{"id":361247,"date":"2026-07-04T19:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361247\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T19:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:15:07","slug":"let-freedom-ring-battleship-texas-fires-a-patriotic-salute-as-galveston-launches-america250","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361247\/","title":{"rendered":"Let freedom ring: Battleship Texas fires a patriotic salute as Galveston launches America250"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">GALVESTON, Texas \u2013 Along Galveston\u2019s waterfront Friday night, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/topic\/Battleship_Texas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Battleship Texas<\/a> did more than provide a backdrop for a holiday crowd \u2014 it served as the main symbol of the celebration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The legendary warship helped launch the island\u2019s America250 festivities with ceremonial whistle blasts and gun salutes, followed by a 200-drone show and fireworks that lit up the sky over Pier 21.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">For many Texans, Battleship Texas is a rare, tangible link to the state\u2019s role in U.S. military history: the ship was commissioned in 1914, served in both World War I and World War II, and later became the first battleship memorial in the United States after it was decommissioned in 1948.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">That history is why organizers say the ship is an ideal centerpiece for America250 programming \u2014 a way to mark the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary with something visitors can see up close, not just read about.<\/p>\n<p>A celebration built around Texas history<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Friday\u2019s free community event transformed the waterfront into a festival of local partners and history-focused activations, including the Battleship Texas Foundation, The Bryan Museum, the Galveston Arts Center, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Surf Museum and Visit Galveston.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The evening also featured live music by the Galveston Symphony Brass and the ceremonial arrival of the ship\u2019s historic silver service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Battleship Texas is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/12\/11\/battleship-texas-gets-new-lease-on-life-with-major-galveston-restoration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/12\/11\/battleship-texas-gets-new-lease-on-life-with-major-galveston-restoration\/\">currently undergoing restoration<\/a> work in Galveston and is expected to return as a permanent museum attraction once the project is complete.<\/p>\n<p>Start Here, Houston<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 bTVksG\">More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GALVESTON, Texas \u2013 Along Galveston\u2019s waterfront Friday night, Battleship Texas did more than provide a backdrop for a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[92895,114013,114586,7216,2419,78438,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-361247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-america250","tag-battleship-texas","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-galveston","tag-history","tag-july-4th","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}