Texas Clipper
USTS Texas Clipper, a 473 foot long ship, served as a merchant marine training vessel with the Texas Maritime Academy at Texas A&M University at Galveston for 30 years beginning in 1965. Her name is reflective of clipper ships of old, both designed with a characteristic rounded stern.
Texas Clipper, Texas A&M Maritime Academy, ca. June 1968 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | USTS Texas Clipper |
| Namesake | A clipper ship |
| Builder | Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, Maryland 1944 |
| Laid down | 2 March 1944 |
| Launched | 12 September 1944 |
| Christened | USS Queens (APA-103) |
| Acquired | 1965 |
| Renamed | Excambion, USTS Texas Clipper |
| Identification | IMO number: 5110616 |
| Fate | Sunk as an artificial reef off Texas, 17 November 2007 |
| Notes | Ship ran on Bunker C Fuel Oil and consumed approximately 0.8 barrels per mile. It has a Contra-Guide rudder |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 9644 Gross Tons |
| Displacement | 7,627 tons (light), 14,900 tons. (fully loaded) |
| Length | 473 ft 1 in |
| Beam | 66 ft 5.5 inches (20.26 meters) |
| Draft | 25 ft |
| Propulsion | Bethlehem geared turbine drive, 2 × Babcock & Wilcox 500 psi, 750 degF header-type boilers, single 4 blade 19' x 20' propeller, designed shaft horsepower 8,000 at 96 rpm |
| Speed | 17.6 knots |
| Range | 11,812 NM w/ 25% reserve |
| Complement | 256 persons |
| Notes | MCV Hull No. 1677, hull type C3-S-A3 |
Prior to her service as a training vessel, Texas Clipper had served in World War II as an attack transport vessel named USS Queens. Following the war, in 1948, Queens was converted into the trans-atlantic ocean-liner SS Excambion, a member of the quartet of ships referred to as the post-war "4 Aces" for American Export Lines. Excambion carried passengers and cargo on a regular sailing route from New York to various Mediterranean ports.
Following service as a training ship, the Texas Clipper I was moored at the Beaumont Reserve Fleet from 1996–2006. In 2006, Texas Clipper was transferred to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Artificial Reef Program to be turned into an artificial reef. This transfer allowed the ship to not be scrapped.