Battleship TEXAS Status

This page is dedicated to the ongoing project to complete a six-foot model of the Battleship TEXAS that was begun in the 1960s by Al Escamilla and the members of the Gulf Coast Historical Ship Modelers Society.  We are currently raising money for the materials and labor and we have made significant strides in raising what is needed.  Our Master Modeler will begin work on this project later this year and we will track her progress along the way!   

Battleship TEXAS Model Update 

 In October 2009, John Escamilla and his family donated his father’s collection of books, models, model kits,and modeling tools and accessories to the Houston Maritime Museum. Al Escamilla had spent a lifetime building models and collecting information on ships, and this donation has already been of great benefit to the staff and patrons of the Museum.  One of the items donated was a scale model of the hull of the Battleship TEXAS, BB-35. Though incomplete, this model is of high quality and is constructed with original teak taken from the deck of the warship. Despite the local connection and the significance of the TEXAS to maritime history, the HMM has never had a model of this famous Battleship in their collection. The completion of Al Escamilla’s project will be a tribute to the decades of work and persistence that he and other modelers contribute to the museum and will be an excellent addition to the collection. 

The work on this project will be completed by the Houston Maritime Museum’s Lorena Alvarez, a Master Modeler and restoration expert. Her past experience includes model restoration, construction of custom-built cases and frames, navigation equipment restoration, and commissioned model building. She has even restored a model of the Battleship TEXAS! Many of the models on display in the Houston Maritime Museum have been built or repaired by Ms. Alvarez so we have no doubt that our new TEXAS model is in good hands. 

We will update her progress on this webpage as we continue to raise money and begin work on this important and exciting project! 

The staff of the Houston Maritime Museum would like to offer special thanks to the following “Plank Owners” who have generously contributed to the completion of our first Battleship TEXAS Model for the museum:

The Family of Al Escamilla
William Robb
Dana Rodriguez
Charles Pitt
Jack & Sylvia Ross
Ed McGuire
Henry S. Prime
Burton Reckles
Tom Jameson
The Houston Pilots
Laurence Shallenberger
Bob Webbon
Harry Bounds
David H. Johnston
Gerald & Margaret Davis
Gulf Coast Historical Ship Modeler’s Society
Robert Michonski
Capt. J. Thomas Tray
Tom Johnson
K.R. Archer
Jurgen Schroder, Schroder Marine Services, Inc. 

As of February 5, 2010, our generous “Plank Owners” have contributed $1,890.00 towards the completion of the Houston Maritime Museum’s first model of the Battleship TEXAS! We are almost half way to our goal!

Thank you for your support!

 

 

 Unfinished hull of the Battleship TEXAS 

 Overhead view of the deck which is made of teak taken from the original Battleship TEXAS deck in 1968. 

 

  

  

  

 

The hull is in need of significant work, which will be expertly provided by our Master Modeler/Restorer, Lorena Alvarez.  

  

 

The aft section will be outfitted with the rudder and propellers. 

 

New expedition to Titanic wreck will create detailed images, use robots

Contributed to Fyddye by Joe Follansbee   (www.fyddeye.com)

Tuesday, 27 July 2010 07:25

The company that owns salvage rights to the 1912 wreck of the liner Titanic has announced a new expedition to survey and map the famous wreck. According to a news release, RMS Titanic, Inc, a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions, which has sponsored traveling shows of Titanic artifacts, will use advanced acoustic imaging, sonar technologies and high resolution optical, video and 3-D imaging to create what it says is the first comprehensive view of the wreck site off Newfoundland. Underwater robots will map the ship and its artifacts on the ocean floor to help scientists conserve the wreck.  RMS Titanic has partnered with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Waitt Institute, both involved in deep-water scientific research. NBC News and MSNBC.com will provide real time video feeds and photos on Facebook, Twitter and the company’s website. In what the company calls “arguably the most technologically advanced scientific expedition…ever organized,” researchers will depart St. Johns, Newfoundland for the wreck site on August 18. The expedition is expected to last 20 days. Leading the expedition is P.H. Nargeolet, director of underwater fesearch for RMS Titanic, Inc. and a widely acknowledged authority of the site, according to the news release.  Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions, which was awarded salvage rights to the Titanic wreck by a federal court in 1994, has recovered more than 5,500 artifacts from the wreck. Some of the artifacts were displayed in a traveling show called “Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibition.” The company is also creator of the controversial “BODIES: The Exhibition,” which features human bodies displayed without skin. This month, the Seattle City Council banned similar exhibitions in the future if the exhibitors cannot prove the dead individuals gave consent for their remains to be displayed.

Hello world!

The Houston Maritime Museum has been in existence for ten years in one of the most museum-oriented cities in the nation, yet no one seems to know we exist!  Houston is home to the second largest port in the nation and exists in large part because of it’s maritime foundations, yet this aspect of the city’s history is not fully appreciated by many who live in this great city.  This blog is one small step on the road to changing this!

We will use this blog as a means to communicate with visitors and members, share upcoming events and activities, and generally interact with our audience.  We hope to include information about both local and international maritime history and generally become a place where maritime enthusiasts can share their stories and learn a little from others.  I hope you will check back frequently as we gradually get this site up and off the ground!