Boiler Room # 3

 The First TEXAS Volunteers hosts a Hard Hat Tour aboard ship several times a year. We use the funds from these tours to help us with different projects aboard ship.

A group of volunteers decided we needed to restore part of the # 3 Boiler room which is where we take folks on the HHT so that they could get a good idea of a "Before" and "After" on a restoration project.

With the approval and guidance from the Texas Parks and Wildlife staff we have begun to restore the starboard Boiler front in the # 3 boiler room.

In simple terms we are to carefully remove some of the components from the front of the boiler and clean the decades of rust and deposits and then repaint them to the Navy regulation paint scheme and reinstall them. Simple said but not simple to do......

(click to see larger image)

The photo above is what the front of the starboard boiler looked like before we began. Completely covered in rust that had built up since the ship arrived in 1948.

Photo above shows the Periscope unit so that the boiler room crew could tell if their boiler was making smoke or not.

In July of 2004 the front of the starboard boiler looked like this. The burner units had been removed and the front of the boiler had been cleaned and prepared for painting.

In September of 2004 this is what the front of the starboard boiler looked like. All of the burner units were still removed. The majority of the front of the boiler had been painted.

The next three photos show the process of restoring the burner unit;

Before removal from the boiler. You can see it is still covered with rust and debris that must be removed.

After the units are cleaned they have a badly needed coat of primer applied before the final coat.

This photo shows the burner unit reinstalled on the front of the boiler. I'm sorry if this photo is not that good. I guess you will have to take the HHT to see a better view. But seriously these photos don't do this project justice you need to see it in person.

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click on image

Photo by Mike Fisk

Current condition as of August 13th 2005

Phase 1 

Remove Cuyama oil burner units from starboard boiler.  Remove rust and scale accumulation and repaint as original.  Reassemble using original hardware. Restore electrical lighting circuit for all of Boiler Room 3. Restore electrical circuits for the periscope system. 

Phase 2 

Upon completion of Phase 1, sand Boiler Room 3’s starboard bulkheads to a height of 8 feet as access is possible.  Sand bulkheads in starboard ladder well traversing 1^st Platform to 2^nd Platform at Boiler Room 3.  Document original markings.  Paint bulkheads white and recreate original markings on new surface.

Phase 3  

Clean and paint pumps and equipment on the starboard side of Boiler Room 3, including watch booth.  Clean and paint communications booth on Boiler Room 3’s forward bulkhead.

When this project is completed which, could take over a year you will get a very good idea when you take the Hard Hat Tours what an area of the ship looks like before restoration is done and after.

It is with great pleasure that the volunteers are able to do these types of projects so that # 1 we preserve the Battleship TEXAS for future generations and open new areas of the ship to the public when possible. 

Without the ship's staff (which do the majority of these types of projects) and the volunteers. Historically Important and irreplaceable artifacts like the Battleship TEXAS would be lost.

The Battleship TEXAS is the LAST Dreadnought Era Battleship that is still afloat. Built beginning in 1911 and Commissioned in 1914. She is over 90 years OLD.