Texas Clipper

Ship History:

The Texas Maritime Academy and Texas A&M University at Galveston welcomed their newest training vessel October 19, 2009.
TMA, through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) acquired the S.S. Cape Gibson to serve as the academy’s fourth training ship.
When it is completely refitted to meet all federal training ship requirements, the S.S. Cape Gibson will be used as a training facility for more than 300 members of the TMA Corps of Cadets and as a floating classroom for the academy’s summer cruises. Docked at the Mitchell Campus, she provides a learning platform for future licensed engine and deck officers.
The ship is 605 feet long, making her more than eighty feet longer than the former TMA training ship, the USNS Sirius. The USNS Sirius made her final departure from the Mitchell Campus on June 25, 2009.  The S.S. Cape Gibson averages 18 knots (around 20 mph), and displaces almost 32,000 tons – nearly double what the USNS Sirius displaced.

Namesake:

The name Texas Clipper was given to the first Texas Maritime Academy training ship in 1965 when the Academy was first formed.  The original ship had a rounded stern, like a Clipper ship, and so the ship bore the name of Texas Clipper.
At Texas A&M, if you do something twice, it becomes tradition, so the training ships since then have borne the same name.  Students, former students, faculty and staff have participated in naming each replacement ship and have opted to retain the venerable name Texas Clipper.

Reefing of the USTS Texas Clipper I

First known as the USS Queens (APA 103), she served as an attack transport. From 1944 to 1946 she carried troops and treated Iwo Jima casualties.  From 1948 to 1959, as the SS Excambion she carried passengers and cargo between New York City and Mediterranean ports. From 1965-1996, she proudly served as the USTS Texas Clipper, the training ship for the Texas Maritime Academy located at Texas A&M University at Galveston.

On Saturday November 17, 2007 the USTS TEXAS CLIPPER sank from sight into the Gulf of Mexico to become an artificial reef. The original reefing plan called for the ship to rest upright on the sea floor. The ship, however, is currently resting fully on her port side.  While this will still make for a successful reef, it makes it a more challenging dive site than originally planned. 

Sitting upright, the topmost point of the ship would be approximately fifty-feet from the surface of the water.  In the current position, however, the topmost point is approximately seventy feet from the surface.  Holes cut into the hull to allow divers access to the interior of the ship are not accessible from above. The increased depth and change in access make this a much more complex dive.  Less experienced divers will not be able to fully explore the reef as initially planned.  Texas Parks and Wildlife is now developing a plan for righting the ship.

The USTS TEXAS CLIPPER rests approximately 17 miles off the coast of South Padre Island, Texas.

 


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