Newsletter of the Battleship Texas Foundation Winter 2016 From The Director’s Chair In this issue . I am probably the last person to get the opportunity to say The Director’s Chair Pg1 Happy New Year to you but a least I got mine in. We are looking forward to a wonderful year with a lot of things on the drawing FTV Report Pg2 board. I wanted to share just a few of our plans for 2016 with you. Hard Hat Tours Pg3 Corporate Supporters The big news is that we expect to return to our efforts to complete the structural repairs that began on The Texas in Curator’s Corner Pg4 2014. The best news is that thanks to all of the efforts that were put into our lobbying efforts, we were able to secure enough Overnight Program Pg5 funds from The Texas Legislature, to not only start back to work Supporters Pg6 on the structural repairs but enough funds to complete them. We are anticipating that work should begin again in the late In Honor Of Pg7 spring to early summer. Once we begin you can expect Neil Tho- mas, from TPWD, to return to The Dreadnought with his up- Membership Forms Pg8 dates regarding the progress of the work. We are really excited about this one. The next item is that we will be installing 28 tons of new HVAC on the Texas. This was made possible by our friends at CAPS who donated much of the equipment and its installation. Post WWII photo ? The remaining funds that were needed were donated by The Herzstein Foundation and The Brown Foundation. This donation will help us with a long standing need and is scheduled for in- stallation by spring. Thanks to the efforts of Andy Smith and his staff at The Texas, they were able to secure a federal grant and along with a nice donation from Shell we will roll out, for the first time ever, an audio tour for The Texas. These are just a few things that we will accomplish this year. If you have not been out to visit us recently I sure hope you will find a time to do so. We are always happy to see you. Don’t for- get that a great way to see The Texas is to sign up for one of our Hard Hat Tours. If you have children or grandchildren you may also be interested in our Overnight Education Program. Thanks for all your support and may 2016 be a blessed year for you. Did the N. G. fly Mustangs in ’45 ? Battleship TEXAS Foundation Advisory Directors Hon. James A. Baker, III 61st Secretary of State By Don Fischer ADM. James L. Holloway, III USN (Ret.), Former CNO Restoration Ned S. Holmes Commissioner, Texas As reported in an earlier addition of Dreadnought, the First Transportation Commission Texas Volunteers (FTV) was preparing to restore the Combat In- formation Center (CIC) by removing old storage and performing a general clean-up. During this time, due to new protocols drafted Board of Trustees by Texas Parks & Wildlife, removal of the existing lead paint was Anthony K. Gregory, to be contracted out rather than performed by the volunteers, Chairman themselves. The FTV is funding this abatement in the amount of Thomas J. Perich, approximately $12,000. Happily, this abatement has now been Vice Chairman completed and a team has moved back into the space prepping the space for rust inhibitor and priming. Following that, many Donald H. Fischer, Treasurer hours will be spent in the rehabilitation of all the equipment Rey Gonzales, Jr., Secretary within, including radar control panels, tracer and plotting tables, radios and consoles, electrical panels, etc. Brad Bouillion A two-man team has initiated work in the Movie Locker. This Jimmy Burke space, which housed training films and slides, as well as the lat- est Hollywood releases of the day, has suffered much from the Penny H. Butler humidity and extreme temperature changes during the seasons as well as water intrusion from above. These leaks have now David Dewhurst been fixed and paint is being stripped. (Note: This space had Theodore S. Hirtz previously been restored, so there is no such concern about lead contamination as was the case with the CIC above.) Detailed RADM. J. Weldon Koenig, work includes the built-in desk, wall lockers, motor, and cura- USN (Ret.) torial artifacts such as the projector, reels, re-winder, etc. John O’Neil The Brig refurbishment project, which had successfully been Michael N. Pearson concluded this past quarter, is being expanded somewhat, with CAPT. Clifford H. Royal, additional cells being upgraded for greater visitor viewing. This USN (Ret.) was met with enthusiasm by the project team. Thomas C. Wright A new secondary project has been initiated. This is the resto- ration of the starboard aft 40mm Anti-Aircraft Mount. The mount had been frozen in train (turning left and right) and eleva- Bruce D. Bramlett tion and was extremely weathered. While still very stiff, the Executive Director; mount can again be trained and elevated, but much work is still [email protected] to be done. Once completed, this mount will offer visiting chil- dren more opportunity for adventure and the exercise of their imagination. TPWD Ship Staff It should be noted that the ship’s regular staff restored the Andy Smith, starboard waist 40mm mount this past year. They did an out- Ship Manager standing job and this mount is very busy, not only with the gen- Travis Davis, eral public, but with the Overnight Program and special tours. Maintenance / Restoration And, of course, the wood deck continues its never-ending Stephanie Croatt, maintenance regimen. However, with more recently identified Curator water-proofing and coating materials, the end result on areas worked is a strong, tight and cosmetically appealing deck. Page 2 Hard Hat Tours Continued from page 2 Many thanks to our The November 2015 Hard Generous Corporate Supporters Hat Tour, the second tour of the season, was a success and succeeded in making A donation from The HERZSTEIN Foundation will help $2,464.23. This was also the fund the expansion of The Battleship Texas Overnight first time FTV used a web Education Program. This includes new HVAC systems as based reservation system and well as a new restroom, sleeping areas, and classroom. The it was considered a positive Herzstein Foundation as been a long time supporter of The addition. Most importantly, Battleship Texas and we look forward to many more years all participants responded that of working with them. they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. By the time this edition of Dreadnought reaches its audi- ence, the January 2016 Hard Hat Tour will also have been conducted. It is being held on Saturday, January 16. The next Hard Hat Tour, in which reservations can be made, is scheduled for Satur- day, March 19. For more infor- mation or reservations, please visit the website at www.firsttexasvolunteers.org. Yes, we have hard hats you Pictured above is: Kandace Trujillo, Overnight Education Program; Amando Accardo, Shell; Bruce Bramlett, Executive Director, Battleship Texas Foundation; can use. Janet Noble, Shell Shell made a donation to match part of a federal grant. The funds are to provide the first ever audio tour for The Battleship Texas. Shell has been a long time supporter of The Battleship Texas and BTF would like to thank them for their continued support. Page 3 By Stephanie Croatt, Curator Whew! Things have certainly calmed down services to create high-quality scans of the around here after the rush of special events ship’s historic photograph collection. These and holidays last quarter. Now that we are fi- scans are also uploaded to the Portal to Texas nally able to catch our breath, we are taking a History (http://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/ look at the year to come, and it looks great! collections/BTXPC/), where anyone who is in- Here are a few exciting things on the horizon: terested can browse through the images. A new batch of photos will be added to The Por- Structural Repairs tal this summer. Sarah and ship’s staff are The paperwork has begun for the next round also working on establishing a partnership of structural repairs, and we hope to have a with the Texas Archive of the Moving Image to contractor begin work around the boiler professionally digitize the ship’s 1931 Lanni rooms within the year. But first, we will need film, which is the only remaining film that to survey the areas identified for work to portrays life aboard the ship during her active evaluate the scope and details of the work to service. Once digitized, this film can be place be done. Then, we will go out to bid for a con- online for easy viewing for anyone who is in- tractor who can make those areas sounder. terested. Audio Tours Interpretive Training and Projects Speaking of paperwork, we are currently wait- The ship’s interpreter, Sarah Faulkner, has ing for our State Historic Preservation Office been selected to undergo Master Interpreter (Texas Historical Commission) and the Na- Training through TPWD’s Interpretive Services tional Parks Service to give us the green light Program this year. She will continue to share to begin producing audio tours for the ship. some of her interpretive wisdom with the We received word last summer that the Na- ship’s docents by presenting interpretive tional Parks Service awarded the ship a Mari- trainings on Second Saturdays out at the ship. time Heritage Grant for a little less than Sarah will also hone her interpretive skills $50,000 for producing audio tours for adults during her Master Interpreter Training by and children, in English and Spanish.