Ala.-built concrete warship a landmark

To conserve steel during WWI, Mobile, Ala., shipbuilder F.F. Ley & Co. turned to an unlikely building material: Concrete. On June 28, 1919, the first concrete-hulled ship built in Mobile, USS Selma, was launched and prepared to aid Allied forces. Unknown to the shipbuilder at the time, the Treaty of Versailles was being signed that same day, ending the war. Selma never saw active duty and was sold by the government to a private company in Texas. Never used in battle, Selma was sold as a private oil tanker, a year later struck a jetty in Mexico, making a 60-foot hole in the hull. The ship was hauled to port in Galveston, Texas. The Selma sat neglected in the Galveston port for two years before the owners decided to scrap her and “was towed to a specially dug channel and sunk off of Pelican Island, Texas, on March 9, 1922,” according to W. Jayson Hill in an article on the Encyclopedia of Alabama. Today, Selma is a tourist attraction of sorts. The ship remains above water and visible from shore. It’s also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Texas archaeological landmark. (Source: Alabama Media Group 02/20/20) https://www.stripes.com/lifestyle/military-history/wwi-era-concrete-ship-the-uss-selma-deteriorating-in-texas-harbor-1.619506