CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Wednesday was moving day for a piece of history with ties to the Lone Star State.
The Battleship USS Texas permanently left its longtime home in La Porte, for a temporary move 35 miles down the coast to Galveston.
At 110 years old, she is the only surviving battleship to have served in both world wars.
Since 1948, the “Mighty T” has birthed at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, where she has battled the surf and the elements.
In recent years, a leaky, rusty hull has forced workers to pump out about 2,000 gallons of water per minute. That prompted the decision to move the ship to a dry dock in Galveston, where $35 million has been set aside for repairs.
3NEWS was able to speak with Corpus Christi resident Nathan Gershon, who was on a motorboat near the ship channel in Houston Wednesday, as part of an escort team for the move.
“Right now, on the entire planet earth, the Battleship Texas is the only battleship in the world that is afloat and free of her moorings. It’s a pretty historic moment and I wanted to be a part of it," Gershon said.
While her place in history is secured, the Battleship’s future is uncertain.
Texas lawmakers gave the money for the rehab on the condition that the state will not spend any more money on the ship and no longer host is at the San Jacinto monument, where it has served as a floating museum.
That means officials with the Battleship Texas Foundation will have to find another site somewhere in Texas, that can draw enough visitors and souvenir-buyers to pay for the upkeep and operations.
"She’s important to Texas, she’s important to the history of the United States. A lot of people served on her in two world wars and she’s been an inspiration to many generations as a museum in San Jacinto since," Gershon said.
Repairs to the ship are expected to take more than a year.
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