Battleship Texas

The battleship Texas is a retired ship that is located near the San Jacinto battleground. The San Jacinto battle ground is located half an hour drive east of Houston. It is well known for the decisive 20 minute battle against the Mexicans, which started the Texas as a country.


By now, you ask yourself: “What is a 20th century battleship doing at a 19th century battleground. I guess there were no other State Parks in Texas where you could get with moor a 34,000 ton battleship. The battleship was commissioned in 1914 and fought in both world wars. It is interesting to read the plaques where the first world was called the World War. The First World War only got its today’s name after The Second World War started.

As a nearly 100 year old ship, it was no longer able to move on its own and some components were quite rusty. The volunteers made an exceptional effort to keep the ship in shape, like one of the guns below where dad had more fun than his son.




During the fieldtrip I was puzzled by the many small hooks at the ceiling. Only when I spoke to a colleague who received training on a submarine, I learned that everywhere where those hooks were, bed were hanging on chains to accommodate a part of the 1645 person crew.





As someone from Europe, one sentence in the battleship brochure caught my attention: “Battleship Texas is owned by the people of Texas and is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.”