Re: Concrete Boat
There has been a concrete ship in Galveston Harbor as long as I can remember. (SS Selma)
Here's her history:
The Selma, a 7500 ton reinforced concrete tanker built in Mobile, Alabama, was launched on June 28, 1919. She was one of several concrete ships conceived and designed during World War 1. Construction was not completed until the war ended. She had a length 420 ft., a beam of 54 ft. and a draft with full cargo of 26 ft.. Her loaded displacement was 13,000 tons. This vessel marked the first use of shale aggregate expanded in rotary kilns for lightweight structural concrete. Steel was in short supply because of the war efforts and concrete was then proposed as a viable alternative material for use in ship building.
The Selma served several ports in the Gulf of Mexico quite successfully. Unfortunately she ran aground on the South jetty at Tampico, Mexico on May 11, 1920, creating a sizeable crack about 60 ft. long in her hull. She was towed into Galveston for repairs. Although the damage was repairable, the dry-dock crew lacked the knowledge and had no experience repairing a hull of such material. With no guarantee of proper restoration, the U.S. Government's Emergency Fleet Corporation decided not to gamble.
A channel 1,500 ft. long and 25 ft. deep was dug to a point just off Galveston near Pelican Island's eastern shoreline. After being stripped of all valuable equipment, on March 9, 1922 she was towed out to her final berth, and laid to rest. This left the hull partly submerged, although awash when seas were rough.
The Selma has over the years been object of many failed plans to convert her for use as a fishing pier, pleasure resort and oyster farm. Long a source of curiosity and local legend, she remains important to concrete and academic experts as an object of study of her construction and durability following decades of exposure to marine conditions.
The Selma is still quite visible today from the historic marker on Pelican Island and has become an interesting artifact to be viewed by the locals and visitor tourists alike. Although she will never sail again, she has been proudly resurrected by Daniels and other proud Texans who believe she lives on in spirit.