Dry berth for USS Texas off the table, for now

The Battleship Texas, permanently docked near the San Jacinto Monument, in 1998. (Paul S. Howell / Houston Chronicle) The Battleship Texas, permanently docked near the San Jacinto Monument, in 1998. (Paul S. Howell / Houston Chronicle) Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Dry berth for USS Texas off the table, for now 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

With only about a third of the money they need for repair and dry-berth display of the leaky USS Texas, state officials Thursday said they are turning to a cheaper Plan B: patching the century-old dreadnought and leaving it in the water at its San Jacinto Battleground mooring.

The decision to put plans to dry-berth the vessel on indefinite hold came Wednesday as state, federal and citizen groups coordinating repair met to consider their options after a series of leaks beginning June 9 put the vessel in crisis mode for more than a month.

"We've come to terms that we cannot dry-berth for the money we have," said Neil Thomas, the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife ship project manager. "We did everything we could to explore the dry-berth options. Now, we will move as quickly as we can to prioritize and execute the most critical repairs to preserve the ship's life as long as possible.

Thomas said a "little less" than $1.5 million has been spent to repair the vessel's recent leaks.

Workers on Thursday continued to "chase some much-reduced leaks," ship manager Andy Smith said, calling the situation aboard the battleship "fairly stable overall."

Not enough money

The decision to step away from the dry-berth project came as little surprise. Executing the original plan, for which Texas voters in 2007 approved a $25 million bond issue, increasingly seemed less probable as officials estimated its cost may approach $75 million.

Thomas said the bond issue's remaining $23 million will be applied to repairs necessary to keep the ship safe for visitors. Most of those will involve strengthening weight-bearing structures beneath the engines, boilers and steering gear at the vessel's rear.

Thomas said a relatively small percentage of weight-supporting structures is compromised but that "critical" components are affected.

"We don't want to have an engine dropping through the bottom of the ship," he said.

"When we got the ship in 1948, it was partially flooded on purpose," he said, explaining the internal corrosion. "The aft was flooded for 40 years. It was a common practice for stability."

Those repairs would be necessary regardless of how the ship is displayed, he said. Additional money - the amount has not been determined - will be needed to perform repairs necessary to keep the ship in the water.

Of primary concern in making the ship watertight are portions of the hull at the waterline, Thomas said.

"The majority of the corrosion is at the waterline, where it's been wet, dry, wet dry," he said.

Blister tanks, which line most of the warship's outer hull, suffered substantial leaks in past weeks. But, Thomas said, "we've had blister leaks for years." Planned repairs would include sealing points where blister tanks communicate with the ship's interior through pipe openings or other apertures.

When necessary, he said, the hull's sheathing will be replaced with steel panels matching the battleship's original specifications.

"Ostensibly, the new plates might last 60 or 70 years," he said. "But how long the adjacent stuff might last is difficult to answer. We might not walk two feet away and have more leaks."

Thomas said plans to dry-berth the Texas could be revived if economic circumstances change.

Fundraising continues

Meanwhile, Bruce Bramlett, director of the Battleship Texas Foundation, one of the groups involved in the repair project's oversight, said his organization will pursue efforts to raise needed money for dry-berthing from public, governmental and corporate donors.

Bramlett said part of his organization's strategy is to seek federal funding.

"We're looking to the federal government for funds along the Intrepid model," he said. "The feds contributed $25 million to save the Intrepid."

The group already has delivered $3 million of a pledged $4 million and in the past six weeks has raised an additional $25,000. "We've not been at it very long," he said, "but we have had a real uptick in online giving."

allan.turner@chron.com