Officials have closed the Battleship Texas Museum near Houston Texas indefinitely after new leaks were discovered on the 100 year-old veteran of both World Wars I and II.

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The U.S.S Texas shelled the beaches in Normandy before the landings, and was also involved in the Pacific during the battles of Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.  After earning 5 battle stars in World War II, the U.S.S. Texas (BB 35) was decommissioned in 1948.  She now rests in Buffalo Bayou on the Houston shipping channel near the San Jacinto Monument at San Jacinto State Park.

Among the many firsts for the Battleship Texas, the ship is the first to become a permanent museum, and the first to be declared a U.S. National Historic Monument.

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In recent years the Battleship Texas has been in the movies too.  In 2006 she appeared as herself in both ‘Flags of Our Fathers’, and ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’.

The ship has been plagued with leaks for years and was shut down earlier this month when water was discovered in a part of the ship that still held oil from her war days.  The Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, caretakers of the museum brought in a company to skim the oil, drain the water and fix the leak.  The vessel re-opened on Saturday, but was closed indefinitely on Monday when officals discovered leaks in two different areas of the ship.  The vessel is taking on nearly 2,000 gallons of water per minute.

Crews are working around the clock to repair the leaks and have made progress.  Officials hope to have the museum opened again soon, but can’t accurately predict when that may be.

There is a long term plan to save the ship, find out more about the dry-berth project at BattleshipTexas.org.  Here’s video on the project…

 

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