All while the Texas was undergoing her restoration, Time was marching on for me. My days in college were seeming to blend together, though I knew that by Summer of 2022, I would FINALLY have my 4 year degree.

"And then I can FINALLY join the regular Navy!" I thought. "And then my family can be even more proud of me than they already are."

I then thought about my family. It had been a little while since I'd last seen them, even though we weren't very far apart. My Dad worked as a contractor at the Naval Facility in Corpus Christi, my Mom was a stay at home Mom, my older sister Jill was going to school to be an engineer, and my younger brother Marcus wasn't out of high school yet, but he said that he wanted to go into IT (in a nutshell, working with computers for all you non-techy folks). I'd gotten along fairly well with my 2 siblings over the years, as 3 years separated Jill and I, and 3 years between me and Marcus. Both my Dad and Marcus supported my decision to join the Navy, though my Mom wasn't so sure about that, and instead asked me what I was going to do about college. After debating this for a while with her, this was where I had to compromise for the time being. If I earned a 4 year degree, then I could join the regular Navy. I bent this a little bit when I joined the Naval Reserves, but since I was still going to college, my Mom couldn't fuss too much about it. I still did get a little bit of flak because of it, but not much.

"I hope that they're doing well", I thought. "I'll have to call them when I get the chance. my Dad and Marcus were sure happy when they learned that I was part of the team that was helping to get the Texas ready to go to dry-dock, and I wonder what they'll say if I'm picked to bring her from Mobile back to Texas." I didn't know, but I was hoping to find out soon.

Finally, in May of 2022, when I was 23 years old, I was up on the stage at my college, being handed my diploma for my Bachelor's Degree in military history. I was so proud of my accomplishment, and so were my family, who were cheering for me out in the crowd. My best friend Ted was also there, and he was really proud of me too.

"Way to go David! Now you're a BA who's got his BA!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Ted was always one to crack jokes like that. "Yeah, you're right Ted."

Then it was my family's turn to congratulate me. Marcus was the first one to speak up.

"Yeah, I agree with what Ted said!"

"I'm so proud of you David." My Mom said while hugging me.

"So.......now that I have my 4 year degree, NOW does this mean that I can join the regular Navy Mom?" I asked jokingly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you've earned that privilege!"

"Yay!" I then hugged Mom back. "And what do you think Dad?" I asked him after I was done hugging Mom.

"Like what your Mom said, I'm really proud of you too. You've done so great with the Naval Reserves, and I know that you'll do really great with the Navy as well."

"I hope so too Dad."

Finally, I got to hug my sister Jill. "Hey Sis. Long time no see!"

She gave me a weird look. "Who are you, and what have you done with my brother David? He would NEVER want to hug me before!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well special times call for special measures, I guess."

Jill then locked me into a VERY tight hug. "Well then, I guess that I'd better make the most of it before you're able to wriggle away from me!"

"S-shit!" I muttered as the life was being squeezed out of me. Finally though, I was able to push Jill just enough so that I could breathe, and she let go of me soon after.

"Sorry Bro, had to happen! Once you're in the regular Navy, then I won't be able to hug you like that anymore, because you'll be able to break free too easily!"

"And that's a bad thing why exactly Sis?"

Jill pouted a bit. "I won't be able to hug you like I used to be able to!"

"Well, I'm SURE that you'll be able to find some way to guilt-trip me into hugging you, right?"

She smirked. "Maaaaybe!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. Some people never changed, and my sister Jill was one of them!

Later on that same month, Ted and I received a letter from the Battleship Texas Foundation, the organization who now oversaw the preservation of the Texas, under the guidance of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The letter informed us that since we'd done such a great job with getting the Texas to Mobile, we were being welcomed back to the ship to transport her to her new home, which would be in Galveston.

"Yes! We're going back to help with the Texas Ted! This is awesome!"

"Yeah, it is David! I had a feeling that she was going to be going to Galveston, but now we know for sure. And when do we have to be back at the ship in Mobile?"

I looked lower down the letter. "Um..........it says that we have to be back in July. They hope to have the ship in Galveston before the end of the month, and then have her ready to open to the public again before the New Year."

"July huh? At least it'll be nice and warm."

I agreed. "Yeah, provided of course that there aren't any storms. That could postpone the ship being moved, as July is during hurricane season after all."

"Maybe, but I don't think that that's gonna happen."

Careful what you say there Ted, you just jinxed it. Yes, we WOULD have been heading back to the ship in July, but darn it all, Hurricane Jackson decided to roll up, and hit along the Gulf Coast. Thankfully, damage to the shipyard where the Texas was was minimal, as was damage to the ship itself, however, cleanup was going to take another 2 months. Now it was going to be late September-early October by the time that Texas would be ready to be moved.

"Well don't that just beat all! That just ain't right!"

"That's why you always have to be careful about what you say Ted. You never know when someone Upstairs might be listening, and they're bored. And be glad, hurricane damage can sometimes be catastrophic."

He sighed. "Yeah, you're right David. It could have been a lot worse. And look at it this way, maybe they'll call us in early to help with the cleanup."

"Maybe. One can hope anyway."

Sadly, we never got word that our help with the cleanup was needed, however, we did get another letter saying to be in Mobile by September 30th, and that the ship would be ready to be moved back to Texas by October 3rd. All too soon, Ted and I, as well as other Naval Reservists, some of whom had been helping move the Texas the first time, and others were just recently called in to help move the Texas back to Texas, were on our way back to Mobile, and would arrive there by the 30th as requested.

Once we were off the plane in Mobile, Ted and I, as well as the rest, soon boarded a train that would take us close to the shipyard.

"So, what do you think that the Texas looks like now?" Ted asked me on the train ride over.

I shrugged. "Hopefully about the same as she did, if not better than when she was finished being restored in 1990. Her whole hull below the waterline has been replaced and repainted, her rudder has been worked on, the upper hull and superstructure have been sandblasted, and then repainted in that same dark blue Pacific camouflage, All of her AA guns, and 5in guns were cleaned up, repainted, oiled, greased, and look brand-new, not to mention how they hopefully cleaned all of the exterior glass on the ship, and tore up the old wooden deck, and replaced it with a new one. Anything that you were hoping for Ted?"

He thought for a moment. "Well, I was hoping for all that, plus more restoration of her engines and boilers. Remember that one video on YouTube showing that they were in not very good condition, despite her engines being declared a National Engineering Landmark? I hope that they were finally given the attention that they deserve."

"Yeah, that would be nice Ted. Though while I know that they made sure that the engines were properly secured, and wouldn't punch a hole through the formerly rusty, corroded, paper-thin hull, that might be all that they did with them for now, as remember, they only have $35 million, and most of that was for the cost of the dry-dock, and repairing the hull, deck, internal structures, and repainting. Beyond that, the Battleship Texas Commission probably received donations from private donors, which will help, but I think that the restoration of the engines and boilers, as well as other internal spaces, will continue once the ship is in her new home in Galveston. I recall hearing that there will be more Hard-Hat Tours of certain areas as they undergo more restoration, so that's most likely what it means."

Ted sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right David, but it's still a bit sad though. I wish that the Texas could be given a full restoration, but sadly, there's the distinct lack of funds, manpower, time, facilities, and spare parts."

"Yeah, but man, it must have been so amazing to have seen this ship in its heyday with everything functioning as it should. That must have been a real sight to have seen. It's almost a shame that it can't be so again."

Ted agreed. "Yeah. But let's face it David, this trip back to Texas is going to be the closest that we're ever going to get to see it functioning as it used to, which is going to be operating at MAYBE 5-10% of normal operational status. All of our power comes from generators brought on board, all of our water comes in big 50 gallon jugs, our toilet is 10 Porta-Potties on the deck with the 5in guns, and our food is pre-packaged, none of the guns, engines, boilers, radars, fire-control radars, or gun directors work. Heck, even the helm wheel on the bridge, and everything else on the bridge, don't do anything anymore. All of it's behind that big metal cage."

I knew what Ted was referring to. One thing that always bothered me about touring the USS Texas was the fact that you could step a little bit into the bridge, but everything was closed off floor to ceiling with a large wire "cage" of sorts, with a sign on it for visitors to read. Yes, this was obviously done to protect the equipment on the bridge, but other museum ships, such as the USS North Carolina BB-55 Museum in Wilmington, NC had a fully accessible bridge.

"Yeah, though at least that 'cage' was taken down prior to the ship being moved to Mobile so that they could secure everything within, and it will stay down until the ship reaches Galveston."

"Yeah, you're right David. I completely forgot that they took it down when we left Texas, which is weird, because I walked right through the bridge to get to you were standing on the left bridge wing, which would have been impossible if that cage had still been in place."

We continued to talk about this for a while longer, but we soon reached the shipyard.

When we arrived, we quickly got off the train, and once we'd formed into a group, we were herded along by a number of engineers towards where the ship was. When I laid eyes on the Texas following her restoration, my jaw was on the ground. The ship was moored to a pier near the edge of the shipyard, and she literally looked brand new!

"Whoa! Are you seeing this Ted?!"

"Yeah! I'm seeing it, but I'm having a VERY hard time believing it!"

From where we were standing alongside the pier that the Texas was moored to, the ship looked impeccable. Her brand new coat of dark blue Pacific camouflage paint gleamed in the sunlight, the exterior glass was all shiny and clean, there didn't seem to be a spot of rust anywhere, the ship's number, a white "35" was clearly visible on both sides of the bow, the word "Texas" was also visible in white at both sides of the stern, the ship's Navy Jack was flying from the small flagpole on the tip of the bow, and a brand-new American Flag was flying from the flagpole at the ship's stern. Ted and I climbed aboard, and as we, and several others were milling about on the bow, I snapped a picture facing the 2 forward gun turrets to show just how amazing the restoration was.

"I can't believe this Ted. They said that it could NEVER be done, but yet here we are. The Texas is fully restored cosmetically, at least on the outside, and we're here right in the middle of it all."

"Yeah, I know what you mean David. This all feels so surreal."

Not too long after this though, a meeting was called for all of the volunteers, engineers, retired naval sailors, and the Naval Reservists along the bow of the ship, and on the upper decks where space could be found, all 200 of us. It was here that we got to meet our "Captain" for the voyage back to Texas, and would be learning who would be his "officers", and where everyone would be stationed. For some reason, we were to treat this voyage like an actual mission, and we were really hoping that we would soon find out why.

Soon, a man stepped to the front of the bow, and turned around just in front of the Navy Jack flag. He was an older man, perhaps late 50's, maybe early 60's, about 6' tall, still somewhat of a muscular build, had blonde hair that was whitening with age, some light stubble, and was dressed in what appeared to be a US Navy Captain's uniform with insignias, but it looked to be of an older style. He then picked up a microphone, and addressed all of us.

"Good afternoon Engineers, Volunteers, and fellow Sailors, both active and former alike. I am Robert Hogan, US Navy Captain, retired, though you all can call me Bob. I'm 58 years old, and after leaving the Navy, I took up work in the one industry that Texas is known for; oil. However, enough about that for now. What matters now is that as a 'Captain' of the 3rd Texas Navy, I was chosen to help lead the effort to first get the Texas to Mobile, and then bring her home safely to Texas. As such, I am the 'Captain' of the Texas; have been since we left Houston, and will be until we reach Galveston in about 2 day's time. And some of you may be wondering why I'm dressed like this, and why we're supposed to treat this like a mission, and I'll gladly answer those questions. The truth is, this is a VERY rare opportunity to be on the Texas during such a time as her being moved, and since she is the flagship of the 3rd Texas Navy, those of us officers within the Texas Navy felt that it would be best for this to be treated as a mission, and I think that many of you will agree with that. As for why I'm dressed like this, we also wanted to try and recapture the bygone days when Texas was sailing home for the last time in 1946, and anyone else who wants to can also dress as Texas crewman. This is optional for any volunteers, as well as engineers, but for all of you retired sailors, and you too Naval Reservists, it's mandatory. You can handle that for a few days, right?"

Captain Bob went on to talk about how great of a job those at the shipyard in Mobile had done with the Texas, he answered questions from the media who were gathered there, and he also selected "officers" for the trip back to Texas. Both Ted and I were assigned to the bridge.

I learned that I was the ship's "First Officer", as well as a secondary helmsman, which I learned was going to be an interesting job, as I soon learned that while Texas had been in dry-dock, her rudder had been fully restored, and steering power had been reconnected to the ship's wheel. Now whenever the ship's wheel turned, the rudder turned too, and the Texas turned with it..........as far as the tugs towing her allowed anyway. Ted was the "junior officer" in charge of the ship's telegraph on the bridge, and another naval reservist named Dennis Weaver, from Dallas, was the primary helmsman. Others were assigned to the engine and boiler rooms (these were almost exclusively engineers), some were "gunners", a few were cooks (these were the ones in charge of the food and water for everyone on the ship during the trip back to Texas), others were in charge of damage control (basically make sure that the hull and internal spaces remained dry on the way back to Texas), and the rest filled in the gaps in between, though it was a VERY far cry from the 1,810 officers and men who crewed her before. Two very lucky men who had flight experience were assigned to the Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplane (which had been donated from storage at another museum in the US), which was attached to the "catapult" on top of Turret 3 (this had also been installed during the restoration, though all of it was fabricated, and NOT meant to be functional. It was for cosmetic display to hold a static aircraft only!) It was a bit odd that they were required to have flight experience, as the plane was for static display, and not functional, never mind the static, display-only aircraft catapult!

Later that night, all of us who either wanted to, or were required to, were given our WW2-era sailor uniforms, which had been ordered from a company that made WW2-era uniforms, weapons, and other props for museums, reenactments, and movies. For the most part, it consisted of a standard dark blue crackerjack with white trim (that dark blue shirt with the flap in the back), dark blue bell-bottomed pants, black socks, black shoes, and a white US Navy sailor hat. A dark blue sailor hat with "USS Texas" printed on the ribbon on the front of the hat was also provided, though it would only be worn for a "special occasion", such as when we arrived in Galveston. That night, Ted and I, as well as the other "officers" spent the night sleeping in the bunks in the officer's quarters. It was hard to sleep though, as in a few short days, the Texas would depart from Mobile, and begin her journey back to Texas. However, I had a hard time sleeping for another reason. I couldn't shake this gut feeling that something big was going to happen, and happen very soon. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it was an unusual one all the same.

"Hopefully it's nothing." I thought as I tried to sleep. "Just the jitters before being a temporary crewman of the Texas, a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Finally, I was able to drift off to sleep.

Sure enough, by 7am on October 3rd, after we were all up, had eaten breakfast served by the cooks, cleaned up as best we could, used the bathroom, and changed back into our sailor uniforms, it was time to get the ship ready to move. We were all scurrying around, securing everything that needed to be secured, checking the watertight integrity of the hull, making sure that the pumps were all easily accessible should we need them, making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be, and doing a little bit of cleanup work to the areas of the ship that we'd been inhabiting as well. Once this was all done, some of the engineers, as well as a number of the Naval reservists scurried up to to the top deck, as the time had come to detach the ship from the pier that she was moored to, and hook up the cables to the tugs that would tow her back to Texas.

These 3 tugboats were different than the ones that helped Texas get to Mobile originally, or at least, they belonged to a different company, as all 3 were about the same size, and were ocean-going tugs, though while 2 were white and green, the 3rd was white and blue. There was the North Star (white and blue), the Jupiter, and the Pelican (both white and green). Two of the tugs would be towing the ship from the sides, while one towed her from the front. Each of the tugs had a crew of 8, so in addition to the 200 aboard Texas, there were 24 on the 3 tugs, for a total of 224.

While we were detaching the Texas from the pier, and helping the crew of the tugs attach their lines to the Texas, our every move was being observed, and often recorded by news reporters, ordinary people who had shown up to watch, and other workers from the shipyard who were on break at the time. It was a pretty nice-sized crowd, though not quite as big as the crowd that wished us all well when we left Houston, nor as big as the crowds that would be waiting for us when we pulled into Galveston. However, by about 9:06am, we were all ready to go. All of us were at our stations again, and the 3 tugs helped pull Texas away from the pier, and once she was far enough away from it, they helped maneuver her away from the shipyard, and back down towards the Gulf. Once the waterway became wide enough, Pelican moved into position on Texas's starboard side, Jupiter moved into position on Texas's port side, and North Star pulled ahead to her position in the front, and with her pulling, and the other 2 tugs pushing and pulling, Texas was soon making good time, and this time was also being moved forwards instead of in reverse. By about 10am, we were away from Alabama, and there was nothing left around us except for the wide open Gulf of Mexico. It was now about 2 days back to Texas, and we were hoping to make good time.

On the bridge, Captain Bob turned to Ted, Dennis, myself, and the man in charge of navigation, a US Navy lieutenant named Adam Price, and began to give us orders.

"Lieutenant Price?"

"Yes Sir?"

"Chart us the fastest course to Galveston."

"Yes Sir." He then began to look over his maps on the table at the back of the bridge used for navigation.

"Ensign Walker?"

Ted looked up. "Yes Sir?"

"Now that we're into open seas, all ahead full. Let's stretch the old Girl's legs!"

Ted saluted. "Yes Sir!" He then grabbed the engine order telegraph, which had been set at "Slow Ahead", and after cranking it back a bit, moved the levers forwards to "Full Ahead". "All Ahead Full Sir!"

Down in the engine room, the indicator needle on the engine order telegraph in the engine room moved to "Full Ahead", and the ship's acting Chief Engineer, a retired US Navy Chief Engineer named Wallace Dalton relayed this to the other engineers. "For what it's worth Boys, all Ahead Full!" He then grabbed the controls of the engine order telegraph, and cranked it to "Full Ahead". The others in the engine room did move a bit, but since they didn't really have anything to do since the engines were non-functional, they just shrugged and went back to whatever they'd been doing before.

Back up on the bridge, Captain Bob was still giving orders.

"Ensign Weaver?"

Dennis turned to him. "Yes Sir?"

"Keep her steady."

"Yes Sir."

Ted then looked at the engine order telegraph, and then up at Captain Bob. "Sir, engine room reports Full Ahead!"

"Excellent." Captain Bob then picked up his radio, and checked with the captains of the 3 tugboats, and they confirmed that they were moving at close to full speed.

"And what about me Sir?" I asked.

He turned to me. "You Ensign Gardner, need to go out onto the bridge wing, and check for any signs of Hurricane Nancy. Report back when your done."

I saluted. "Yes Sir!" I then went out onto the port bridge wing.

I looked around, and while the day was somewhat cloudy, the seas were fairly calm, the air was warm, there was only a small amount of wind, and no sign of the approaching hurricane. Despite what it might have seemed, Captain Bob talking about Hurricane Nancy was no joke. There really was a hurricane coming for the Gulf Coast, though it seemed to be heading for Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and possibly Louisiana too, but not Texas, and it wasn't expected to hit until the end of the week, or another 4-5 days after we'd reached Galveston. We were supposed to be safe, and I was hoping that it would stay that way. I looked around, but thankfully saw no signs of Hurricane Nancy.

"All clear Sir!" I called back into the bridge. "The skies are cloudy, but the seas are calm, the air is warm, and there's only a little bit of wind. No signs of the hurricane yet!"

"Excellent work Ensign Gardner!"

I saluted, and then kept my eyes on the water all around us. I still hadn't fully shaken that fully feeling that I'd had the previous night, but all seemed to be going well, and we would be back in Texas soon.

The next day, October 4th, 2022, the weather, which had been holding steady, started to deteriorate. The sky, which had been overcast the day before, began to darken. Thunder could be heard, and lightning could occasionally be seen. The wind was picking up, and the seas were getting a bit rougher too. By our estimates, we were maybe 200 miles off the coast of Mississippi at the time, and would soon be perhaps 175 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. We were a bit concerned, as the weather forecast did predict some wind and rain, but it wasn't expected to be too bad. By 11am though, it started raining. It was gentle at first, but soon began to turn problematic, especially when the wind began to blow harder.

Hatches and portholes were closed, flaps used to keep out the weather on the deck with the 6 x 5in guns were pulled down and secured, and those of us who had to work near hatches, or near the exposed decks all pulled on raincoats over our sailor uniforms. Inside the bridge, I was at the wheel of the Texas, Ted stood by the telegraph, Dennis was looking out of the bridge portholes to try and see ahead of the ship since the doors to the bridge wings had to be kept closed to keep out the rain and seawater, Adam was still looking at his maps, and Captain Bob was watching over all of us while we worked.

"I just hope that the weather doesn't get any worse." Dennis muttered.

"Me too." I said quietly. I then looked back at Adam. "Hey Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"How much farther until we're back to Texas?"

"The coastline, or Galveston?"

"Even just to the coastline."

He looked at his maps. "Well, judging by our current speed, as well as the weather, we should be in sight of Texas by dinnertime tonight, and safely in Galveston by 9-10pm or so. We're still making fairly good time thanks to the tugs, and the weather being more of a nuisance than a danger."

I briefly removed my white sailor hat, wiped off a bit of sweat, and then put it back on, returning both hands to Texas's wheel. "If the weather holds, that's the key here."

Captain Bob then radioed the North Star for a weather update. The captain replied that it was still looking like storms until they were close to Texas, but it wouldn't be anything bad.

"We should be fine Captain. Yes, Hurricane Nancy did move a bit faster than expected, and we are feeling a bit of the storm that came ahead of her, but once we're fully past Louisiana we'll be safe. She's headed towards the other Gulf States, not Texas."

"I hope that you're right North Star. We took a bit of a risk moving the Texas in not-ideal weather conditions, and if something does go wrong, we will not be in a very good position to do anything about it, as we lack any propulsion, and all power comes from generators that we've brought onboard."

"We'll keep an eye on what the weather is doing, and we'll keep you informed Texas. Remember, it's not just your necks on the line here; it's our's too!"

"Copy that. Texas out." Captain Bob then put down the radio.

For a while, things seemed to be going ok, but by Noon, things began to take a turn for the worst. The rain began to come down harder, the wind was really picking up, the lightning and thunder became more frequent, and the waves began to batter the Texas, as well as the tugs. Ted was hanging onto the engine order telegraph to keep himself steady, both Dennis and I held the wheel to try and keep Texas steady, Adam was hanging onto his map table, and Captain Bob was hanging onto a support beam. I looked out of the forward portholes of the bridge, though aside from the waves crashing over the deck, I could barely even see the 2 forward turrets, never mind the North Star pulling the Texas from the front.

"I'm REALLY glad that the gun turrets were evacuated before this storm got really bad." I said quietly.

"Yeah, me too." Ted agreed.

"A storm that shouldn't even BE HERE! How the f@#k did we miss a f@#king hurricane?!" Dennis yelled.

Captain Bob glared at him. "Language, Ensign Weaver! And what's going on around us is NOT Hurricane Nancy. I don't know what it is, but it's not Nancy. Nancy's still almost a thousand miles to the Southeast of us."

"Well then what's going on around us?!"

"As far as we can tell, it appears to be a tropical storm that proceeded Hurricane Nancy, and it sprang up suddenly."

"And how far are we from the storm breaking Adam?" Dennis asked him.

Adam looked over his maps, as well as the data given to him on the weather from the tugs, which came from the US Navy. "That's the thing Dennis, it's hard to say. This storm seems to be a bit widespread, and we're having a VERY hard time staying on course. By my estimates, we're now almost 50 miles further away from the coast of Louisiana than we were before, and we're not making too much progress against the storm."

Captain Bob looked at him. "Wait. So you mean to tell me that while we're not making much headway in getting to Galveston, we are getting knocked further and further off the coast of the US?"

"That's somewhat true Sir. We make some progress back towards the coast, and then get knocked back a bit. It's a back-and-forth game with Mother Nature, and so far She seems to be winning."

"And if this battering from the storm keeps up, I don't know how much longer the Texas can take it. All of our power is coming from the generators that we brought onboard, and not only do those have to keep the lights, and other electrical systems that we have onboard on, but they also have to keep the pumps working."

We were all worried. If something went wrong, we weren't sure if the US Navy or US Coast Guard could get to us in time. Down below decks, things seemed to be in worse straights than they were on the bridge. Sailors and volunteers were scurrying around trying to secure everything that wasn't tied down while the ship was constantly moving back and forth, the lights were sometimes flickering, and the engineers were trying to make sure that everything stayed online. The pumps had all been pulled out, and were being assembled. Under the guidance of Chief Engineer Wallace Dalton, some of the sailors were grabbing the hoses for the pumps, and dropping them down into the ship's bilge where all of the water that was coming into the ships drained into. They had to keep the bilge from overflowing, because if that happened, or if water came down into the ship elsewhere, that would be very bad, and could possibly indicate a collapsed deck, or a hull breach.

"What's the situation down there CE?"

"We're holding everything together as best we can Captain. The generators and the pumps all have sufficient fuel, we've finally managed to lash down/secure all remaining loose items, and we're pumping the water out of the bilge. It's a little scary down here, but I think that we can manage. And how close are we to Texas?"

"We're still maybe 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and maybe 400 miles from Galveston. We might have to call the Navy or Coast Guard for assistance soon if this weather keeps up, as I don't know if the tugs can keep us on course."

"That's not good Captain. I just wish that we knew about this storm sooner. It's like it came out of nowhere, and with no warning."

"That's the weird thing CE, no one predicted that the weather was going to be this bad. Some light rain, wind and waves, but not like this friggin' almost-hurricane! And what's the status on the deck with the 5in guns? Are the flaps holding steady?"

"We do have to send guys up there every 10 minutes to check the flaps, as they can become loose, as well as make sure all of the rainwater and seawater that does get past them is being directed either forward to the main deck, or down to where it drains into the bilge. And yes, all of the guns are capped, and they have been since the new caps were installed in Mobile. We don't have to worry about losing them, as they were welded on."

"And what about the seaplane on top of Turret 3? That was secured before this turned bad, right?"

"Affirmative Captain! That Vought Kingfisher isn't going anywhere! We lashed her as tightly to her catapult as we possibly could, and while this weather is NOT good for her, she's not going anywhere."

"That's good to hear CE. And I don't know if you pray or not, but if you do, that would be highly advisable. Pray that God carries us through this storm safely, and that we reach Galveston soon."

"Will do Captain. I've been praying, and so have others down here too. May God carry us through this storm safely."

"Yes. Keep me posted on any new developments below deck. Captain out."

Between Noon and 1pm, things seemed to be ok. We were still moving, and while the weather was bad, everything seemed to be under control. From 1pm, until about 1:30, we seemingly made it close to 100 miles of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, and within 200 miles of the Texas coast. However, this was our high water mark. By 2pm, absolute panic set it.

"Calling all vessels in the area! Mayday! Mayday! This is Captain Bob Hogan of the USS Texas BB-35! We are lost in this storm, we have water coming in, our 3 tugboats are having EXTREME difficulty holding onto us, and we lack any means of self-propulsion! We CANNOT survive on our own, and we need IMMEDIATE aid!" This, and many more frantic calls for help were sent out from the Texas, as well as the North Star, Jupiter, and Pelican to both the US Navy, and the US Coast Guard.

We were now facing winds of well over 100mph, almost 80 foot waves, blinding rain, and it was unclear how much longer we were going to even be alive. Water was coming in below deck, the pumps were having a hard time keeping up, and the Texas was losing her stability. She was 108 years old, and NOT designed to be weathering a storm like this. Even the 3 tugboats were having difficulties. Those on them said that they had NEVER seen a storm like this before, and the older men of their crews had been at sea for almost 40 years. Some even likened this storm to storms seen on the Great Lakes, especially the storm on November 10th, 1975 that sank the ore-carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

Down below decks, men were panicking, crying, praying, throwing up, it was chaos. Most of them were simply volunteers, and civilian engineers; none of them had any real experience at sea, or with storms like this. Even those who were sailors were only Naval Reservists who had no real experience, or hadn't sailed on vessels bigger than a yacht. Now here they were stuck below decks on a 108 year old battleship with no propulsion, held together only by welds that had been made long before any of them had even been born, with water pumps working at full power to even try to keep up with the water, and generators almost ready to burn themselves out supplying not only power to those pumps, but also power to the lights and other vital systems on the ship as well.

Up on the bridge, it was little better. Captain Bob, Adam, Dennis, Ted and I knew that if we weren't rescued soon, the Texas would most likely be our grave. Dennis and I still held the wheel as tightly as we could, Ted gripped the engine order telegraph for dear life, Adam was clinging to the table, not really even caring anymore that most of his maps and data had slid off, and Captain Bob was hanging onto a support column, his face an ashy white. In his hand he clutched a radio tightly, flipping back and forth between Chief Engineer Dalton below decks, the captains of the 3 tugboats, and either the US Navy, or the US Coast Guard. He was desperately trying to figure out our location, and Adam, as well as those who were working the radars and sonars on the tugs were trying to pinpoint it. 2 Coast Guard cutters, and several US Navy vessels were on their way, and it was a desperate matter of them reaching us before the Texas sank, and dragged the 3 tugs down with her.

I kept looking back at Captain Bob, then over at Dennis, and then at Ted, and then back out the windows. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and the whole ship shook. I knew that the mast at the top of the conning tower had been struck at least a few times by lightning, and out ahead of us, I saw the North Star struggling against a huge wave. The wave lifted the tugboat up like it was a toy, causing it to leap several feet out of the water, before the wave crashed against the bow of the Texas, the impact sending water flying up into the portholes of the bridge.

"Damnation!" Dennis muttered. "It's like it's a toy boat out there!"

"And that's a full-sized ocean-going tug!" I added. "North Star has to be getting the worse of it since she's out in front of us towing, but I can't imagine that it's too much better for Pelican and Jupiter."

Ted looked back at Captain Bob. "What's the Navy and the Coast Guard saying? Have we figured out our position yet?"

"By our best estimates, we're still about 200 miles off the coast of Texas. We can see land from the radar on the tugs, the naval base in Corpus Christi has us on radar, and more importantly, the Navy and the Coast Guard have us on radar too, and they're coming. I don't know what they're going to be able to do in this kind of weather, but they are coming."

"And how far out are they?"

"If we can hold out until 2:30pm or so, then they MIGHT be able to get to us by then."

"And what time is it now?"

I looked at my watch. "It's about 2:08."

Ted then looked out of the porthole window closest to him. "We have to hold on. We HAVE TO!"

And we tried to hold on too. However, the storm just wouldn't let up any, the ship kept getting hit by waves, as well as driving rain, battered by the wind, rattled by thunder, and occasionally struck by lightning. It was a few notches below fatal, but the worst was still to come.

At about 2:18pm, Captain Bob got a radio call from the Pelican. "Captain Hogan! Come in Captain Hogan!"

Captain Bob picked up his radio. "What is it Pelican?"

"You need to look out of the starboard side of your ship right now! We CANNOT be the only ones seeing this! There is a MASSIVE wall of black water coming straight at us!"

"What?!" Captain Bob then raced over to the small portholes on the starboard side of the bridge, and looked out. For a moment, he couldn't see anything, but when he did, his face turned whiter than it already was.

"GOSH-DAMN!!!!"

At that, Dennis and I looked, and what we saw petrified both of us, as well as Ted, who looked moments later. From off to the starboard side of the ship, perhaps 500 yards off the starboard bow, thanks to flashes of lightning, we saw a MASSIVE wall of black water coming straight at us! It was darker than night, and we weren't sure if it was the biggest wave that we'd ever seen, or a black wall-shaped void. It seemed so much darker than any of the other waves, and in that moment, none of us had any words.

However, Captain Bob sure did. In an instant once he could think again, he sounded the alarm on the ship, and grabbed his radio to address not only the crew of the Texas, but also the crew of the 3 tugboats.

"ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT NOW!!!!! THERE'S A MASSIVE WAVE COMING, AND THIS COULD BE DEVASTATING!!!! ALL HANDS, BRACE!!!!! BRACE!!!!! BRACE!!!!!" He then put down his radio, grabbed that support structure again, and began praying.

Dennis and I looked at each other, and we grabbed the wheel's telemoter base, and we too began to pray, as did Ted, who was still hanging onto the telegraph. Adam grabbed one of the legs of his table, and he too held on. All of us were praying, and I took one last look at my watch. 2:20pm. 2:20pm, October 4th, 2022, the day I would die. I then shut my eyes, and braced for the inevitable, which presumably slammed into the Pelican and the North Star first, then into Texas, and then into Jupiter. The impact was deafening. It sounded like a train running into a solid wall, and the impact sent us all flying towards the port side. The last thing I remembered was getting thrown back from the helm, my white sailor hat flying off, then I hit my head against the port wall of the bridge, then I hit the floor, and I saw only blackness as I went unconscious.

That message about bracing for impact sent from Captain Bob to the rest of the Texas crew, and the crew of the tugboats was the last transmission anyone ever heard from the 4 ships. All of them vanished from radar screens less than 2 minutes later at 2:20pm, and when the Navy and Coast Guard vessels reached the Texas's last known location, they couldn't find anything. They searched for a while, but couldn't really find anything because of the storm. However, when the searched resumed the next day, October 5th, when the weather had died down, nothing was found. No wreckage, no debris, no life rafts, no bodies, no oil slicks, nothing. It was as if the Texas, the 200 men onboard her, the 3 tugboats, and the 24 men on the 3 of them had simply been wiped from existence. No traces of anything had been found, and that of course made headlines.

"Last Dreadnought Battleship Vanishes at Sea!"

"USS Texas Gone Missing, Presumed Sunk!"

"All Hands Lost in USS Texas Tragedy!"

"USS Texas, and 3 Tugboats Lost at Sea with all Hands! No Traces Found!"

And many more such headlines. Some wildly speculated that the 4 ships had been abducted by Aliens, others claimed that the ships got sucked into a Time-Rift, and were either sent way forwards, or way back in time, still others said that the ships had been transported into another dimension, and many other theories ranging from the Supernatural, to simply pirates were put forwards. Neither the US Navy, nor the Coast Guard knew what to make of the disappearances, but worst of all was the position of the Battleship Texas Foundation, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Now suddenly they had to deal with not only the loss of the 108 year old Battleship Texas, the LAST Dreadnought-era Battleship on Earth, and all of the historical artifacts that had been lost with her, but also the loss of 200 volunteers, engineers, and Naval Reservists. They were devastated at the losses, both Human and material, and they too wanted answers for how this had happened, as did the marine company who owned the North Star, Jupiter, and Pelican. Worse still, the Navy also had to tell all of the families of the volunteers, engineers, and Naval reservists what had happened, and that didn't go down too well either. Everyone was grieving, but their grief soon turned to frustration and anger.

Everyone wanted to know why the Texas had been out in that kind of weather to begin with, how the storm had blown up so suddenly, and how 4 ships; one battleship and 3 tugboats, as well as the 224 men that had been onboard all 3 vessels, had just suddenly vanished in the Gulf of Mexico without a trace. No debris, bodies, or any kind of wreckage had been found, and the only clue was Captain Bob Hogan's final transmission about a huge wave coming. Presumably the wave had capsized and sunk the ships, but if that was the case, why was there no debris, oil-slicks or bodies? Those tugboats were designed to self-right themselves if they'd capsized, which meant that the Texas had probably drug them down with it. But if that was the case, there would be life-jackets, floating debris, rafts, and possibly bodies, but again, NOTHING was found. It was a real mystery, and one that would captivate not only the Americans, but the citizens of other nations for a long time to come. What really had happened to the Texas, those 3 tugboats, and their crews? Would any traces of them ever be found? Would this mystery ever be solved? No one had any answers, and finding answers seemed to be an impossible task.

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 1!

This kinda got dark fast, didn't it? It started out with David graduating college, and his friendship with Ted, and it evolved into the Texas finishing her restoration, and being towed back, only for that storm to blow up, cause a panic, and then came that black wave. What happened to the crew of the Texas, as well as the 3 tugboats? Were they transported to Equus, and if so, are they all ok? What's the condition of the Texas following her major battering by that storm? What was that black wave? Was it an actual wave, or was it some kind of portal? And what about the storm? Was it natural, and just blew up out of nowhere, or was it a supernatural event? Will the world ever find out what happened to the Texas and the 3 tugs? And what could POSSIBLY happen next? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you!

In the meantime, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 2!

ScarFox out for now!