-12 and in the ADM. James L. Holloway, III Directors Chair Pg.4 tanks underneath both the USN (Ret.), Former CNO port and starboard engines. Caleb Loring Obit Pg.5 Ned S. Holmes The replacement of the Commissioner, Texas Donald R. Cabe Obit steel framing just outboard of Transportation Commission FTV Update Pg.6 the engine rooms on both the In Memory Of Pg.7 port and starboard side is Board of Trustees complete! The new tank tops The Texas Was There Pg.8 have been installed, along Anthony K. Gregory, with new hatches that match Texas Supporters Pg.9 Chairman the historic hatches that per- Thomas J. Perich, Membership Info Pg.10 mitted access to the tanks, Vice Chairman and everything has been Donald H. Fischer, Treasurer primed and painted. The Rey Gonzales, Jr., Secretary spaces look great, and are much stronger than they have been in decades! Charles A. Alcorn, Chairman Emeritus WWII Poster . The overall structural re- Jimmy Burke pair project is about 40% com- Penny H. Butler plete, but the ship continues to be plagued by numerous Alfred Davis, IV leaks in the areas near the Sylvia R. Garcia work zones. Several leaks Theodore S. Hirtz plagued the ship over the RADM. J. Weldon Koenig, holiday season, but all were USN (Ret.) quickly and effectively ad- Michael N. Pearson dressed by the TPWD\TPWD CAPT. Clifford H. Royal, team. USN (Ret.) I will continue to update Thomas C. Wright the project website (www.dryberthtexas.com) as Bruce D. Bramlett often as I can with brief pro- Executive Director; gress notes, so check the site [email protected] to get the latest news. I look forward to seeing everyone at Battleship Repair the Battleship Texas Centen- Update nial Celebration in March! TPWD Ship Staff By Neil Thomas, TPWD Project Mgr. Taylor Marine Construction, Andy Smith, Inc. (TMC) has been working Ship Manager under contract to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Depart- ment (TPWD) Page 3 From The Director’s Chair When I was a kid I always liked Superman. My brother and I would never miss a show. I loved the opening, “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane. No, it’s Superman.” We knew he wasn’t real but that did not matter to us. He was great and he worked so hard to make sure things turned out as they should. We could use more Supermen these days. Thank goodness there are still some su- permen and women around. I wanted to take my time and space, to say thank to a whole army of supermen and super women. Space does not let me list them all but I believe you will get the idea. Let me start with Andy Smith and Travis Davis and their staff onboard The Texas. These guys do superman type work and give a mighty effort every day to keep The Texas in the best shape possible. Their effort and devotion to her are truly remarkable. To all of you that work on The Texas, thank you. The First Texas Volunteers are another group I would like to thank. These men and women lead the Hard Hat Tours of the ship as well as spend countless hours restoring and maintaining the Texas. To Ryan Flynn, Lee McIntire, Tony Adams, Don Fisher, and so many others, you are truly super. If you have been looking for whatever happened to Superman, I can tell you that his spirit is alive and well and lives in the hearts and souls of the men and women who work hard to keep The Texas going. Thank you all form all of us that get to enjoy your work and effort. What is a Dreadnought? By the end of 2014 the Overnight Program will have accommodated 40,000 campers. Before the campers leave the program and salute off the ship, one of the most important con- cept taught in the program is the definition of a dreadnought. Before the HMS Dreadnought, launched by the British in 1906, battleships were slow, lightly armored, and were bristled with many size main battery guns. These guns were all aimed at the target and fired “at will”, reloaded and fired again and again. Gunners could see splashes around the target, but could not judge which gun made which splash. They reloaded and fired at the target over and over hoping to hit the target. This was called a “storm of fire”. Only one in three hundred shells would hit the target. Then came the HMS DREADNOUGHT, a fast ship, she was, with thick armor, and all the main battery guns the same caliber. They aimed all the main battery guns in the same direction at the target and fired one half of them, while these were reloaded, the other one half were fired.