[smokingfrog]

Those torpedo blisters have been a constant source of problems. They are not original to the ship but were added later, around 1925. That work was most likely done by the lowest bidder, & she’s been through a lot since then. The ship was destined to be used for target practice until the State of Texas rescued her from the mothball fleet.

[texas booster]

I was not familiar with torpedo blisters. A quick goog search showed that they were an earlier torpedo defense system.

Lots more here:

Torpedo Defense Systems of World War II