Scott A. Williams
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USS Texas:
Preparing a
Dreadnought Battleship for Towing to Dry Dock
This article originally appeared in Commitment magazine HOUSTON, TX – When she was launched
on May 18, 1912, the USS Texas – a “dreadnought” battleship – was the
most powerful weapon in the world. During a storied history, the Texas operated
in all the world’s significant naval theaters. She served America in
peacetime and war for 36 years. Today she is the only dreadnought that
survives. The Texas was
decommissioned in 1948 and was brought to the San Jacinto State Historic
Site, off the Houston Ship Channel, where she serves as a museum. Rust and
the general deterioration of age have taken their toll on the once-proud
battleship, but her future looks bright. In 2001, Texas voters approved
bonds that earmark $12 million for her restoration at a yet-to-be-determined
dry dock. Once dry-docked, repairs to the Texas are expected to take four
to six months. Workers will replace and paint some steel plating on the hull,
and the ship’s wooden deck will be replaced and painted. The ship will then
return to San Jacinto and reopen to the public. Even though the move to dry dock
is not expected until 2004 or 2005, preparations for the next voyage of the Texas
are well underway. Not surprisingly, the need to tow an enormous and
deteriorating battleship calls for engineering solutions aimed at keeping the
Texas afloat. The job of pumping out water taken on by the Texas,
both before and during her move to dry dock, requires a team of marine
engineering specialists. The State of Texas hired Shiner
Moseley & Assoc., Inc., a Corpus Christi-based marine engineering and
consulting firm, to study the effects of towing the Texas. Shiner
Moseley assessed potential problems, such as how much water the ship can hold
and how hull deterioration would effect the ship under tow. Shiner Moseley had three pump representatives
survey the hull bulkheads and inner tanks of the battleship. Using results of
the bulkhead study, Shiner Moseley designed a flood containment program.
Despite the program’s complexity, its objective was simple: remove water from
the hull, both at its current berth and during the tow. Houston-based Southport Systems,
which provides systems and maintenance services for specialty HVAC, marine,
petro-chemical, offshore projects, and manufacturing processes, received a
bid request for the Texas project in July 2001. During 2000 and 2001,
Southport Systems had worked on the Texas on the condenser pumping
system. Shiner Moseley sent Southport the job, knowing the firm’s vast experience
on this and other pumping projects. Ron Owings, Sales Engineer for
Southport Systems, was assigned to head the project. Initially, the job
called for electrical pumping systems. However, to gain additional
flexibility, Ron recommended a system combining both pneumatic and electrical
power. Ron consulted with his local pump rep who recommended Atlas Copco as the best compressor on
the market. Since Atlas Copco is a state-approved vendor, Ron simply called
Atlas Copco in Austin and was referred directly to the local Atlas Copco
distributor, Tide-Air, Inc., of Houston.
Tide-Air Applications Engineer
Nancy McNeil began working with Ron on the project. Ron’s bottom line was to
purchase a screw compressor with low noise levels and a strong reputation for
quality, longevity, and performance. After studying project requirements and
working through several detailed meetings, Nancy recommended (and Southport
purchased) the Atlas Copco GA55-125FF air compressor. The GA Series of compressors are
Atlas Copco’s WorkPlace Systems, designed with all key components in a single
compact unit. To meet project specifications, the GA55-125FF was equipped
with filters, dryer bypass, an oil water separator, phase sequence
protection, digital remote monitoring, and weather protection, all fully integrated
into a standalone system. The system was installed aboard the Texas and,
on April 24, 2002, began providing compressed air to power the pumping
system. All parties involved, including
the State of Texas, Southport Systems, and the workers aboard ship, have
reported complete satisfaction with the compressor’s performance,
reliability, and quiet operation. The immediate goal is to have
the Battleship Texas ready for tow to dry dock by 2005. With the help
of Atlas Copco and the GA55-125FF compressor, the Texas is being
readied for her next voyage. # # #
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Copyright
© this website by Scott A. Williams. All rights reserved.
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