forums
new posts
donate
UER Store
events
location db
db map
search
members
faq
terms of service
privacy policy
register
login




1 2  
UER Forum > Archived US: South > Galveston Bunker (Viewed 1541 times)
Jonsered 


Location: Back in New Mexico where I belong
Gender: Male


Dressed for a scarecrow ball.........

Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM | AIM Message
Galveston Bunker
< on 11/11/2005 5:02 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
There is an old bunker complex on the east end of Galveston Island. Simple L-shaped concrete structure, right at the waters edge. Some graffiti, but overall not in bad shape. The day I was there, I didn't have a flash on my camera, so external pics are all I have. Two decent size rooms, two roof mounted gun pits, great vibe. Some of you south Texas types, get us some decent photos! BEWARE THE SNAKES! Biblical style rattlers. Not the biggest I've seen, but nasty little buggers.


Structure is white L at left of photo


45839.jpg (75 kb, 400x267)
click to view

Center section, showing doors to rooms


45840.jpg (61 kb, 400x280)
click to view

Roof section, showing anti-aircraft gun mount pillar.


45841.jpg (88 kb, 400x281)
click to view

Slightly different angle, with me in my element...HISTORY

I have changed my personal exploring ethics code. From now on it will be: "Take only aimed shots, leave only hobo corpses." Copper scrappers, meth heads and homeless beware. The Jonsered cometh among you, bringing fear and dread.

TerrierJaz 


Gender: Female




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 1 on 11/11/2005 6:11 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Those are great. I never knew Galveston had bunkers. I guess I thought of it as being like New Orleans, too low in elevation for such things.

Noah Vale 


Location: Portland, Or


It's nobler to never get paid, than to bank on shit and dismay

Send Private Message | Send Email | AIM Message | 
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 2 on 11/11/2005 8:10 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Interesting. I know there is something similar to that along the seawall, but it's been prettified, sterilized, and cordoned off as it sits in front of one of the major hotels. Didn't know there were any other ones, cool.

"Dallas is a magnificent and wide open city, and I'm deeply envious of any urban explorers who have the good fortune to live there." -Ninj.
RevSM 


Location: South Central Texas




Send Private Message | Send Email | Suburban Underground Vadders
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 3 on 11/11/2005 8:14 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Yeah, I still need to see some bunkers. Glad there are some close by that I might be able to see.

Tetanus for Breakfast!
http://www.shatteredshutter.com
Jonsered 


Location: Back in New Mexico where I belong
Gender: Male


Dressed for a scarecrow ball.........

Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM | AIM Message
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 4 on 11/11/2005 8:17 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
If ya'll get ready to head down there, let me know and I'll give you everything I have on the place.

I have changed my personal exploring ethics code. From now on it will be: "Take only aimed shots, leave only hobo corpses." Copper scrappers, meth heads and homeless beware. The Jonsered cometh among you, bringing fear and dread.

Barry Kooda 


Location: The Cliff
Gender: Male


Trees

Send Private Message | Send Email | Barry Kooda . Com
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 5 on 11/11/2005 10:48 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
That DOES look cool.
We used to explore the old bunkers in Korea but every once in a while there were stories of someone finding a still entact booby trap. I don't think we have that problem here in Texas.

I'm a blatant waste of time and resources.
Dokk 


Location: Lewisville, Texas
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 6 on 11/12/2005 1:35 AM >
Posted on Forum:
 
That was actually part of an army fort on Galveston Island. The big turrets in front of the hotel on Seawall Blvd held huge guns that broke windows in houses on the island when they fired them so they didn't practice much. During WWII, the army was in charge of watching for possible enemy submarines that might try and invade Galveston Harbor or the Houston shipyards and occasionally someone would spot something suspicious and all hell would break loose when the Army would start lobbing explosives out into the gulf trying to blow something up. Remember, at this time in our history, the Japanese had already bombed Pearl Harbor and the German U-Boats had already proven to be particularly adept at disrupting shipping in the Atlantic so they were on pins and needles so to speak. Galveston has, for many years, been a very important port for the U.S. military. We even shipped all of our equipment out of Galveston during Desert Shield/Storm.

"If I'm gonna get blamed for it, I might as well do it!"
Explorer Zero 






Send Private Message | Send Email | 
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 7 on 11/13/2005 11:29 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I think that is the fort

there was a U boat sunk off Galveston and even some civilians witnessed it but I am pretty sure it was a light destroyer or cruiser that got that one

somebody told me the big shore batteries were 12" naval guns? but the implacements dont seem big enough for that but yeah that might break some windows

I played in those 2 big "bunkers" on vacations as a kid before the hotel was built on top of them they were trashed out and graffitied pretty bad back in the 60s even

Dokk 


Location: Lewisville, Texas
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 8 on 11/14/2005 12:10 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by 2Xtreme
I think that is the fort

there was a U boat sunk off Galveston and even some civilians witnessed it but I am pretty sure it was a light destroyer or cruiser that got that one

somebody told me the big shore batteries were 12" naval guns? but the implacements dont seem big enough for that but yeah that might break some windows

I played in those 2 big "bunkers" on vacations as a kid before the hotel was built on top of them they were trashed out and graffitied pretty bad back in the 60s even


Fort Crockett was the name of the fort on Galveston Island. the only reference that I can find so far to the bunkers is massive artillery bunkers now incorporated into the foundation of a hotel on Seawall Blvd. I do remember that they were huge guns. I remember hearing stories about the U-Boat sunk but I was also told that no one ever found debris or the sunken U-Boat so they are not sure if one was ever actually sunk.

"If I'm gonna get blamed for it, I might as well do it!"
Jonsered 


Location: Back in New Mexico where I belong
Gender: Male


Dressed for a scarecrow ball.........

Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM | AIM Message
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 9 on 11/14/2005 4:10 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Actually, several U-boats were sunk within 75 miles of Galveston. I've been diving on one, and it is ripped open from depth charges. To my knowledge, all U-boat sinkings in the Gulf Coast area were by destroyer, destroyer escort or picket boat. The bunker complex in front of the Hotel San Luis is Battery Leonard Hoskins, which was part of Fort Crockett.

Fort San Jacinto and Fort Travis were located farther east near the harbor mouth.
[last edit 11/14/2005 4:12 PM by Jonsered - edited 1 times]

I have changed my personal exploring ethics code. From now on it will be: "Take only aimed shots, leave only hobo corpses." Copper scrappers, meth heads and homeless beware. The Jonsered cometh among you, bringing fear and dread.

Dokk 


Location: Lewisville, Texas
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 10 on 11/15/2005 1:23 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Jonsered
Actually, several U-boats were sunk within 75 miles of Galveston. I've been diving on one, and it is ripped open from depth charges. To my knowledge, all U-boat sinkings in the Gulf Coast area were by destroyer, destroyer escort or picket boat. The bunker complex in front of the Hotel San Luis is Battery Leonard Hoskins, which was part of Fort Crockett.

Fort San Jacinto and Fort Travis were located farther east near the harbor mouth.


That's cool that you got the U-Boat facts. I was just going by what someone local had told me about that and sometimes locals know the least about where they live or just go on hearsay rather than fact. Maybe they were referring to the idea that the shore batteries never sunk a sub. Thanks for the info.

"If I'm gonna get blamed for it, I might as well do it!"
Mellon_Collie 


Location: Utah'ish
Gender: Male


Chingblot.

Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM | AIM Message
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 11 on 11/15/2005 1:30 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Neat, I never knew there was anything like that here in Texas. I am a pretty big history buff myself. I figured we really did not have any "forts" per se after we kicked the Indians off of their land.

Ricotta 

Nobler Donor


Location: Houston, TX
Gender: Male


De arimasu~

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 12 on 4/6/2006 1:34 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Jonsered
Actually, several U-boats were sunk within 75 miles of Galveston. I've been diving on one, and it is ripped open from depth charges. To my knowledge, all U-boat sinkings in the Gulf Coast area were by destroyer, destroyer escort or picket boat. The bunker complex in front of the Hotel San Luis is Battery Leonard Hoskins, which was part of Fort Crockett.

Fort San Jacinto and Fort Travis were located farther east near the harbor mouth.


There was only one U-Boat ever sunk in the Gulf of Mexico (U-166), and that was most likely by PC-566 after U-166 torpedoed the cargo-passenger liner Robert E. Lee. U-166 was fount miles away from where the attack took place though.

Jonsered 


Location: Back in New Mexico where I belong
Gender: Male


Dressed for a scarecrow ball.........

Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM | AIM Message
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 13 on 4/6/2006 3:34 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Props to Damien for better research skills. Going back through my dive log, my dive was on vacation 2002, so it had to be either in the Florida keys, or off Jamaica.

I have changed my personal exploring ethics code. From now on it will be: "Take only aimed shots, leave only hobo corpses." Copper scrappers, meth heads and homeless beware. The Jonsered cometh among you, bringing fear and dread.

Ricotta 

Nobler Donor


Location: Houston, TX
Gender: Male


De arimasu~

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 14 on 4/6/2006 6:25 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Well, there was a documentary on it on the History channel a few weeks ago.U-166 is about 45mi S. of the mouth of the Mississippi.

SilentSearch 


Location: Cowtown
Gender: Male


My rebellion against the santa cursor! HoHoHo

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 15 on 4/7/2006 5:37 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Jonsered
Actually, several U-boats were sunk within 75 miles of Galveston. I've been diving on one, and it is ripped open from depth charges.


Now, I could get in on that! Wreck diving would be a form of "extreme" UE.

Official UE Safety officer and rescue specialist.
Jonsered 


Location: Back in New Mexico where I belong
Gender: Male


Dressed for a scarecrow ball.........

Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM | AIM Message
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 16 on 4/7/2006 2:52 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by SilentSearch


Now, I could get in on that! Wreck diving would be a form of "extreme" UE.


Only if we infiltrate through our mad HALO parachute skillz and blow the hull open with plastic explosives!

eidt. Sorry, I'm getting way off topic here.
[last edit 4/7/2006 2:53 PM by Jonsered - edited 1 times]

I have changed my personal exploring ethics code. From now on it will be: "Take only aimed shots, leave only hobo corpses." Copper scrappers, meth heads and homeless beware. The Jonsered cometh among you, bringing fear and dread.

Ricotta 

Nobler Donor


Location: Houston, TX
Gender: Male


De arimasu~

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 17 on 4/7/2006 4:54 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Given that U-166 is in about 5000' of water, you'd have much better luck diving the victims of her and her sisters. There were quite a few of those.

twisterintexas 


Location: I explore mostly Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas!
Gender: Female




Send Private Message | Send Email | Yahoo! IM | Red River Historian
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 18 on 4/9/2006 3:03 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Here's some more Fort Crockett information:

http://www.tsha.ut...cles/FF/qbf12.html

I've been there and was very impressed. I am intrigued about the fort sitting underneath a hotel, though. Where is that one?

Galveston is a great place to go exploring. Every step you take is history!

mayhem154 


Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male


Hello...

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Galveston Bunker
<Reply # 19 on 4/9/2006 5:57 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I believe it's the San Luis Hotel...

UER Forum > Archived US: South > Galveston Bunker (Viewed 1541 times)
1 2  



All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 125 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 736987033 pages have been generated.