USS Texas (BB-35), the second ship of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
named in honor of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, is a . The ship was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914.
Soon after her commissioning,
Texas saw action in Mexican waters following the "
Tampico IncidentThe Tampico Affair started off as a minor incident involving U.S. sailors and Mexican land forces loyal to General Victoriano Huerta during the guerra de las facciones phase of the Mexican Revolution...
" and made numerous sorties into the North Sea during World War I. When the United States formally entered World War II in 1941,
Texas took on the role of escorting war convoys across the Atlantic, and she later shelled Axis-held beaches for the
North African campaignDuring the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
and the
Normandy LandingsOperation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
before being transferred to the Pacific Theater late in 1944 to provide
naval gunfire supportNaval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
during the
Battles of Iwo JimaThe Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
and
OkinawaThe Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
.
Texas was
decommissionedTo decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
in 1948, having earned a total of five battle stars for service in World War II, and is presently a museum ship near Houston, Texas. Among the world's remaining battleships,
Texas is notable for being the oldest remaining
dreadnoughtThe dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
battleship.
[Although Texas is the oldest remaining dreadnought-type battleship, she is not the oldest remaining battleship; the , a pre-dreadnought]Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
battleship ordered in 1898, is older than Texas. She is also noteworthy for being one of only six remaining ships to have served in both World Wars.
[The other five surviving vessels that hold the distinction of serving in both World Wars are the Medea]The Medea is a 1904 steam yacht preserved in the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Named after Medea, the wife of Jason, she was built on the Clyde at Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyard at Linthouse by John Stephen for William Macalister Hall of Torrisdale Castle, Scotland.During World War I, the...
, which served both the French NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
and Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, British Monitor , the British light cruiser , the Greek armored cruiser Georgios AverofGeorgios Averof is a Greek warship which served as the flagship of the Royal Hellenic Navy during most of the first half of the 20th Century...
and the Drazki, a Bulgarian torpedo boat. Among US-built battleships,
Texas is notable for her sizable number of firsts: the first US battleship to mount
anti-aircraft gunsNATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
, the first US ship to
control gunfire with directors and range-keepersA fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...
(analog forerunners of today's computers), the first US battleship to launch an aircraft, one of the first to receive the CXAM-1 version of
CXAMThe CXAM radar system was the first production radar system deployed on United States Navy ships. It followed several earlier prototype systems, such as the NRL radar installed in April 1937 on the destroyer ; its successor, the XAF, installed in December 1938 on the battleship ; and the first...
commercial
radarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
in the US Navy,
[CXAM was the first non-experimental, non-prototype radar system developed by the US Navy. It was produced in small numbers for the US Navy and installed aboard certain capital ships, including battleships, heavy cruiser]The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s, and aircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s. An upgraded version (CXAM-1) would later be installed aboard other US Navy vessels, including a few ships which carried the original version. the first US battleship to become a permanent
museum shipA museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
,
[The first steel battleship to become a permanent museum ship was the Mikasa; the first US battleship to become a museum ship was the . However, Oregon was placed on loan to the state of Oregon and at the outbreak of World War II she was offered back into service and later sunk. As a result, Texas is the first permanent US battleship museum ship.] and the first battleship declared to be a US
National Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
[See List of U.S. National Historic Landmark ships, shipwrecks, and shipyards for documentation that Texas is the first declared National Historic Landmark.]
Construction
Texas was the first of two s authorized on 24 June 1910. Bids for
Texas were accepted from 27 September to 1 December with the winning bid of $5,830,000—excluding the price of armor and armament—submitted by
Newport News Shipbuilding CompanyNewport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
. The contract was signed on 17 December and the plans were delivered to the building yard seven days later.
Texass keel was laid down on 17 April 1911 at
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
. She was
launchedThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 18 May 1912, sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon, daughter of
ColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Cecil Lyon, Republican national committeeman from Texas, and
commissionedShip commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 12 March 1914 with Captain
Albert W. GrantAlbert Weston Grant was an admiral of the United States Navy during World War I.-Biography:Grant was born on April 14, 1856 at East Benton, Maine. He grew up at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with his pioneer family and won a competitive appointment to the United States Naval Academy, from which he...
in command.
Texass main battery consisted of ten
14 in (355.6 mm)/45 cal Mark 1 gunThe 14"/45 caliber gun, known initially as the Mark 1, 2, 3, and 5, and later as the Mark 8, 9, 10, and 12, were the first 14-inch guns to be employed with the United States Navy. They were installed aboard the United States Navy's New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania-class battleships as the primary...
s, which fired 1400 lb (635 kg)
armor piercingAn armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
shells with a range of 13 mi (11.3 nmi; 20.9 km). Her secondary battery consisted of twenty-one 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns. She originally also mounted four 21 in (533.4 mm)
torpedo tubeA torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s, two on each side of the 2nd Platform at frames 32 and 34.5 with the Torpedo Rooms also storing 12
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es.
Texas and her sister were the only battleships to store and hoist their 14 in (355.6 mm) ammunition in a nose-down position, in cast-iron cups.
Service history
On 24 March 1914,
Texas departed Norfolk Navy Yard and set a course for New York City, making an overnight stop at Tompkinsville, New York on the night of 26 March. Entering New York Navy Yard on the next day, she spent the next three weeks there undergoing the installation of
fire-control equipmentA fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...
.
During her stay in New York, President
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
ordered a number of ships of the
Atlantic FleetThe United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
to Mexican waters in response to tension created when a detail of Mexican federal troops detained an American
gunboatA gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
crew at Tampico. The problem was quickly resolved locally, but
Rear AdmiralRear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
Henry T. MayoHenry Thomas Mayo was an admiral of the United States Navy.Mayo was born in Burlington, Vermont, 8 December 1856. Upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1876 he experienced a variety of naval duties including coastal survey...
sought further redress by demanding an official disavowal of the act by the
HuertaJosé Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
regime and a
21-gun saluteGun salutes are the firing of cannons or firearms as a military or naval honor.The custom stems from naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent, to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent...
to the American flag.
President Wilson saw in the incident an opportunity to put pressure on a government he felt was undemocratic. On 20 April, Wilson placed the matter before the
United States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
and sent orders to Rear Admiral
Frank Friday FletcherFrank Friday Fletcher was an United States Navy admiral who served in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions as commander of Navy forces at the Battle of Veracruz, Mexico.-Biography:Fletcher was born on...
, commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast, instructing him to land a force at
VeracruzVeracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
and to seize the customs house there in retaliation for what is now known as the "
Tampico IncidentThe Tampico Affair started off as a minor incident involving U.S. sailors and Mexican land forces loyal to General Victoriano Huerta during the guerra de las facciones phase of the Mexican Revolution...
". That action was carried out on 21–22 April.
Due to the intensity of the situation,
Texas put to sea on 13 May and headed directly to operational duty without benefit of the usual
shakedown cruiseShakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Shakedown cruises are also used to familiarize the ship's crew with operation of the craft....
and post-shakedown repair period. After a five-day stop at
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
from 14–19 May, she joined Rear Admiral Fletcher's force off Veracruz on 26 May. She remained in Mexican waters for just over two months, supporting the American forces ashore. On 8 August, she left Veracruz and set a course for
Nipe BayNipe Bay is a bay on the northern coast of eastern Cuba. It is where the statue of Our Lady of Charity, Patroness of Cuba, was discovered miraculously around 1600. The Battle of Nipe Bay happened on July 21, 1898; it was a naval engagement in the Spanish-American War. Fidel Castro was born near...
,
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and from there steamed to New York where she entered the Navy Yard on 21 August.
The battleship remained there until 6 September, when she returned to sea, joined the Atlantic Fleet, and settled into a schedule of normal fleet operations. In October, she returned to the Mexican coast. Later that month,
Texas became station ship at Tuxpan, a duty that lasted until 4 November, when the ship steamed for
Galveston, TexasGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
. While at Galveston on 7 November, Texas Governor
Oscar ColquittOscar Branch Colquitt was the 25th Governor of Texas from January 17, 1911 to January 19, 1915. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Gov...
presented the ship's
silver serviceThe Silver Service is a brand currently applied by Amtrak to two of its East Coast long-distance passenger trains operating between New York City and Miami:*Silver Meteor*Silver Star...
to Captain Grant. The Young Men's Business League of
Waco, TexasWaco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, raised the $10,000 to purchase the silver.
Texas sailed for Tampico on 14 November and thereafter to Veracruz, where she remained for a month. The ship finally bade Mexico farewell on 20 December and set a course for New York. The battleship entered New York Navy Yard on 28 December and remained there undergoing repairs until 16 February 1915. On 25 May,
Texas—along with battleships , , and —rescued 230 passengers from the damaged
Holland America LineThe Holland America Line is a cruise shipping company. It was founded in 1873 as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company , a shipping and passenger line. Headquartered in Rotterdam and providing service to the Americas, it became known as Holland America Line...
passenger ship , which had been rammed by
NorwegianNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
-flagged fruit steamer
Joseph J. Cuneo. In 1916,
Texas became the first US battleship to mount
anti-aircraft weaponsNATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
with the addition of 3 in (76.2 mm)/50 cal guns, and the first to
control gunfire with directors and rangefindersA fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...
, analog forerunners of today's computers.
[ was the first battleship to fit anti-aircraft guns, in 1914.]
World War I
Upon her return to active duty with the fleet,
Texas resumed a schedule of training operations along the
New EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
coast and off the
Virginia CapesThe Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....
, alternated with winter fleet tactical and gunnery drills in the West Indies. That routine lasted just over two years until the February-to-March crisis over
unrestricted submarine warfareUnrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchantmen without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules...
catapulted the US into World War I in April 1917. The 6 April declaration of war found
Texas riding at anchor in the mouth of the
York RiverThe York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...
with the other Atlantic Fleet battleships. She remained in the
Virginia CapesThe Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....
–
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
vicinity until mid-August, conducting exercises and training Naval Armed Guard gun crews for service on board merchant ships. One of the gun crews trained aboard
Texas was assigned to the merchant vessel at the beginning of the war. On 19 April, the crew of
Mongolia sighted a surfaced German
U-boatU-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
and the gun crew trained aboard
Texas opened fire on the U-boat averting an attack on
Mongolia and firing the first American shots of World War I.
In August, she steamed to New York for repairs, arriving at Base 10 on 19 August and entering the New York Navy Yard soon thereafter. She completed repairs on 26 September and got underway for
Port JeffersonThe Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson is located in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2000 United States Census, the village population was 7,837...
that same day. During the mid-watch on 27 September, she ran hard aground on
Block IslandBlock Island is part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately south of the coast of Rhode Island, east of Montauk Point on Long Island, and is separated from the Rhode Island mainland by Block Island Sound. The United States Census Bureau defines Block...
. Captain
Victor BlueVictor Blue, a brother of Rupert Blue, was born in Richmond County, North Carolina, 6 December 1865 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1887. Lieutenant Blue was advanced five numbers for intelligence missions in Cuba during the Spanish-American War...
and his
navigatorA navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
, confused about shore lights and more concerned about the minefield at the opening of
Long Island SoundLong Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
made the turn at the wrong time and ran the ship aground on the island from the
bowThe bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...
all the way
aftAft, in naval terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning, towards the stern of the ship, when the frame of reference is within the ship. Example: "Able Seaman Smith; lay aft!". Or; "What's happening aft?"...
beyond midships. For three days, her crew lightened ship to no avail. On 30 September, tugs came to her assistance, and she finally backed clear. Hull damage dictated a return to the yard, and the extensive repairs required precluded her departure with
Battleship Division 9United States Battleship Division Nine was a division of four, later five, dreadnought battleships of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet that constituted the American contribution to the British Grand Fleet during World War I. Although the U.S. entered the war on 6 April 1917, hesitation among...
(BatDiv 9) for the
British IslesThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in November. The secondary battery was reduced to eighteen 5 in (127 mm) guns in October 1917. Captain Blue, a protege of Navy Secretary
Josephus DanielsJosephus Daniels was a newspaper editor and publisher from North Carolina who was appointed by United States President Woodrow Wilson to serve as Secretary of the Navy during World War I...
, was never
court-martialA court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
ed and remained in command of
Texas. The Navy Department held his
navigatorA navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
entirely responsible for the accident.
By December, she had completed repairs and moved south to conduct
military simulationMilitary simulations, also known informally as war games, are simulations in which theories of warfare can be tested and refined without the need for actual hostilities. Many professional contemporary analysts object to the term wargames as this is generally taken to be referring to the civilian...
s out of the York River. Mid-January 1918 found the battleship back at New York preparing for the voyage across the Atlantic, including the removal of two more 5 in (127 mm) guns reducing the total number aboard to sixteen. She departed New York on 30 January 1918, arrived at
Scapa Flowright|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
in the
Orkney IslandsOrkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
off the coast of Scotland on 11 February, and rejoined BatDiv 9, by then known as the
6th Battle SquadronThe British 6th Battle Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron consisting of Battleships serving in the Grand Fleet.-August 1914:In August 1914, the 6th Battle Squadron was based at Portland and comprised a number of the older pre-dreadnought battleships. These included: and transferred to the 5th...
of Britain's Grand Fleet.
Texass service with the Grand Fleet consisted entirely of convoy missions and occasional forays to reinforce the British squadron on blockade duty in the
North SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
whenever German heavy units threatened. The fleet alternated between bases at Scapa Flow and at the
Firth of ForthThe Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
in Scotland.
Texas began her mission only five days after her arrival at Scapa Flow, where she sortied with the entire fleet to reinforce the
4th Battle SquadronThe British Royal Navy 4th Battle Squadron was a squadron consisting of battleships. The 4th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. During World War I the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet...
, then on duty in the North Sea. She returned to Scapa Flow the next day and remained until 8 March, when she put to sea on a convoy escort mission from which she returned on 13 March.
Texas and her division mates entered the Firth of Forth on 12 April but got underway again on the 17th to escort a convoy. The American battleships returned to base on 20 April. Four days later,
Texas again stood out to sea to support the Second Battle Squadron the day after the German
High Seas FleetThe High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
had sortied from
Jade BayThe Jade Bight, is a bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as Jade or Jahde.About 180 km² in area, the Jade was largely created by storm floods during the 12th and 16th centuries. During this period it was connected in the East to the river Weser...
toward the Norwegian coast to threaten an Allied convoy. Forward units caught sight of the retiring Germans on 25 April, but at such an extreme range there was no possibility of bringing the German fleet into engagement with the Grand Fleet. The Germans returned to their base that day, and the Grand Fleet, including
Texas, did likewise on the next.
Texas and her division mates passed a relatively inactive May in the Firth of Forth. On 9 June, she got underway with the other warships of the 6th Battle Squadron and headed back to the anchorage at Scapa Flow, arriving there the following day. From 30 June to 2 July,
Texas and her colleagues acted as escort for American minelayers adding to the North Sea mine barrage. After a two-day return to Scapa Flow,
Texas put to sea with the Grand Fleet to conduct two days of tactical exercises and war games. At the conclusion of those drills on 8 July, the fleet entered the Firth of Forth. For the remainder of World War I,
Texas and the other battleships of Division 9 continued to operate with the Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron. With the German Fleet increasingly tied to its bases in the estuaries of the Jade and the Ems rivers, the American and British ships settled into a routine schedule of operations with little-to-no hint of combat operations. That state of affairs lasted until the
ArmisticeThe armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
ended hostilities on 11 November 1918. At 03:35 on 21 November, she got underway to accompany the Grand Fleet to meet the surrendering German Fleet. The two fleets rendezvoused about 40 nmi (46 mi; 74.1 km) east of the
Isle of MayThe Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is 1.8 km long and less than half a kilometre wide...
and proceeded to the Firth of Forth. Afterward, the American contingent moved to
Portland HarbourPortland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...
, England, arriving there on 4 December.
Inter-War period
On 12 December 1918,
Texas put to sea with BatDivs 9 and 6 to meet President Woodrow Wilson embarked in on his way to the
Paris Peace ConferenceThe Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
. The rendezvous took place around 07:30 the following morning and provided an escort for the President into
BrestBrest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, France, where the ships arrived at 12:30 that afternoon. On the afternoon of 14 December,
Texas and the other American battleships departed Brest to return to the United States. The warships arrived off Ambrose light station on Christmas Day, 1918, and entered New York on the next day.
Following overhaul,
Texas resumed duty with the Atlantic Fleet early in 1919. On 10 March, she became the first American battleship to launch an airplane when
Lieutenant CommanderLieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
Edward O. McDonnellEdward Orrick McDonnell was an American war hero. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1912...
flew a British-built
Sopwith CamelThe Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
off the warship. Later in 1919 that accomplishment was expounded upon when
Texass captain,
Nathan C. TwiningNathan Crook Twining was a rear admiral of the United States Navy.-Biography:Twining was born in Boscobel, Wisconsin on January 17, 1869. He was appointed a naval cadet in 1885 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy on 7 June 1889...
, successfully employed naval aircraft to spot for the fall of shells during a main battery exercise. The results were that gunfire spotted by aircraft was significantly more accurate than shipboard spotters. In testimony to the
Navy General BoardThe General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, effectively a naval general staff. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by John Davis Long. The order was officially recognized by Congress in 1916...
, Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Whiting attested that the increase in gunfire effectiveness with air spotting was likely to be as great as 200%. As a result of these first experiments, the Navy would add floatplanes to all the fleet's battleships and the newer cruisers. In May 1919,
Texas served as a plane guard and navigational aid for the successful attempt by Navy
Curtiss NC-References:NotesBibliography* Holmes, Tony. Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide. London: Harper Collins, 2005. ISBN 0-0071-9292-4.* Steirman, Hy and Glenn D. Kittler. The First Transatlantic Flight, 1919, . New York: Richardson & Sterman, 1986. ISBN 0-931933-19-0.* Wagner, Ray. American...
flying boatA flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
NC-4The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat which was designed by Glenn Curtiss and his team, and manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. In May 1919, the NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, starting in the United States and making the crossing as far as Lisbon,...
to become the first airplane to cross the Atlantic. On 26 July 1919
Texas entered the Pacific Ocean as part of the newly formed
Pacific FleetThe United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
and she would spend the next five and half years as a part of Pacific Fleet. On 17 July the following year, she was designated
BB-35 under the Navy's newly adopted alpha-numeric system of
hull classification symbolThe United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...
s.
Texas left the Pacific on 16 January 1924 and returned to the east coast for overhaul and to participate in a training cruise to European waters with
Naval AcademyThe United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
MidshipmenA midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
embarked. While operating in the Atlantic, on 25 November 1924, she sank the incomplete battleship for compliance with the
Naval Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
, and later that fall, conducted maneuvers as a unit of the
Scouting FleetThe Scouting Fleet was part of the United States Fleet in the United States Navy, and renamed the Scouting Force in 1930.Established in 1922, the fleet consisted mainly of older battleships and initially operated in the Atlantic...
. On 31 July 1925 (until 23 November 1926), she entered Norfolk Navy Yard for a major modernization overhaul during which both cage masts were replaced with tripod masts, her coal-fired boilers were converted to oil-fired, and her fire-control equipment was upgraded to the very latest.
Following completion of her overhaul,
Texas was designated the
flagshipA flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the
United States FleetThe United States Fleet was an organization in the United States Navy from 1922 until after World War II. The abbreviation CINCUS, pronounced "sink us", was used for Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet. This title was disposed of and officially replaced by COMINCH in December 1941 . This...
and resumed duty along the
eastern seaboardThe East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
. She kept at that task until late 1927, when she did a brief tour of duty in the Pacific from late September-early December. In 1927,
Texas set another first with the showing of
"talking" picturesA sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
for crew entertainment. Near the end of the year,
Texas returned to the Atlantic and resumed normal duty with the Scouting Fleet. In January 1928, she transported President
Calvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
to
HavanaHavana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba, for the
Pan-American ConferenceThe Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for cooperation on trade and other issues. They were first introduced by James G. Blaine of Maine in order to establish closer ties...
and then continued on via the
Panama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
and the
west coastWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
to maneuvers with the fleet near Hawaii.
She returned to New York early in 1929 for her annual overhaul and had completed it by March when she began another brief tour of duty in the Pacific. She returned to the Atlantic in June and resumed normal duty with the Scouting Fleet. In April 1930, she took time from her operating schedule to escort into New York when that ship carried the returning US delegation to the
London Naval ConferenceThere were three major international naval conferences in London, the first in 1908-09, the second in 1930 and the third in 1935. The latter two, together with the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22 and the Geneva Conferences , resulted in agreements between the major powers on navy vessel...
. In January 1931, she left the yard at New York as
flagshipA flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the United States Fleet and headed via the Panama Canal to
San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, and then on to Los Angeles (port of San Pedro) which became her home port for the next six years and three months. There would be a temporary redeployment back to the Atlantic from April to October 1934. During this Pacific period, she served first as flagship for the entire Fleet and, later, as flagship for BatDiv 1.
In the summer of 1937, she once more was reassigned to the east coast, as the flagship of the Training Detachment, United States Fleet. Late in 1938 or early in 1939, the warship became flagship of the newly organized Atlantic Squadron, built around BatDiv 5. Through both organizational assignments, her labors were directed primarily to training missions, Midshipman cruises, Naval Reserve drills, and training members of the
Fleet Marine ForceThe United States Fleet Marine Forces are combined general and special purpose forces within the United States Department of the Navy that are designed in engaging offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment...
. In December 1938,
Texas received for testing the first shipborne radar designed and made by a commercial company
RCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
for the US Navy, the 385 megacycles CXZ. In 1941,
Texas was one of fourteen ships to receive the RCA
CXAM-1 radarThe CXAM radar system was the first production radar system deployed on United States Navy ships. It followed several earlier prototype systems, such as the NRL radar installed in April 1937 on the destroyer ; its successor, the XAF, installed in December 1938 on the battleship ; and the first...
.
Early operations
Soon after war broke out in Europe in September 1939,
Texas began operating on the "
Neutrality PatrolAt the beginning of World War II, when Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 started the hostilities in Europe, President Franklin D...
", an American attempt to keep the war out of the
western hemisphereThe Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. Later, as the United States moved toward more active support of the
AlliedThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
cause, the warship began convoying ships carrying
Lend-Lease matérielLend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
to the United Kingdom. In February 1941, the US 1st Marine Division was founded aboard
Texas. On 1 February,
AdmiralIn the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...
Ernest J. KingFleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II. As COMINCH, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the U.S...
hoisted his flag as Commander-in-Chief of the re-formed Atlantic Fleet aboard
Texas. That same year, while on "Neutrality Patrol" in the Atlantic,
Texas was stalked unsuccessfully by the German submarine .
Convoy duty
Sunday, 7 December 1941, found the battleship at Casco Bay, Maine, undergoing a rest and relaxation period following three months of watch duty at
Naval Station ArgentiaNaval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941-1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Canadian province .-Construction:Established under the British-U.S...
,
NewfoundlandThe Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
. After 10 days of Casco Bay, she returned to Argentia and remained there until late January 1942, when she got underway to escort a convoy to England. After delivering her charges, the battleship patrolled waters near
IcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
until March when she returned home. Around this time, the secondary battery was reduced to six 5 in (127 mm) guns. For the next six months, she continued convoy-escort missions to various destinations. On one occasion, she escorted
GuadalcanalGuadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
-bound marines as far as
PanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
; on another, the warship screened service troops to
FreetownFreetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
,
Sierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, on the west coast of Africa. More frequently, she made voyages to and from the United Kingdom escorting both cargo- and troop-carrying ships.
Operation Torch
On 23 October 1942,
Texas embarked upon her first major combat operation when she sortied with Task Group 34.8 (TG 34.8), the Northern Attack Group for
Operation TorchOperation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, the invasion of North Africa. The objective assigned to this group was
MehediaMahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as weaving. It is the capital of Mahdia Governorate.- History :...
near Port Lyautey and the port itself. The ships arrived off the assault beaches early in the morning of 8 November and began preparations for the invasion.
Texas transmitted
Lieutenant GeneralIn the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
's first "Voice of Freedom" broadcast, asking the French not to oppose Allied landings on North Africa. When the troops went ashore,
Texas did not come immediately into action to support them. At that point in the war, amphibious warfare doctrine was still embryonic; and many did not recognize the value of a pre-landing bombardment. Instead, the Army insisted upon attempting surprise.
Texas finally entered the fray early in the afternoon when the Army requested her to destroy an
ammunition dumpAn ammunition dump, ammunition compound, ammunition depot, bomb dump, ammunition supply point or ammo dump, is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives....
near Port Lyautey. One more gunfire mission was provided on the 10th before the ceasefire on 11 November. Thus, unlike in later operations, she expended only 273 rounds of 14 in (355.6 mm) ammunition and six rounds of 5 in (127 mm) ammunition. During her short stay, some of her crew briefly went ashore to assist in salvaging some of the shipping sunk in the harbor. On 16 November, she departed North Africa and headed for home in company with , , , four transports, and seven
destroyerIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s.
A young
Walter CronkiteWalter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
was aboard
Texas from Norfolk through her tenure off the North African coast and back to the US. On the return trip to the US, Cronkite was catapulted off
Texas in one of the ship's
OS2U KingfisherThe Vought OS2U Kingfisher was an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine...
s once Norfolk was within flying distance. He was granted permission to be flown, from the ship, the remaining distance to Norfolk so he could beat a rival correspondent, aboard the , back to the US and have the first uncensored stories published on the Torch landings. Cronkite's experiences aboard
Texas launched his career as a
war correspondentA war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
.
Operation Overlord
Throughout 1943,
Texas carried out the familiar role of convoy escort. With New York as her home port, she made numerous transatlantic voyages to such places as
CasablancaCasablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and
GibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, as well as frequent visits to ports in the British Isles. That routine continued into 1944 but ended on 22 April of that year when, at the European end of one such mission, she remained at the
Clyde estuaryThe River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
in Scotland and began training for the invasion of
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
.
Rehearsal
During the next twelve days,
Texas carried out many 14 in (355.6 mm) gun-firing exercises with British battleships and . The firing was done in conjunction with
Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
airplanes as spotters. On 29 April,
Texas, , and relocated to
Belfast LoughBelfast Lough is a large, natural intertidal sea lough at the mouth of the River Lagan on the east coast of Northern Ireland. The inner part of the lough comprises a series of mudflats and lagoons. The outer lough is restricted to mainly rocky shores with some small sandy bays...
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. There, final preparations were made, including the removal of the airplane catapult and the ship's
OS2U KingfisherThe Vought OS2U Kingfisher was an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine...
observation planes. The three pilots who flew
Texas Kingfishers during this period were temporarily transferred to a newly formed squadron, VCS-7, that was composed of the pilots who flew observation and scouting planes from the cruisers , , and and the battleships Arkansas
, Nevada
, and Texas. VCS-7 received training in defensive fighter tactics, aerobatics, navigation, formation flying and spotting procedures in Royal Air Force
SpitfiresThe Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
; they flew spotting missions in the Spitfires because of the threat from German fighters. The pilots of VCS-7 would fly spotting missions for the US warships off OMAHA and UTAH beaches during D-Day. Also, during this time additional radio equipment was added, including a device to detect and jam radio-guided missiles.
[Anti-ship missiles such as the Fritz X]Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II. Fritz X was a nickname used both by Allied and Luftwaffe personnel. Alternate names include Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X, Kramer X-1, PC 1400X or FX 1400...
were among the first instances of short-range guided missiles during the Second World War. The LuftwaffeThe German Luftwaffe was one of the strongest, most doctrinally advanced, and most battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II started in Europe in September 1939. Officially unveiled in 1935, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, its purpose was to support Adolf Hitler's...
used them to some effect against Allied shipping, and sank or damaged some large warships successfully before the Allies devised countermeasures, principally radio jamming. Final exercises were carried out to the south in Dundrum Bay and Belfast Lough. During the final preparations, General Eisenhower came aboard on 19 May to speak to the crew. On 31 May, the ship was sealed and a briefing given to the crew about the upcoming invasion. For the invasion, Texas was designated Bombardment Force Flagship for
Omaha BeachOmaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
, in the Western Taskforce. Her firing area of Omaha was the western half, supporting the US 29th Infantry Division and the US 2nd Ranger Battalion at
Pointe du HocPointe du Hoc is a clifftop location on the coast of Normandy in northern France. It lies 4 miles west of Omaha Beach, and stands on 100 ft tall cliffs overlooking the sea...
, and the US 5th Ranger Battalion, which had been diverted to Western Omaha to support the troops at Pointe du Hoc.
The bombardment force consisted of two sections with Texas
and the British light cruiser responsible for the western half of Omaha Beach. The east half of Omaha Beach included Arkansas and the French light cruisers and . Also assigned to Omaha Beach were the American destroyers , , , , , , , , , and the British destroyers , and .
At 02:09 on 3 June, Texas
and the rest of the Western Taskforce sailed from Belfast Lough for Normandy. In sight, on a parallel course was a group of British ships, including the battleships and Ramillies. At 07:10 on 4 June, the taskforce had to reverse course due to unacceptable weather in the Normandy. Later that evening, off Lundy Island, the taskforce reversed course and headed for and joined the invasion fleet gathering at Area Z. The invasion fleet then headed south toward Normandy and navigated the German minefield, through which
minesweeperA minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
s had cleared channels; not a single Omaha Beach vessel was lost.
D-Day
At 03:00 on 6 June 1944, Texas
and the British cruiser Glasgow entered the Omaha Western fire support lane and into her initial firing position 12000 yd (10,972.8 m) offshore near
Pointe du HocPointe du Hoc is a clifftop location on the coast of Normandy in northern France. It lies 4 miles west of Omaha Beach, and stands on 100 ft tall cliffs overlooking the sea...
at 04:41, as part of a combined total US-British flotilla of 702 ships, including seven battleships and five
heavy cruiserThe heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s.
[As for the other battleships, took the eastern side of Omaha, took Utah]Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
, took SwordSword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
, also took Sword but later moved to GoldGold Beach was the code name of one of the D-Day landing beaches that Allied forces used to invade German-occupied France on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
, and took JunoJuno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...
. The final battleship was ; however, she did not partake in initial bombardment, as she was held in back until the 10th for "follow-up escort and Channel patrols" in addition to being a reserve. See: List of Allied warships in the Normandy Landings and NORMANDY LANDINGS, Operation "OVERLORD"; 6th June 1944.
The initial bombardment commenced at 05:50, against the site of six 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, atop Pointe du Hoc. When Texas
ceased firing at the Pointe at 0624, 255 14 in (355.6 mm) shells had been fired in 34 minutes—an average rate of fire of 7.5 shells per minute, which was the longest sustained period of firing for Texas
in World War II. While shells from the main guns were hitting Pointe du Hoc, the 5 in (127 mm) guns were firing on the area leading up to Exit D-1, the route to get inland from western Omaha. At 06:26, Texas shifted her main battery gunfire to the western edge of Omaha Beach, around the town of
ViervilleVierville is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-Places and Monuments:* Mounds Neolithic of Butte . Cemetery dating to the Merovingian .* Church Saint-Eloi , with font emblazoned ....
. Meanwhile, her secondary battery went to work on another target on the western end of "Omaha" beach, a ravine laced with strong points to defend an exit road. Later, under control of airborne spotters, she moved her major-caliber fire inland to interdict enemy reinforcement activities and to destroy batteries and other strong points farther inland.
By noon, the assault on Omaha Beach was in danger of collapsing due to stronger than anticipated German resistance and the inability of the Allies to get needed
armorA tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
and
artilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
units on the beach. In an effort to help the infantry fighting to take Omaha, some of the destroyers providing gunfire support closed near the shoreline, almost grounding themselves to fire on the Germans. Texas
also closed to the shoreline; at 12:23, Texas closed to only 3000 yd (2,743.2 m) from the water's edge, firing her main guns with very little elevation to clear the western exit D-1, in front of Vierville. Among other things, she fired upon
sniperA sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
s and machine gun nests hidden in a
defileDefile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
just off the beach. At the conclusion of that mission, the battleship attacked an enemy anti-aircraft battery located west of Vierville.
On 7 June, the battleship received word that the
RangerUnited States Army Rangers are elite members of the United States Army. Rangers have served in recognized U.S. Army Ranger units or have graduated from the U.S. Army's Ranger School...
battalion at Pointe Du Hoc was still isolated from the rest of the invasion force with low
ammunitionAmmunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
and mounting casualties; in response, Texas
obtained and filled two LCVPThe Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
s with provisions for the Rangers. Upon their return, the LCVPs brought thirty-five wounded Rangers to Texas
for treatment of which one died on the operating table. Along with the Rangers, a deceased Coast Guard sailor and twenty-seven prisoners (twenty Germans, four Italians, and three French) were brought to the ship. The prisoners were fed, segregated, and not formally interrogated aboard Texas, due to the ship bombarding targets or standing by to bombard, before being loaded aboard a LST for transfer to England. Later in the day, her main battery rained shells on the enemy-held towns of
Formigny-External links:*...
and
TrévièresTrévières is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Administration:Trévières is part of the communauté de communes de Trévières, which includes 25 communes and has its seat in Formigny....
to break up German troop concentrations. That evening, she bombarded a German mortar battery that had been shelling the beach. Not long after midnight, German planes attacked the ships offshore, and one of them swooped in low on Texass starboard quarter. Her anti-aircraft batteries opened up immediately but failed to hit the intruder. On the morning of 8 June, her guns fired on
IsignyIsigny-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Geography:Positioned at the bottom of the baie des Veys, Isigny is an important milk production area, known for its AOC butter and cream, as well as its cheeses made by the Isigny Sainte...
, then on a shore battery, and finally on Trévières once more.
After that, she retired to
PlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
to rearm, returning to the French coast on 11 June. From then until 15 June, she supported the army in its advance inland. By 15 June, the troops had advanced to the edge of Texas
s gun range; her last fire support mission was so far inland that to get the needed range, the starboard torpedo blister was flooded with water to provide a list of two degrees which gave the guns enough elevation to complete the fire mission. With combat operations beyond the range of her guns on 16 June, Texas
left Normandy for England on 18 June.
Battle of Cherbourg
On the morning of 25 June Texas
, in company with ArkansasUSS Arkansas , a was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 25th state.A dreadnought battleship, Arkansas was laid down on 25 January 1910 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 14 January 1911 sponsored by Miss Nancy Louise...
, NevadaUSS Nevada , the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships; her sister ship was...
, four cruisers and eleven destroyers, closed in on the vital port of Cherbourg-Main sights:* La Glacerie has a race track.* The Cité de la Mer is a large museum devoted to scientific and historical aspects of maritime subjects.* Cherbourg Basilica* Jardin botanique de la Roche Fauconnière, a private botanical garden.* Le Trident theatre...
to suppress the fortifications and batteries surrounding the town while the US Army's VII Corps attacked the city from the rear. While enroute
to Cherbourg, the bombardment plan was changed and Task Group 129.2 (TG 129.2), built around Arkansas
and Texas
, was ordered to move six miles (10 km) to the east of Cherbourg and engage the guns of Battery Hamburg, a large shore battery composed of four 240 mm (9.4 in). At 12:08, Arkansas
was the first to fire at the German positions, while the German gunners waited for Arkansas
and Texas
to be well in range to return fire. At 12:33, Texas
was straddled by three German shells; five minutes later Texas returned fire with a continuous stream of two-gun
salvoA salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute.Troops armed with muzzleloaders required time in which to refill their arms with gun powder and shot...
s. The battleship continued her firing runs in spite of shell geysers blossoming about her and difficulty spotting the targets because of smoke; however, the enemy gunners were just as stubborn and skilled. At 13:16, a German 240 mm (9.4 in) shell skidded across the top of her Conning Tower, sheared the top of the fire control periscope off (the periscope remains fell back into the Conning Tower and wounded the gunnery officer and three others), hit the main support column of the Navigation Bridge and exploded. The explosion caused the deck of the Pilot House above to be blown upwards approximately 4 ft (1.2 m), wrecked the interior of the Pilot House, and wounded seven. Of the eleven total casualties from the German shell hit, only one man succumbed to his wounds—the helmsman on duty, Christen Christensen. Texass commanding officer, Captain Baker, miraculously escaped unhurt and quickly had the bridge cleared. The warship herself continued to deliver her 14 in (355.6 mm) shells in two-gun
salvoA salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute.Troops armed with muzzleloaders required time in which to refill their arms with gun powder and shot...
s and, in spite of damage and casualties, scored a direct hit that penetrated one of the heavily reinforced gun emplacements to destroy the gun inside at 13:35.
At 14:47, an unexploded 240 mm (9.4 in) shell was reported. The shell crashed through the port bow directly below the Wardroom and entered the stateroom of
Warrant OfficerA warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...
M.A. Clark, but failed to explode. The unexploded shell was later disarmed by a Navy bomb disposal officer in
PortsmouthPortsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and is currently displayed aboard the ship. Throughout the three-hour duel, the Germans straddled and near-missed Texas
over sixty-five times, but she continued her mission firing 206 14 in (355.6 mm) shells at Battery Hamburg until 15:01 when, upon orders to that effect, she retired.
Operation Dragoon
After Texas
underwent repairs at Plymouth from damage sustained at Cherbourg, she then drilled in preparation for the invasion of southern France. On 16 July, she departed Belfast Lough and headed for the Mediterranean. After stops at GibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and OranOran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
, AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, the battleship arrived in Taranto, Italy on 27 July. Departing Taranto on 11 August, Texas
rendezvoused with three French destroyers off BizerteBizerte or Benzert , is the capital city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa. It has a population of 230,879 .-History:...
, TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, and set a course for the French RivieraThe Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
. She arrived off Saint-TropezSaint-Tropez is a town, 104 km to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. It is also the principal town in the canton of Saint-Tropez....
during the night of 14 August and was joined early the next morning by battleship Nevada
and cruiser At 04:44 on 15 August, she moved into position for the pre-landing bombardment and, at 0651, opened up on her first target, a battery of five 15 cm (5.9 in) guns. The beaches had been fortified and heavy resistance was expected. Due to very poor visibility that morning, Texas
relied on her SG radar equipment to determine her position and track for both navigation and gunnery purposes. No landmarks whatsoever were visible during the firing and for the greater part of the forenoon.
The heavy opposition that was expected never materialized, so the landing forces moved inland rapidly. As such, fire support from Texas
s guns was no longer required, so she departed the southern coast of France on the early morning of 17 August. After a stop at PalermoPalermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, SicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, she left the Mediterranean and headed for New York where she arrived on 14 September 1944.
Operations Detachment and Iceberg
At New York, Texas underwent a 36-day repair period during which the barrels on her main battery were replaced. After a brief refresher cruise, she departed Maine in November and set a course, via the
Panama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, for the Pacific. She made a stop at
Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, and then continued on to
OahuOahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
. She spent Christmas at
Pearl HarborPearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
and then conducted maneuvers in the
Hawaiian IslandsThe Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
for about a month at the end of which she steamed to Ulithi Atoll. She departed Ulithi on 10 February 1945, stopped in the
MarianasThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
for two days' invasion rehearsals, and then set a course for
Iwo JimaIwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
. She arrived off the target on 16 February, three days before the scheduled assault. She spent those three days pounding enemy defenses on Iwo Jima in preparation for the landings. After the troops stormed ashore on 19 February, Texas
switched roles and began delivering naval gunfire supportNaval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
and on-call fire until 21 February.
Though Iwo Jima was not declared secured until 16 March, Texas
cleared the area on 7 March and returned to Ulithi to prepare for the Okinawa operation. She departed Ulithi with TF 54, the gunfire support unit, on 21 March and arrived in the RyukyusThe , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
on the 26th. Texas did not participate in the occupation of the islands but moved in on the main objective instead, beginning the pre-landing bombardment that same day. For the next six days, she fired multiple salvos from her main guns to prepare the way for the
US ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and the
Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Each evening, she retired from her bombardment position close to the Okinawan shore only to return the next day and resume her poundings. The enemy ashore, preparing for a defense-in-depth strategy as at Iwo Jima, made no answer. Only air units provided a response, as several
kamikazeThe were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
raids were sent to harass the bombardment group. Texas
escaped damage during those small attacks. On 1 April, after six days of aerial and naval bombardment, the ground troops went ashore, and for almost two months, Texas
remained in Okinawan waters providing gunfire support for the troops and fending off the enemy aerial assault. In performing the latter mission, she claimed one kamikaze
kill on her own and claimed three assists. On 14 May the ship departed Okinawa for the Philippines.
End of the war
On 17 May, Texas arrived at Leyte in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and remained there until after the Japanese capitulation on 15 August. She returned to Okinawa toward the end of August and stayed in the Ryukyus until 23 September. On that day, she set a course for the United States with homeward bound troops embarked as part of the ongoing Operation Magic Carpet. The battleship delivered her passengers to San Pedro, California on 15 October, and celebrated Navy Day there on 27 October before resuming her mission to bring American troops home. She made two round-trip voyages between California and Oahu in November and a third in late December. On 21 January 1946, the warship departed San Pedro and steamed via the Panama Canal to Norfolk where she arrived on 13 February, and soon began preparations for inactivation. On 18 June, she was placed officially in reserve at Baltimore, Maryland.
Museum Ship
The Battleship Texas Commission was established on 17 April 1947 to care for the ship by the Texas Legislature. The $225,000 necessary to pay for the towing of the ship from Baltimore to San Jacinto was the first task of the Commission. On 17 March 1948, the ship began her journey to her new anchorage along the busy
Houston Ship ChannelThe Houston Ship Channel, located in Houston, Texas, is part of the Port of Houston—one of the United States's busiest seaports. The channel is the conduit for ocean-going vessels between the Houston-area shipyards and the Gulf of Mexico.-Overview:...
near the
San Jacinto MonumentThe San Jacinto Monument is a high column located on the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas near the city of La Porte. The monument is topped with a 220-ton star that commemorates the site of the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution...
, at
San Jacinto State ParkThe San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site includes the location of the Battle of San Jacinto, and the USS Texas. It is located off the Houston Ship Channel in LaPorte, Texas. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960....
, arriving on 20 April, where she was turned over to the State of
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
the next day (21 April) to serve as a permanent memorial. Her name was struck from the
Naval Vessel RegisterThe Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 30 April 1948. The date of 21 April is significant in that it was the date in 1836 of the decisive
Battle of San JacintoThe Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces in a fight that lasted just eighteen...
that ended the
War for Texas IndependenceThe Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...
and led to the creation of the
Republic of TexasThe Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
, which joined the US as a state in 1845. Texas
was the first battleship memorial museum in the US. When the battleship was presented to the State of TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, she was commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy.
Battleship
Texas
Commission
The funding produced by the Battleship Texas Commission was not up to the task of maintaining the ship. Consequently, years of neglect resulted in cracks and gaps in coated surfaces, water intrusion, and steel deterioration. Paint in interior spaces began to crack, then flake, exposing metal surfaces underneath, which began to rust. At the same time, pipes open to the sea ultimately failed, flooding various voids and bunkers. By 1968, the wooden main deck of the ship was so rotted that rainwater was leaking through the deck into the interior of the ship and pooling in various compartments. The Commission found that replacing the decayed deck timbers was prohibitively expensive. The solution at the time was to remove the wooden deck and replace it with concrete. The concrete eventually cracked, and again, rainwater began to leak through the main deck into spaces below. In 1971, three local charitable institutions, the Brown Foundation, the
Moody FoundationThe Moody Foundation is a charitable foundation incorporated in Texas and based in the island city of Galveston. It was chartered in 1942 by William Lewis Moody, Jr...
, and the
Houston EndowmentHouston Endowment Inc. was founded in 1937 by Jesse H. Jones and Mary Gibbs Jones as an extension of their personal philanthropy to help establish institutions and organizations that help facilitate the growth of Houston and develop its people...
, together contributed $50,000 to the ship to enable the Commission to sandblast and paint the hull. By this time, newspaper articles reported that Texas
was "under attack" from neglect and insufficient funding. Nevertheless, Texas
was designated a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical EngineersThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
in 1975, and a National Historic LandmarkA National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
by the National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
in 1976.
Transfer to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
By 1983, concerns with the leadership of the Battleship Texas Commission led to the decision by the State Legislature to turn over control of the ship to the
Texas Parks and Wildlife DepartmentThe Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas...
(TPWD). The legislature abolished the commission effective 31 August 1983, and TPWD assumed operational control the next day. One of the first actions by TPWD was to hire a firm of naval architects to survey the ship in order to assess the deterioration and make recommendations as to what actions should be taken to preserve the ship. The survey revealed that the ship's watertight integrity was badly compromised, the hull was open to the sea in many places, and many compartments were full of standing rain water. The architects determined that the ship needed to go to dry dock for major repairs to the hull and to keep rain water from coming through the porous concrete deck. As part of this plan, serious consideration was given to protecting sensitive fabrics and restoring the interior of the ship. After a five-year-long fund-raising campaign, $15 million was collected to dry dock the ship and complete necessary repairs.
1988–1990 Dry Dock Period
Finally, on 13 December 1988, Texas was pulled from her berth with great difficulty over the course of six hours by six large tugboats to begin a 56 mi (48.7 nmi; 90.1 km) from her berth to
Todd ShipyardVigor Shipyards was founded in 1916 as the William H. Todd Corporation through the merger of Robins Dry Dock & Repair Company of Erie Basin, Brooklyn, New York, the Tietjen & Long Dry Dock Company of Hoboken, New Jersey, and the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company...
in Galveston, Texas. Once under tow in the Houston Ship Channel she started taking on water, with a serious breach just forward of the engine rooms. The crew had three 4 in (10.2 cm) pumps and two 2 in (5.1 cm) pumps in continuous service to combat the flooding. During the nine-plus hour transit, the ship's draft increased 18 in (45.7 cm) to 20 in (50.8 cm) in the stern. Texas entered the yard's floating drydock at approximately 10:30 pm on 13 December, at high tide with only 6 in (15.2 cm) to spare between her hull and the blocks she would sit on. She underwent a 14-month refit that sought to restore the ship to her 1945 condition. While under refit, yard workers sand-blasted paint from not only the hull but also the superstructure of the ship and replaced many tons of rusted metal from the hull. Inside the ship, welders and fabricators replaced weakened structural beams and numerous rusted-out deck plates. Topside, workers removed the concrete from the main deck and made repairs. (A new pinewood deck would be installed in Greens Bayou). In total, more than 375000 lb (170,097.1 kg) of steel (amounting to about 15% of the ship's hull) was replaced and more than 40,000 rivets were seal-welded on the underwater hull. On 24 February 1990, tugboats moved the Texas from dry dock to a repair facility on Green's Bayou for further repairs. It was here that the wood deck was installed and four of the ten mounts of quad 40 mm guns were installed. On 26 July, the ship was returned to her berth at San Jacinto where the final six mounts of 40 mm guns were installed. Repairs complete, the ship officially reopened to the public on 8 September 1990. Since returning to her slip at San Jacinto, members of the ship's staff and volunteers have moved forward with restoring the interior spaces.
Dry Berth Project
After many years of evaluating a wide range of alternative plans to address the ship’s problems (as well as other issues at San Jacinto), TPWD, working with many of the stakeholders at the
San Jacinto Battleground State Historic SiteThe San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site includes the location of the Battle of San Jacinto, and the USS Texas. It is located off the Houston Ship Channel in LaPorte, Texas. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960....
, adopted a “Master Plan” that called for placing the Texas into a permanent dry berth. After the “Master Plan” was formally adopted by TPWD in 2004, the Texas Legislature was approached to secure appropriate funding. The Legislature allowed the voters of Texas to express their opinion and on 6 November 2007 Texas voters approved $25 million in funds to dry-berth the ship to prevent further deterioration from the corrosive waters of the ship channel.
One of the provisions of the bond legislation is the Battleship TEXAS Foundation (BTF), a non-profit support organization, raise $4 million in private funds to supplement the $25 million in bond funds. This will provide a total of $29 million to accomplish the goal.
With this vote-of-confidence in place, BTF contracted with an independent maritime engineering firm to make a survey of the ship to determine her condition. If the ship is not structurally sound enough to support herself when permanently resting on keel blocks, then the question of dry berthing would be moot. The survey reflected that, although her hull leaks, her keel and main supporting internal structure is sufficiently strong to support the weight of the ship in a dry berth.
Once it was determined that dry berthing was physically possible for the ship, it was necessary to make a preliminary evaluation of the engineering viable ways in which dry berthing could actually be accomplished. Again, an independent maritime engineering firm was contracted to study the full range of dry berth alternatives and to present a report of their findings to BTF and to TPWD.
TPWD, acting on the report of the ship’s condition, and on the report of the engineering viable dry berth alternatives, and on their internal studies and reports, prepared a progress report which they presented to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) in late July 2008.
In March 2009 the LBB released the funds for the dry berthing project to commence. After a lengthy selection process and fee negiations TPWD signed a contract with
AECOMAECOM Technology Corporation is a professional technical and management support services firm. The company is ranked as the number one design firm for 2010 and 2011 by Engineering News-Record and number one by Architectural Record. It provides services in the areas of transportation, planning,...
, on 26 October 2010, to design and develop the plans for Texas dry-berth. The contract calls for AECOM to have its preliminary design completed by spring 2011. Following a federally mandated environmental assessment, that is expected to take about two years, the bidding process for construction of the dry berth and temporary mooring of
Texas is expected to begin in mid-2014 with construction complete by the summer of 2017.
In June of 2010, a leak on the starboard side of the ship caused
Texas to sink two to three feet in its mooring. The leak was precipitated by a burnt out pump, which allowed the ship to take on more water than usual. Consequently, a seam separation was pulled below the waterline creating a second leak. Once the leak was discovered, the broken pump was replaced. 105,000 gallons of water had to be pumped from the ship. After the leak was above the waterline again, a rag was stuffed in it as a temporary fix.
Texas was the first and is the oldest of the seven US battleships that have become floating museums; the other battleships honored in this way are , , , , , and . An eighth, , is awaiting donation as a museum ship.
[The missing eighth battleship is , which has been placed on donation hold for transfer to a private organization for use as a museum ship.]
Awards
Texas earned awards for her service in the Tampico Incident, World War I, and World War II. For her service in World War II she earned five battle stars, one for each of the major campaigns
Texas participated in, among other awards.
Mexican Service MedalThe Mexican Service Medal is an award of the United States military which was established by General Orders of the United States War Department on December 12, 1917...
|
World War I Victory Medal |
American Defense Service MedalThe American Defense Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military, recognizing service before America’s entry into the Second World War but during the initial years of the European conflict.-Criteria:...
|
American Campaign MedalThe American Campaign Medal was a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
|
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign MedalThe Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal is a service decoration of the Second World War which was awarded to any member of the United States military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 and was created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was...
w/ 2 battle starsA service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...
|
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign MedalThe European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal is a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
w/ 3 battle starsA service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...
|
World War II Victory Medal |
Navy Occupation Service Medal The Navy Occupation Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Navy which was issued to Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel who participated in the European and Asian occupation forces following the close of the World War II. The decoration was also bestowed to personnel who...
|
Media
Texas has appeared in several films since her retirement. Her cinema debut was in the 1966 Steve McQueen film
The Sand PebblesThe Sand Pebbles is a 1966 American period war film directed by Robert Wise. It tells the story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy Machinist's Mate aboard the fictional gunboat USS San Pablo in 1920s China....
. In the 2001 film
Pearl HarborPearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...
,
Texas stood in for the battleship in scenes depicting
Cuba Gooding, Jr.Cuba M. Gooding, Jr. is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Rod Tidwell in Cameron Crowe's 1996 film Jerry Maguire, and his critically acclaimed performance as Tré Styles in John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz n the Hood.-Early life:Gooding was born...
as native-Texan
Doris MillerDoris "Dorie" Miller was a cook in the United States Navy noted for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the U.S...
. Some of the ship's interiors were also used to portray the interior of the aircraft carrier later in the film.
Texas also appears as herself in the 2006 films
Flags of Our Fathersis a 2006 American war film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who were involved...
and
Letters from Iwo Jimais a 2006 war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, and starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the...
; in both movies the ship is depicted shelling
Iwo JimaIwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
in preparation for the Marines' amphibious assault.
See also
- U.S. Navy museums (and other battleship museums)
External links