GALVESTON, Texas — Battleship Texas spent most of her 74 years in La Porte before making a journey to Galveston Wednesday.
But the ship made history long before this expedition.
Many watched the last leg of the USS Texas' journey to a dry dock while standing atop other World War II-era vessels on display at the Galveston Naval Museum.
"We’re here to greet her and celebrate her,” said museum director Tammy Lobaugh.
The more than century-old vessel will soon get much-needed TLC.
"When she was launched and commissioned into service, she was the most fierce warship at the time,” said Lobaugh.
The USS Texas launched in 1912 and was in service by the time World War I came around.
She was almost sent to the scrapyard in the late 1930s before proving her worth in World War II by helping defeat Nazis from North Africa to Normandy. She was then dispatched to help protect troops in Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
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USS Texas was the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, launch an aircraft and one of the first with radar.
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, a Texas native, helped mark the occasion of her arrival to the Lone Star State in 1948 when USS Texas became the nation's first battleship museum in La Porte.
“Today, gallant old ship, we say to you “hail and farewell,” said Nimitz during the ceremony.
“I spent two and a half years on board the ship,” said WWII vet Julio Zaccagni.
The 100-year-old was, among other things, a range finder during his stint on the USS Texas.
"From February 1940 to July 1942,” said Zaccagni.
He came to La Porte Wednesday morning to see the USS Texas off on the next mission of her long, incredible life.
"It used to be a real first-class ship when I was on board,” said Zaccagni.
Many hope she’ll soon recapture some of her glory.