LA PORTE, Texas — Children shimmy up the barrels of massive cannons on the upper decks of the 100-year-old battleship Texas oblivious to the tension in the historic vessel’s belly where a crew works on pumping out dozens of gallons of oil-laced water.
photo - Norman Snipe climbs out of a tank on the port side of the USS Texas after repositioning a pump hose Wednesday in Houston. AP Photo
Norman Snipe climbs out of a tank on the port side of the USS Texas after repositioning a pump hose Wednesday in Houston. AP Photo
Staff arrived Saturday and immediately noticed something was wrong with the ship that fought in World Wars I and II and has served since 1948 as a memorial and museum to those who sacrificed their lives.
The vessel was sitting awkwardly in its slip. She was lower in the water and listing to the left.
“We got down to the lower portions of the ship and discovered that we had taken on more water than usual in areas that we normally don’t,” ship manager Andy Smith said. “They started pumping throughout the day Saturday, and it got progressively worse.”
The situation was so dire by Sunday that the ship’s caretaker, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, had to find more pumps to help remove the water. Smith said the news got worse on Monday.
Water had entered areas that housed old oil tanks used when the ship was still in active duty and serving in every theater in World War II. The Navy had emptied out the oil before handing the vessel over to Texas, but hadn’t cleaned out the tanks. Smith realized he had an environmental issue on his hands.
He hired a company to skim the oil off the top of the water.
It is possible, he said, that the oil will be completely removed by late Wednesday. Then, it should only take a few hours to remove the water, though Smith said he is preparing for the possibility that more water will flow in for a short time due to a change in pressure.
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