Battleship TEXAS Foundation

Newsletter of the Battleship Texas Foundation Winter 2014

THE BATTLESHIP TEXAS CELEBRATES 100th

COMMISSIONING ANNIVERSARY

Two Centennial Celebration Events Honor the Past, Present and Future The Battleship Texas Foundation (BTF) working in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the commissioning of the Battleship TEXAS with two events: a private final crew reunion aboard the TEXAS on Wednesday, March 12 and a public family festival at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site on Saturday, March 15, 2014.

Both events will honor the Battleship TEXAS, her legendary history and pay tribute to the surviving crew members who proudly served on the ship during World War II. Commis-sioned on March 12, 1914, the TEXAS served in both world wars and is the last remain-ing “dreadnought”. She is a beloved icon who was part of many firsts including the first US battleship to launch an airplane and to house anti-aircraft guns. She was awarded five battle stars during WWII.

Battleship TEXAS Centennial Festival

Saturday, March 15, 2014 Noon – 10pm

San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Site La Porte, Texas

This family friendly festival will honor the Battleship TEXAS, her legendary history and the men who served on her. This is an opportunity to pay homage to the last remaining dreadnought to have served in both world wars and the living crew members from "The Greatest Generation."

The festival will be held on the grounds surrounding the Battleship TEXAS and will fea-ture educational exhibits, fun activities, concessions and live musical entertainment for people of all ages. Pre-sale tickets are available now for $14 at www.battleshiptexas.org through the day of the festival or at the gate for $20. VIP ship event tickets are also available for purchase. Children 12 and under are free. Discounted prices are available for veterans, $8 pre-sale and $15 at the gate.

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Saturday’s Centennial Celebration will also feature:

Tours of the TEXAS from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

“The Battleship TEXAS is an enduring symbol of strength and we want to celebrate her ser-vice and honor the men who served and risked their lives for our freedom,” said Bruce Bram-lett, executive director of the Battleship Texas Foundation. “Throwing the TEXAS a 100th com-missioning celebration is the least we can do and we know it will be an incredible and memo-rable day for former crew members, our local community and for our state. The community has been very supportive of the celebrations and we have received generous sponsorships from multiple corporations including HEB, Exxon, Centerpoint, Patriot Bank, Vopak and many local municipalities.”

The Battleship Texas Foundation (BTF) formerly the Battleship Texas Commission, founded in 1948, was established in 1998 with the mission to work in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to preserve and enhance the Battleship TEXAS, and to help develop the historic ship into a premier hands-on museum and world class visitor attraction. For more information, please visit www.battleshiptexas.org.

In addition to publicly acknowledging and commemorating the ship’s 100th commissioning anniversary, the Centennial Festival will help build awareness of this iconic piece of history, help highlight the urgent need to complete ongoing ship repairs and build support to ensure that the iconic ship is preserved for future generations.

All funds raised for this one-time event will: Underwrite the cost of hosting this event for the community Support the Battleship Texas Foundation’s mission to preserve and enhance the Battleship TEXAS. Fund the Wednesday, March 12, 2014 Battleship TEXAS final crew reunion and

commissioning celebration. To learn more or to purchase tickets, visit battleshiptexas.org

MEDIA INFO: Madison Longust Jessica Manning

Madison.longust@loveadv.com Jessica@loveadv.com 832-754-5856 713-398-2525

A ceremony honoring TEXAS crewmembers at approximately 2 p.m.

Dedication of donated house to US veteran by the Texas Sentinels Organization

TPWD interactive booths for all ages WWII vintage aircraft flyovers Historical zones highlighting WWI and WWII including military artifacts Battleship TEXAS Walk of History

Headliner musical entertainment 12:30 – 2 p.m. Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison

3 – 4:30 p.m. Charlie Robison 5:30 – 7 p.m. Reckless Kelly

8 – 9:30 p.m. Robert Earl Keen

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since the spring of 2012 to execute critical structural re-pairs to the Battleship Texas. Similarly to what was re-ported in the last update, the repairs remain focused in aft trimming tank D-12 and in the tanks underneath both the port and starboard engines.

The replacement of the steel framing just outboard of the engine rooms on both the port and starboard side is complete! The new tank tops have been installed, along with new hatches that match the historic hatches that per-mitted access to the tanks, and everything has been primed and painted. The spaces look great, and are much stronger than they have been in decades!

The overall structural re-pair project is about 40% com-plete, but the ship continues to be plagued by numerous leaks in the areas near the work zones. Several leaks plagued the ship over the holiday season, but all were quickly and effectively ad-dressed by the TPWD\TPWD team.

I will continue to update the project website (www.dryberthtexas.com) as often as I can with brief pro-gress notes, so check the site to get the latest news. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Battleship Texas Centen-nial Celebration in March!

Advisory Directors

Hon. James A. Baker, III 61st Secretary of State

ADM. James L. Holloway, III USN (Ret.), Former CNO

Ned S. Holmes Commissioner, Texas

Transportation Commission

Board of Trustees

Anthony K. Gregory, Chairman

Thomas J. Perich, Vice Chairman

Donald H. Fischer, Treasurer

Rey Gonzales, Jr., Secretary

Charles A. Alcorn,

Chairman Emeritus

Jimmy Burke

Penny H. Butler

Alfred Davis, IV

Sylvia R. Garcia

Theodore S. Hirtz

RADM. J. Weldon Koenig,

USN (Ret.) Michael N. Pearson

CAPT. Clifford H. Royal,

USN (Ret.) Thomas C. Wright

Bruce D. Bramlett

Execut ive D irector ;

bruce@battleshiptexas.org

TPWD Ship Staff

Andy Smith, Ship Manager

WWII Poster . . .

In this issue . . .

Centennial Celebration Pg.1

Centennial Highlights Pg.2

Repair Update Pg.3

Directors Chair Pg.4

Caleb Loring Obit Pg.5

Donald R. Cabe Obit FTV Update Pg.6

In Memory Of Pg.7

The Texas Was There Pg.8

Texas Supporters Pg.9

Membership Info Pg.10

Taylor Marine Construction, Inc. (TMC) has been working under contract to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Depart-ment (TPWD)

Battleship Repair Update

By Neil Thomas, TPWD Project Mgr.

From The Director’s Chair

When I was a kid I always liked Superman. My brother and I would never miss a show. I loved the opening, “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a

locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane. No, it’s Superman.”

We knew he wasn’t real but that did not matter to us. He was great and he worked so hard to make sure things turned out as they should.

We could use more Supermen these days. Thank goodness there are still some su-permen and women around. I wanted to take my time and space, to say thank to a whole army of supermen and super women. Space does not let me list them all

but I believe you will get the idea.

Let me start with Andy Smith and Travis Davis and their staff onboard The Texas. These guys do superman type work and give a mighty effort every day to keep

The Texas in the best shape possible. Their effort and devotion to her are truly remarkable.

To all of you that work on The Texas, thank you.

The First Texas Volunteers are another group I would like to thank. These men and women lead the Hard Hat Tours of the ship as well as spend countless hours restoring and maintaining the Texas. To Ryan Flynn, Lee McIntire, Tony Adams,

Don Fisher, and so many others, you are truly super. If you have been looking for whatever happened to Superman, I can tell you that

his spirit is alive and well and lives in the hearts and souls of the men and women who work hard to keep The Texas going.

Thank you all form all of us that get to enjoy your work and effort.

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What is a Dreadnought?

By the end of 2014 the Overnight Program will have accommodated 40,000 campers. Before the campers leave the program and salute off the ship, one of the most important con-cept taught in the program is the definition of a dreadnought. Before the HMS Dreadnought, launched by the British in 1906, battleships were slow, lightly armored, and were bristled with many size main battery guns. These guns were all aimed at the target and fired “at will”, reloaded and fired again and again. Gunners could see splashes around the target, but could not judge which gun made which splash. They reloaded and fired at the target over and over hoping to hit the target. This was called a “storm of fire”. Only one in three hundred shells would hit the target. Then came the HMS DREADNOUGHT, a fast ship, she was, with thick armor, and all the main battery guns the same caliber. They aimed all the main battery guns in the same direction at the target and fired one half of them, while these were reloaded, the other one half were fired. They could keep up with the target better this way. Gunners could see a cluster of splashes near the target and move the cluster to the target. With this this new way of aiming and firing the guns, one in fifteen shells would hit the target. This made a considerable improvement in ammunition saving and efficiency. The Battleship USS TEXAS is the last dreadnought. By, Jerry Irwin

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Died peacefully at home in Prides Crossing, Mass. on No-vember 24, 2013. He had been tenderly cared for by his staff and family. He was the beloved husband of Rosemary Merrill Loring who predeceased him after 60 years of marriage. He was also predeceased by two of his brothers, David and Jo-seph. He is survived by his four children: Caleb Loring 3rd, David Loring, Rosemary Loring, Keith Loring, and their respective spouses: Bronwyn Loring, Janet Loring, Dr. David Byrne, and Karen Koenig; by four grandchildren: Dr. Caleb Loring 4th, Caitlyn Loring Tho-mas, William Campbell, and Suzanne Campbell; by six great grandchildren, Alayna, Emma, Adam, Blair, Merrill, and Jane; and by his sister, Susan Loring, and brother, George Loring. Caleb was born to Suzanne Bailey Loring and Caleb Loring at home, 20 Hereford St., Bos-ton, Mass. on February 5, 1921. He grew up in Chestnut Hill, and graduated from Dexter School, Milton Academy, Har-vard College ('43), and Harvard Law School ('48). Upon gradua-tion from Harvard, he began his working career leaving the docks of Boston to serve aboard the battleship USS Texas. He served in WW II as a commissioned line officer and saw battle in Normandy, Iwo

fessed, was the key to his good health. He lettered in football, ice hockey, and baseball at Harvard. He felt that doing team sports taught him many lessons, including how to take hits from many directions. Tennis and sailing were life-long interests and he was able to do both until his most sen-ior years. Those who knew Caleb most often mention his wonderful character and disposition: kind, generous, appreciative, honest, and humble. He was a gentleman who loved his fel-low man and whose stated wish in the last months of his life was that people learn to live in peace and get along with one another, despite their differences. Caleb enjoyed the companionship of friends, family, and his care givers. He observed nature, listened to favorite music, accessed sub-jects on the computer and shared humorous exchanges. Caleb brought love and laugh-ter to his every day. How he will be missed! A memorial service will be held at the A. J. Gordon Memo-rial Chapel, Gordon College, 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham (Rt. 128 exit 17), on December 22 at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory may be sent to the Salvation Army (PO Box 408, Salem, MA 01970), St. John's Episcopal Church (PO Box 5610, Beverly Farms, MA 01915), or the USS Constitu-tion Museum (PO Box 291812, Boston, MA 02129). Arrange-ments by the Campbell - Lee, Moody, Russell Funeral Home, 525 Cabot Street, NORTH BEV-ERLY. For information, direc-tions, or to send condolences : www.campbellfuneral.com

Jima, and Okinawa. Years later, as his civilian career was coming to an end, he returned to those docks in Boston as President of the Board of the USS Constitution Museum and, for a time, Di-rector. He said his working career had come full circle. Caleb began his business/corporate career at Gaston, Snow, Ely & Bartlett as a litiga-tor and corporate attorney. One of his corporate clients was Fidelity Management Trust Company which soon hired him to be their first in-ternal corporate counsel. He remained at Fidelity for the balance of his professional life, but also maintained an office as a trustee with Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge. His volunteer and philan-thropic endeavors were nu-merous: supporting and en-dowing a textile gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts with his wife, Rosemary; working with the Salvation Army, for which he received the "Others" award; generously supporting the Boston Athenaeum, where he endowed two research fel-lowships as well as acting as the honorary curator of Civil War collections. Caleb's ser-vice on Boston boards in-cluded the Executive Service Corps, Operation Able, and Freedom House. A few of his local community efforts in-cluded the North Shore United Way, Hospice of the North Shore, North Shore YMCA, Beverly Historical Society, Wenham Museum, Project Ad-venture and St. John's Episco-pal Church. He served on a number of local boards in-cluding Beverly Hospital and Shore Country Day School. Physical exercise, Caleb pro-

Caleb Loring Jr. 1921- 2013

Donald R. Cade Oct. 28, 1919, Dec. 30, 2013

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First Texas Volunteers

By Don Fischer

Catbackers.

They are the proud parents of Norman, Donna, Lynn ( G a m b r e l l ) , a n d D i a n e (Carnoali) and nine grandchil-dren: Tammy, Jennifer (Burns), Adam Cade, Joshua, Taylor, Jordan Gambrell, Nicholas, Chelsea, Sophie Carnoali, and ten great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations be made to: In Honor of Donald R. Cade , Battleship Texas Foundation, One Riverway, Ste. 2200 Hous-ton, TX. 77056.

Condolences may be sent to www.davisfuneralchapelinc.com

Donald R. Cade, was born October 28, 1919, in Willams-burg, Kansas. His parents were Craton Murphy and Belle Irene Cade. Preceding him in death were h is parents , s i s ter Eunice, brothers Glenn, and Harold, and daughter Deborah Ellen Cade.

Don, graduated from Wil-lamsburg High School in 1939. He attended aircraft wood-working school in Topeka and Wichita, before going to work a t an a i r cra f t p lant . He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942 and spent several years aboard the Battleship USS Texas in the invasion of North Africa and Italy during World War II. He was assigned to the RPIO (Register Publish Issued Office) in Oran, Africa, where he worked with Top Secret ma-terial for the ships coded com-munications. He was honora-bly discharged in February, 1946.

Don graduated Kansas State University in 1949. He was a high school industrial arts teacher in Reading, Allen, Americus, and Leavenworth, Kansas. He was a coach and assistant coach in basketball and football. He officiated basketball for 25 years and football for 35 years. He re-tired as counselor at West Jun-ior High.

On July 9, 1950 he married Miriam Phyllis Dunbar from Richmond, Kansas. Don and Miriam celebrated 63 years of marriage in July. They were both long time members of The First United Methodist Church, active with the Heri-tage Senior Center and K-State

Work on the forecastle has been especially difficult as the wood here is extremely weathered. Many areas have rot, especially around the steel pins, holding the planks in place. In the areas so far completed, rot has been removed, the voids filled with an epoxy filler, or areas routed out and filled with a wood fillet. It is questionable at this time whether the forecastle can be completed properly before the centennial. In addition to de-vouring huge numbers of man-hours in the best of situations, the current winter is wreaking vengeance and interfering with the efforts. In a worst case sce-nario, any remaining square footage will be sanded, trip haz-ards will be repaired, and the surface painted.

To make the most of weather issues, for example, when the wood is too wet to work with, members have assisted the regular staff in “busting rust” and priming deck equipment on the forecastle in preparation for painting.

Texas Parks & Wildlife has begun prepping the hull for repainting. Hard Hat Tours

The Third Hard Hat Tour of the 2013 – 2014 season was held Saturday, January 11 with a smaller than nominal turnout, which appears to be due to some scheduling and internal issues. Nevertheless, everyone participating had a great time. A total of $1,640 was earned during this tour. The next Hard Hat Tour is scheduled for Satur-day, March 29. Please contact the Foundation office at (713) 827-9620 to make reservations.

The First Texas Volunteers (FTV) moved from the Air Castles to the Forecastle in its effort to re-finish the wood deck in time for the ship’s commissioning cen-tennial and the crew’s final re-union in March. Following sand-ing, filling and caulking, the decking in the air castles was left with a primer coat and a sin-gle finish coat applied to protect the wood and give a finished look. An additional coat will be applied prior to the centennial.

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In Honor or Memory Of Caleb Loring, Jr. and Donald R. Cade

Andy Smith Arthur Loukas Barney Gatlin Ben H. Macon, Sr. Admiral Chester Nimitz

Bernard Allen Street, Sr. Bill Stamps Bill Swisher Bruce M. Cameron, MD

Caleb Loring, Jr. Capt. Katz Capt. William C. Coltman Carl A. Newman

Carl E. Vogler, Sr. CDR Stewart Lindsay USNR Cdr. Nevin Kennedy III, USN

Charles B. Jackino, USN Charles D. Granger, USCG Charles D. Holland

Charles W. Bachmann Chief Geronimo Clarence N. Flanagan Clem R. Thrift

Col. R. W. Cook Collis Macon, USMC Colonel Matrix Conley L. Pierce

Corbin Brent Shelton D. G. Merritt Donald Gordon Merritt Donald R. Cade

Dorothy Frances Eastin E. I. Bradley, USN E. W. Rhoden, E. D. Rhoden, C. A. Rhoden,

D. C. Rhoden and D. D. Rhoden Earl V. Harrell Eddie H. Jahnke Andrew D. Milne

Edwin Hartensteiner, Sr. Ervin Dewaine Pupkes Erwin H. Scheel, USCG

Everett Angus Cooke F. A. (Fritz) Epps Floyd Linney & Clarence Wolfshohl

Frank J. Russell George A. Rosenthal, USN George A. Schroeders, Sr.

George M. Crisp H. Grant Stoddard Harold H. Kieselhorst Harvey L. Holley

Henry Carter Summy, Herman W. Gullett Herold E. Jervies Howard McGee

J. J. Hemmen Jack B. Buckley, USNR James H. Lamb James Long

James T. Haines James W. Hogan Janet and Oliver Starcke Jesse Pettey

Jim Cieszinski Jim Lamb Joe A. Vardeman Joe Don Jones William H. Moss

John C. Alberts and Donald Laya John Dow, Jr. John Jay Neukomm, Jr.

John LaFayette Massey, USN John Simpson Randall John Slifer Wilkinson

John Wayne Watkins Joseph Bertrand Joseph, George, and Walter Tasonis

Josiah E. Mardre Lee M. Pierce, USN Lora Basham Lt. Wesley P. Winkler

Lt. Marvin E. Neal, USN Lt. Arthur Mayle, USN LtJg. John J. Adams, Sr.

Marshall M. Platt Mathew Floyd and Giles Casey Maynard White Robert Molen

MSgt. Samuel E. Thompson (Ret.) Neil R. Zaccagni Robert Collins, PFC WWII

Paul D. Broussard, Jr. PHM2/C Richard Good, USNR PM4 Robert Obrien

RADM Robert M. Moore, SC, USN (Ret) RADM Sheldon H. Kinney Robert W. McLaughlin

Ralph W. Naas Ray White Reuben B. Kihn, USN Richard G. Goodson, USN

Richard H. Stephens Robert B. Berkley and Jack B. Berkley Robert Bowden

Robert Cronin Roger Bouffard Roy W. Wileman S. W. Etheridge AD Clarence W. Ferguson

Ruskin H. Meyer and Adrian E. Stockton Sec. Gordon England Walter Ress

SGT Leroy Wetzel, USAAF Sgt. Charles E. Waters, Sr., USAAC William T. Isaac

Sgt. Jack Scott Theron Leo Brown Wm. G. Cook William B. Potter

Walter Temerowski and Charles Fritz William Eugene Smith WO1 Melvin C. Seffel

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The Texas Was There . . .

North Africa, The Allies first offensive Normandy, D Day Ships, Men and Machines Storm Ashore Cherbourg, Bombarding the German shore batteries as shells bracket the ship

Southern France Supporting the Southern attack on Fortress Europe

Iwo Jima and

Okinawa Pacific action, blasting away at Japanese defenses

Painting by Tom W. Freeman

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Battleship Texas Supporters

John R. Adcock William H. Barnes Curtis Basham David L. Bright

Donald L. Boudreaux Andrew Bouffard G. W. Brock James S. Buckley

Dr. Deborah D. Bryan Marvin W. Butcher James Paul Collins

John and Roxanne Cabori Gary Conner

Errol Callaway Will Allen Courtney Mr. & Mrs. Ben and Virginia Culp

Mack Neal Gen. James L. Crouch, USAF (Ret.) Lou Ann Everett

Frederick Conlin, Jr. Walter H. Hill Wendell N. Courville

Charles L. Roedema Amos R. Dreessen Michael Edmonds

Dr. John H. Fain Dr. Charles Farrow John R. Foreman Lee Gleghorn

Robert Garritano Helen F. Gordon George Gould Michael Hanson

Dolores Hemmen Michael G. Cook, USMC Leslie W. John Mark Johnson

Mr. & Mrs. Raleigh W. Johnson Patricia A. Langa

Carl B. Long Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Loukas Mitzi Maceo John Meyer

Capt. Ben H. Macon, USN (Ret.) Angela Cochran Mahmarian

Lcdr. Robert A. Maiellaro, USN (Ret.) Dr. Patrick A. Moore

Lt. Col. Harry B. Massingill, USAF (Ret.) Gene Moss

Col. Joseph N. Mueller, USMC (Ret.) Jack M. Platt

Joseph H. Murphey Frank Mustachia Davd F.C. Newman Paul M. Pierce

Jeffrey M. Patterson John G. Pedersen Virginia Robinson

George A. Schroeders Capt. Joel S. Seffel, USN (Ret.) Mary E. Stamps

Dennis S. Sterosky Mr. & Mrs. Richard G. Stoddard B. Phillip Taylor

Samuel E. Thompson Bryan Tilley Mike and Patricia Tilton

George F. Urbancik Roy Don Vardeman Donald R. Wagoner

Luther White Albert B. Washington Charles E. Waters Julio Zaccagni

Cdr. Michael Winkler, USN (Ret.) Clarence and Janis Wolfshohl

Lcdr. Stewart Lindsay, USN (Ret.)

Membership Benefits

Individual. $35 Entry level membership entitles Member to receive a free subscription to the BTF quarterly e-mail newsletter “The Dreadnought” and a free subscription to TPWD’s bi-weekly e-mail newsletter “The Battle Report” (if you provide your e-mail address). Family. $ 45 Everything above, plus invitations to San Jacinto Site activities and special events. Supporting $ 150 Everything above, plus one (1) Hard Hat Tour. Benefactor. $ 500 Everything above, plus two (2) Hard Hat Tours Corporate. $2,000 Everything above, plus publication of your firm’s name in “The Dreadnought” and at special events held aboard the TEXAS. USS TEXAS Veterans. $10 Benefits the same as for Individual Member.

Mail to:

BATTLESHIP TEXAS FOUNDATION One Riverway

Suite 2200 Houston, Texas 77056

Phone 713-827-9620

Membership Application

I am pleased to support the USS TEXAS with my membership in the Battleship TEXAS Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non profit organization.

Individual $35.00 Family $45.00 Supporting $150.00 Benefactor $500.00 Corporate $2,000.00 USS TEXAS Veteran $10.00

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One Riverway, Suite 2200 Houston, Texas 77056