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USS Texas (BB-35)

February 26, 2023

For other ships with the same name, see USS Texas.

USS Texas (BB-35) is a museum ship and former United States Navy New York-class battleship. She was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914.[7][8]

USS Texas (BB-35), off New York City c. 1919
History
United States
NameTexas
NamesakeState of Texas
Ordered24 June 1910
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding
Cost$5,830,000 contract bid price, excluding the price of armor and armament
Laid down17 April 1911
Launched18 May 1912
Sponsored byClaudia Lyon
Commissioned12 March 1914
Decommissioned21 April 1948
Stricken30 April 1948
Identification
Nickname(s)"Mighty T" aka "Old T"
Honors and
awards		 5 × battle star
FateMuseum ship
StatusUndergoing repairs at dry dock in Galveston, Texas
General characteristics
Class and typeNew York-class battleship
Displacement
  • 27,000 long tons (27,433 t) (standard)
  • 28,367 long tons (28,822 t) (full load)
Length
Beam95 ft 2.5 in (29.020 m)
Draft
  • 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m) (mean)
  • 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m) (max)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed
  • 21 kn (39 km/h) (design)
  • 21.05 kn (38.98 km/h) (trials)
Range7,060 nmi (13,075 km; 8,125 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Complement1,042 officers and men
Armament
Armor
  • Belt:
    • 10–12 in (254–305 mm) (midships)
    • 6 in (152 mm) (aft)
    • 9 in (229 mm) (lower belt aft)
  • Bulkheads:
    • 10 in (254 mm) and 11 in (279 mm)
  • Barbettes:
    • 5–12 in (127–305 mm)
  • Turrets:
    • 14 in (356 mm) (face)
    • 4 in (102 mm) (top)
    • 8–9 in (203–229 mm) (sides)
    • 8 in (rear)
  • Decks:
    • 1.5–3 in (38–76 mm)
  • Conning tower:
    • 12 in
    • 4 in (top)
General characteristics (1925–1926 refit)
Displacement
  • 27,000 long tons (27,000 t) (standard) (torpedo bulges added)
  • 32,000 long tons (33,000 t) (full load) (torpedo bulges added)
Beam106 ft 0 in (32.31 m)[1]
Draft31 ft 6 in (9.60 m) (max)
Installed power6 × Bureau Express oil-fired boilers
Speed19.72 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h)[1]
Endurance15,400 nmi (17,722 mi; 28,521 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Armament
Aircraft carried3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities1 × catapult (fitted on Turret 3)
General characteristics (1942 refit)
Armament
General characteristics (1945)
Complement1810 officers and men[2]
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 2 × SG surface search radars[2]
  • 1 × SK air search radar[2]
  • 2 × Mk 3 fire control radar
  • 2 × Mk 10 fire control radar
Armament
  • 10 × 14 in/45 caliber guns
  • 6 × 5 in/51 caliber guns
  • 10 × 3 in/50 caliber gun
  • 10 × quad 40 mm Bofors AA guns
  • 44 × single 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns
Armor
Aircraft carried2 × OS2U Kingfisher later removed
Aviation facilities1 x catapult later removed
USS Texas
Texas, photographed in 2014 in her previous berth at the San Jacinto Battleground, near Houston. She is wearing Measure 21 camouflage as she did in 1945.
LocationGalveston, Texas in drydock for repairs.
Coordinates29°18′53″N 94°47′44″W / 29.31472°N 94.79556°W / 29.31472; -94.79556Coordinates: 29°18′53″N 94°47′44″W / 29.31472°N 94.79556°W / 29.31472; -94.79556
NRHP reference No.76002039
Significant dates
Added to NRHP8 December 1976[5]
Designated NHL8 December 1976[6]

Texas served in Mexican waters following the "Tampico Incident" but saw no action there, and made numerous sorties into the North Sea during World War I without engaging the enemy, though she did fire in anger for the first time when shooting medium-caliber guns at supposed submarines (no evidence exists that suggests these were anything more than waves). In World War II, Texas escorted war convoys across the Atlantic and later shelled the Vichy French in the North African campaign and German-held beaches in the Normandy Landings before being transferred to the Pacific Theater late in 1944 to provide naval gunfire support during the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Texas was decommissioned in 1948, having earned a total of five battle stars for service in World War II. At the end of August 2022 she was moved to a dry dock in Galveston, Texas to undergo a $35 million dollar repair project. As of February 2023 the repair project is underway.[9] When completed she will head to a yet unknown location for future tours.

Texas was also a technological testbed: the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, the first US warship to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers, the first US battleship to launch an aircraft,[10][11] and one of the first US Navy warships to receive production radar.[A 1]

Texas was the first US battleship to become a permanent museum ship.[A 2][10] In 1976 she became the first battleship to be declared a US National Historic Landmark,[12][A 3] and is the only remaining World War I era dreadnought battleship. She is also one of the eight remaining ships and the only remaining capital ship to have served in both World Wars.[13][A 4] As of February 2023, she is in dry dock for repairs.[14][15]

Construction

The United States Congress authorized the construction of Texas, the second Navy ship to be named after that state, on 24 June 1910.[16][17] 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.[7][18][19] The contract was signed on 17 December and the plans were delivered to the building yard seven days later.[8][16][20] Texas's keel was laid down on 17 April 1911 at Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 18 May 1912, sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon, daughter of Colonel Cecil Lyon, Republican national committeeman from Texas.[21] The ship was commissioned on 12 March 1914 with Captain Albert W. Grant in command.[17][20][22][23]

Texas's main battery consisted of ten 14-inch (356 mm)/45 caliber Mark 1 guns,[24] which could fire 1,400 lb (635 kg) armor-piercing[25] shells to a range of 13 mi (11 nmi; 21 km). Her secondary battery consisted of twenty-one 5-inch (127 mm)/51-caliber guns.[26] She also mounted four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes for the Bliss-Leavitt Mark 8 torpedo, one each on the port-side bow and stern and starboard bow and stern. The torpedo rooms held 12 torpedoes total, plus 12 naval defense mines.[24] Texas and her sister New York were the only battleships to store and hoist their 14-inch ammunition in cast-iron cups, nose-down.[8][17][27]

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 equipment.[11]

During his stay in New York, President Woodrow Wilson ordered a number of ships of the Atlantic Fleet to Mexican waters in response to tension created when a detail of Mexican federal troops detained an American gunboat crew at Tampico. The problem was quickly resolved locally, but Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo sought further redress by demanding an official disavowal of the act by the Huerta regime and a 21-gun salute to the American flag.[11]

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 Congress and sent orders to Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast, instructing him to land a force at Veracruz and to seize the customs house there in retaliation for what is now known as the "Tampico Incident". That action was carried out on 21–22 April.[11]

 
Texas in World War I (after July 1916 and before October 1917): The two large steel towers are her lattice masts, which were replaced with a tripod version during her modernization overhaul in 1925–1926

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 cruise and post-shakedown repair period. After a five-day stop at Hampton Roads from 14 to 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 Bay, Cuba, and from there steamed to New York, where she entered the Navy Yard on 21 August.[11]

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 she steamed for Galveston, Texas. While at Galveston on 7 November, Texas Governor Oscar Colquitt presented the ship's silver service to Captain Grant. The Young Men's Business League of Waco, Texas, raised the $10,000 to purchase the silver.[20]

Texas sailed for Tampico on 14 November and thereafter to Veracruz, where she remained for a month.[20] The ship left Mexico 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.[11] On 25 May, Texas, along with battleships South Carolina, Louisiana, and Michigan, rescued 230 passengers from the damaged Holland America Line passenger ship Ryndam, which had been rammed by Norwegian-flagged fruit steamer Joseph J. Cuneo.[20][28] In gratitude, Holland America Line presented Texas with a model of a 17th-century warship, which is displayed with the wardroom silver as of 2014. In 1916, Texas became the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns with the addition of two 3-inch (76 mm)/50-caliber guns on platforms atop the boat cranes, and the first to control gunfire with directors and rangefinders, analog forerunners of today's computers.[10][29][30][A 5]

World War I

 
3"/50 caliber antiaircraft gun on platform atop a boat crane on Texas, installed in 1916 and said to be the first AA gun installation on a US battleship

Upon her return to active duty with the fleet, Texas resumed a schedule alternating between training operations along the New England coast and off the Virginia Capes and 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 warfare 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 River with the other Atlantic Fleet battleships. She remained in the Virginia Capes–Hampton Roads vicinity until mid-August, conducting exercises and training Naval Armed Guard gun crews for service onboard merchant ships.[11] One of the gun crews trained aboard Texas was assigned to the merchant vessel Mongolia at the beginning of the war. On 19 April, the crew of Mongolia sighted a surfaced German U-boat 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.[31]

In August, she steamed to New York for repairs, arriving at Base 10[A 6] on 19 August and entering the New York Navy Yard soon thereafter. She completed repairs on 26 September and got underway for Port Jefferson that same day.[11] During the mid-watch on 27 September, she ran hard aground on Block Island. Captain Victor Blue and his navigator, confused about shore lights and more concerned about the minefield at the opening of Long Island Sound, made the turn at the wrong time and ran the ship aground on the island from the bow all the way aft beyond midships.[32] 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 extensive repairs precluded her departure with Battleship Division 9 for the British Isles in November.[17] The secondary battery was reduced to eighteen 5-inch guns in October 1917.[33] Captain Blue, a protege of Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels, was never court-martialed and remained in command of Texas. The Navy Department held his navigator entirely responsible for the accident.[32]

 
Crewmen of Texas pose for a picture on top of one of the turrets' main battery guns, 1918

By December, she had completed repairs and moved south to conduct military simulations 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-inch guns, reducing the total number aboard to 16.[33] She departed New York on 30 January 1918, arrived at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland on 11 February, and rejoined Battleship Division 9, by then known as the 6th Battle Squadron of Britain's Grand Fleet.[11]

Texas's service with the Grand Fleet consisted entirely of convoy missions and occasional forays to reinforce the British squadron on blockade duty in the North Sea whenever German heavy units threatened. The fleet alternated between bases at Scapa Flow and at the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Texas began her mission five days after her arrival at Scapa Flow, when she sortied with the entire fleet to reinforce the 4th Battle Squadron, 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 Fleet had sortied from Jade Bay 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, bringing the German fleet into engagement with the Grand Fleet was not possible. The Germans returned to their base that day, and the Grand Fleet, including Texas, did likewise on the next.[11]

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 Armistice 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.[34] The two fleets rendezvoused about 40 nmi (46 mi; 74 km) east of the Isle of May and proceeded to the Firth of Forth. Afterward, the American contingent moved to Portland Harbour, England, arriving there on 4 December.[11]

Inter-war period

On 12 December 1918, Texas put to sea with Battleship Divisions 9 and 6 to meet President Woodrow Wilson embarked in George Washington on his way to the Paris Peace Conference. The rendezvous took place around 07:30 the following morning and provided an escort for the President into Brest, France, where the ships arrived at 12:30 that afternoon.[11] On the afternoon of 14 December, Texas and the other American battleships departed Brest to return to the United States.[35] The warships arrived off Ambrose light station on Christmas Day, 1918, and entered New York the next day.[11]

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 Commander Edward O. McDonnell flew a British-built Sopwith Camel off the warship at Guantanamo Bay.[citation needed] Later in 1919 Texas's captain, Nathan C. Twining, successfully employed naval aircraft to spot the fall of shells during a main battery exercise.[36] The results were that aircraft-borne gunfire spotters were significantly more accurate than shipboard spotters. In testimony to the Navy General Board, Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Whiting attested that the increase in gunfire effectiveness with air spotting was likely to be as great as 200%.[37] As a result of these first experiments, the Navy would add floatplanes to all of the fleet's battleships and newer cruisers.[38] In May 1919, Texas served as a plane guard and navigational aid for the successful attempt by Navy Curtiss NC flying boat NC-4 to become the first airplane to cross the Atlantic.[10] On 26 July 1919 Texas entered the Pacific Ocean as part of the newly formed Pacific Fleet and she would spend the next five and half years as a part of Pacific Fleet.[39] On 17 July the following year, she was designated BB-35 under the Navy's newly adopted alpha-numeric system of hull classification symbols.[11]

 
Naval ships have their own post office and postmaster aboard. Postmark from Texas during interwar period.

Texas left the Pacific on 16 January 1924[40] and returned to the east coast for overhaul and to participate in a training cruise to European waters with Naval Academy Midshipmen embarked.[11] While operating in the Atlantic, on 25 November 1924, she sank the incomplete battleship Washington in compliance with the Naval Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922,[17] and later that fall, conducted maneuvers as a unit of the Scouting Fleet. On 31 July 1925,[41] she entered Norfolk Navy Yard for a major modernization overhaul. The overhaul, which replaced both cage masts with tripod masts, replaced her 14 Babcock & Wilcox coal-fired boilers with 6 Bureau Express oil-fired boilers,[10] and upgraded her fire-control equipment, was completed on 23 November 1926. Also, her AA armament was increased to eight 3-inch guns, and the torpedo tubes were removed. Six of the 5-inch guns were relocated to new main deck casemates at this time.[11]

 
Texas in the Gatun Locks, while transiting the Panama Canal en route to the US east coast, 21 June 1937

Following completion of her overhaul, Texas was designated the flagship of the United States Fleet and resumed duty along the eastern seaboard. She kept at that task until late 1927, when she did a brief tour of duty in the Pacific from late September-early December.[11] In 1927, Texas set another first with the showing of "talking" pictures for crew entertainment.[10] 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 Coolidge to Havana, Cuba, for the Pan-American Conference and then continued on via the Panama Canal and the west coast to maneuvers with the fleet near Hawaii.[11]

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 Leviathan into New York when that ship carried the returning US delegation to the London Naval Conference. In January 1931, she left the yard at New York as flagship of the United States Fleet and headed via the Panama Canal to San Diego, California, and then on to Los Angeles (port of San Pedro) which became her home port for the next six years and three months.[42][43] There would be a temporary redeployment back to the Atlantic from April to October 1934.[44] During this Pacific period, she served first as flagship for the entire Fleet and, later, as flagship for Battleship Division 1.[11]

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 Battleship Division 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 Force. Also in 1937, eight 1.1-inch (28 mm) AA guns in two quadruple mounts were added to improve the light AA armament. In December 1938, Texas received for testing the first shipborne radar designed and made by a commercial company, RCA, for the US Navy, the 385 MHz CXZ.[45] In 1941, Texas was one of fourteen ships to receive the RCA CXAM-1 radar.[46]

World War II

Early operations

Soon after war broke out in Europe in September 1939, Texas began operating on the Neutrality Patrol, an American attempt to keep the war out of the Western Hemisphere. Later, as the United States moved toward more active support of the Allied cause, the warship began convoying ships carrying Lend-Lease materiel to the United Kingdom. In February 1941, the US 1st Marine Division was activated aboard Texas. On 1 February, Admiral Ernest J. King hoisted his flag as Commander-in-Chief of the re-formed Atlantic Fleet aboard Texas.[11] That same year, while on Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic, Texas was stalked unsuccessfully by the German submarine U-203.[10]

On Sunday, 7 December 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the battleship was at Casco Bay, Maine, undergoing a rest and relaxation period following three months of watch duty at Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. After 10 days at 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 Iceland until March when she returned home.[11] At various times in 1942, the secondary battery was reduced to six 5-inch guns and the light AA battery was increased, adding two extra 1.1-inch/75-caliber quad mounts (these would be replaced by 10 quad mount 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors in June 1943) and adding fourteen 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons (increased to 44 by 1944), the attack on Pearl Harbor having demonstrated the need for this.[26] For the next six months, she continued convoy-escort missions to various destinations. On one occasion, she escorted Guadalcanal-bound Marines as far as Panama; on another, the warship screened service troops to Freetown, Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa. More frequently, she made voyages to and from the United Kingdom escorting both cargo- and troop-carrying ships.[11]

Operation Torch

Main article: 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 Torch, the invasion of North Africa. The objective assigned to this group was Port Lyautey in French Morocco. The warships arrived off the assault beaches near the village of Mehedia early in the morning of 8 November and began preparations for the invasion. Texas transmitted Lt. General Dwight D. Eisenhower'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 go into action immediately to support them. At that point in the war, the doctrine of amphibious warfare was still embryonic. Many Army officers did not recognize the value of prelanding bombardments. Instead, the Army insisted upon attempting a landing by surprise. Texas entered the battle early in the afternoon when the Army requested her to fire upon a Vichy French Army ammunition dump near Port Lyautey.[11] One more gunfire mission was provided on the 10th before the cease fire on 11 November.[47] Thus, unlike in later operations, she expended only 273 rounds of 14-inch shells and six rounds of 5-inch shells. During her short stay, some of her crewmen went ashore to assist in salvaging some of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor.[11] On 16 November, Texas departed North Africa for the East Coast of the United States in a task force along with Savannah, Sangamon, Kennebec, four transports, and seven destroyers.[11]

The young news reporter Walter Cronkite was on board Texas starting in Norfolk, Virginia, through her service off the coast of North Africa, and thence back to the US. On the return trip, Cronkite was flown off Texas in one of her OS2U Kingfisher aircraft when Norfolk was within flying distance. He was granted permission to be flown the rest of the distance to Norfolk so that he could outpace a rival correspondent on Massachusetts to return to the US and to issue the first uncensored news reports to be published about Operation Torch.[48] Cronkite's experiences aboard Texas launched his career as a war correspondent.[10]

Operation Overlord

Main article: 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 Casablanca and Gibraltar, as well as frequent visits to ports in the UK. 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 estuary in Scotland and began training for the invasion of Normandy.[11]

Rehearsal
 
Texas off Norfolk, Virginia, 15 March 1943

During the next twelve days, Texas carried out many 14-inch gun-firing exercises with British battleships HMS Ramillies and Rodney. The firing was done in conjunction with Royal Air Force airplanes as spotters. On 29 April, Texas, Nevada, and Arkansas relocated to Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland. There, final preparations were made, including the removal of the airplane catapult and the ship's OS2U Kingfisher observation planes. The three pilots who flew Texas's Kingfishers during this period were temporarily transferred to a newly formed squadron, VOS-7, that was composed of the pilots who flew observation and scouting planes from the cruisers Augusta, Quincy, and Tuscaloosa and the battleships Arkansas, Nevada, and Texas. VOS-7 received training in defensive fighter tactics, aerobatics, navigation, formation flying and spotting procedures in Royal Air Force Spitfires; they flew spotting missions in the Spitfires because of the threat from German fighters. The pilots of VOS-7 would fly spotting missions for the US warships off Omaha and Utah Beaches during D-Day.[49] Also, during this time additional radio equipment was added, including a device to detect and jam radio-guided missiles.[A 7] 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 Beach, 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 Hoc, and the US 5th Ranger Battalion, which had been diverted to Western Omaha to support the troops at Pointe du Hoc.[50]

The Omaha Beach bombardment force consisted of two sections with Texas and the British light cruiser HMS Glasgow responsible for the western half with Arkansas, and the French light cruisers Georges Leygues and Montcalm responsible for the east. Also assigned to Omaha Beach were the American destroyers Frankford, McCook, Carmick, Doyle, Emmons, Baldwin, Harding, Satterlee, Thompson, and the British destroyers HMS Tanatside, Talybont and Melbreak.[50]

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 Warspite and Ramillies. At 07:10 on 4 June, the taskforce had to reverse course due to unacceptable weather in Normandy. Later that evening, off Lundy Island, the taskforce reversed course and headed for and joined the invasion fleet gathering at Area Z.[clarification needed] The invasion fleet then headed south toward Normandy and navigated the German minefield, through which minesweepers had cleared channels; not a single Omaha Beach vessel was lost.[50]

D-Day
Main article: Normandy landings
 
Rear admiral Carleton F. Bryant (left) and Captain Charles A. Baker, Commanding Officer of USS Texas aboard with a German 240mm (9.4) dud shell that hit the ship during the bombardment of Battery Hamburg, east of Cherbourg, France, on 25 June 1944.

At 03:00 on 6 June 1944, Texas and the British cruiser Glasgow entered the Omaha Western fire support lane and arrived at her initial firing position 12,000 yards (11,000 m) offshore near Pointe du Hoc at 04:41, as part of a combined total US-British flotilla of 702 ships, including seven battleships and five heavy cruisers.[50][51][A 8][53] The initial bombardment commenced at 05:50, against the site of six 15-centimetre (6 in) guns, atop Pointe du Hoc.[11] When Texas ceased firing at the Pointe at 06:24, 255 14-inch 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.[50] While shells from the main guns were hitting Pointe du Hoc, the 5-inch 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 Vierville. 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.[11]

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 armor and artillery 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 3,000 yd (2,700 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 snipers and machine gun nests hidden in a defile just off the beach. At the conclusion of that mission, the battleship attacked an enemy anti-aircraft battery located west of Vierville.[50]

On 7 June, the battleship received word that the Ranger battalion at Pointe Du Hoc was still isolated from the rest of the invasion force with low ammunition and mounting casualties; in response, Texas obtained and filled two LCVPs[54] with provisions and ammunition for the Rangers.[53]: 131  Upon their return, the LCVPs brought thirty-five wounded Rangers to Texas for treatment of whom one died on the operating table. Along with the Rangers, a deceased Coast Guardsman 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 an LST for transfer to England.[55] Later in the day, her main battery rained shells on the enemy-held towns of Formigny[56] and Trévières 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 Texas's 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 Isigny, then on a shore battery, and finally on Trévières once more.[11]

After that, she retired to Plymouth 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.[50][57]

Battle of Cherbourg

Main article: Bombardment of Cherbourg
 
A heavy German coast artillery shell falls between Texas (in the background) and Arkansas while the two battleships were engaging Battery Hamburg during the battle of Cherbourg, France, 25 June 1944

On the morning of 25 June Texas, in company with Arkansas, Nevada, four cruisers and eleven destroyers, closed in on the vital port of Cherbourg to suppress the fortifications and batteries surrounding the town while the US Army's VII Corps attacked the city from the rear. While en route to Cherbourg, the bombardment plan was changed and Task Group 129.2 (TG 129.2), built around Arkansas and Texas, was ordered to move 6 mi (9.7 km)[clarification needed] to the east of Cherbourg and engage the guns of Battery Hamburg, a large shore battery composed of four 24 cm (9 in) guns.[58][59][60] 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 salvos. 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 24-cm 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 fire control officer, LTJG Paul Morigi and three others), hit the main support column of the navigation bridge and exploded.[58][61][62] 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.[63] Texas's commanding officer, Captain Baker, escaped unhurt and quickly had the bridge cleared. The warship herself continued to deliver her 14-inch shells in two-gun salvos 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.[59]

At 14:47, an unexploded 24 cm shell was reported.[64] The shell crashed through the port bow directly below the Wardroom and entered the stateroom of Warrant Officer M.A. Clark, but failed to explode. The unexploded shell was later disarmed by a Navy bomb disposal officer in Portsmouth 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 fourteen-inch shells at Battery Hamburg until ordered to retire at 15:01.[59][60]

Operation Dragoon

Main article: Operation Dragoon

After Texas underwent repairs at Plymouth from damage sustained at Cherbourg, she drilled in preparation for the invasion of southern France. On 16 July, she departed Belfast Lough and headed for the Mediterranean. After stops at Gibraltar and Oran, Algeria, the battleship arrived in Taranto, Italy on 27 July.[65] Departing Taranto on 11 August, Texas rendezvoused with three French destroyers off Bizerte, Tunisia, and set a course for the French Riviera. She arrived off Saint-Tropez during the night of 14 August and was joined early the next morning by battleship Nevada and cruiser Philadelphia[66] 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 guns.[66] 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 were visible during the firing and for the greater part of the forenoon.[67]

The heavy opposition that was expected never materialized, so the landing forces moved inland rapidly. As fire support from Texas's guns was no longer required, she departed the southern coast of France on the early morning of 17 August.[68] After a stop at Palermo, Sicily, she left the Mediterranean and headed for New York where she arrived on 14 September 1944.[11]

Operations Detachment and Iceberg

Main article: Battle of Iwo Jima
Main article: Battle of Okinawa

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 Canal, for the Pacific. She made a stop at Long Beach, California, and then continued on to Oahu. She spent Christmas at Pearl Harbor and then conducted maneuvers in the Hawaiian Islands for about a month at the end of which she steamed to Ulithi Atoll. She departed Ulithi on 10 February 1945, stopped in the Mariana Islands for two days of invasion rehearsals, and then she set a course for Iwo Jima. She arrived off Iwo Jima on 16 February, three days before the amphibious landings began. She spent just three days pounding the Japanese defenses on Iwo Jima in preparation for the landing of three Marine Corps Divisions.[11] After the Marines stormed the beaches on 19 February, Texas switched to providing naval gunfire support for them. "On-call fire" in response to requests from Marine units continued through 21 February.[69]

Though the island of Iwo Jima was not declared to be captured until 16 March, Texas departed from the Volcano Islands on 7 March,[70] and returned to Ulithi Atoll to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa (Operation Iceberg). She departed from Ulithi with Task Force 54, the gunfire support unit, on 21 March, and arrived in the Ryukyu Islands on the 26th. Texas moved in close to Okinawa and began her prelanding bombardment that same day. For the next six days, she fired multiple salvos from her main guns to prepare the way for several Army and Marine divisions to make their amphibious landings on 1 April.

Each evening, Texas retired from her bombardment position close to Okinawa, but returned the next morning to resume her bombardments. 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 kamikaze raids were sent to harass the bombardment group. Texas escaped damage during those 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.[11] On 14 May she departed Okinawa for the Philippines.[71]

End of the war

On 17 May,[71] Texas arrived at Leyte in the Philippines and remained there until after the Japanese capitulation on 15 August. She returned to Okinawa toward the end of August and stayed in the Ryukyu Islands until 23 September. On that day, she set a course for the United States with homeward bound troops embarked as part of 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.[11] On 21 January 1946, Texas 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.[20]

Museum ship

 
Battleship Texas in 2012

Battleship Texas Commission

On 17 April 1947, the Battleship Texas Commission was established by the Texas Legislature to care for the ship. The $225,000 necessary to pay for towing her from Baltimore to San Jacinto was the Commission's first task.[20] On 17 March 1948, Texas began her journey to her new anchorage along the busy Houston Ship Channel near the San Jacinto Monument, at San Jacinto State Park, arriving on 20 April, where she was turned over to the State of Texas the next day to serve as a permanent memorial.[17][72] Texas sat just across from the monument at Battleground Park in the waters of the Port of Houston where she was ceremoniously decommissioned on the 21st, nine days later on 30 April 1948 her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register.[11] Texas was the first permanent battleship memorial museum in the US.[72] USS Oregon (BB-3) was displayed as a floating museum in Portland, Oregon from 1925 to 1941 but was scrapped in 1956. When the battleship was presented to the State of Texas, she was commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy.[72]

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.[73] 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 would be 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 Foundation, and the Houston Endowment, together contributed $50,000 to the ship to enable the Commission to sandblast and paint the hull.[20] By this time, newspaper articles reported that Texas was "under attack" from neglect and insufficient funding.[74] Nevertheless, Texas was designated a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1975, and a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1976.[13][20][6]

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 Department (TPWD).[73] 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.[20] As part of this plan, serious consideration was given to protecting sensitive fabrics and restoring the interior of the ship.[73] After a five-year-long fund-raising campaign, $15 million was collected to dry dock the ship and complete necessary repairs.[75]

1988–1990 dry dock period

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 the 56-mile (49 nmi; 90 km) trip from her berth to Todd Shipyards 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-inch (100 mm) pumps and two 2-inch (51 mm) pumps in continuous service to combat the flooding. During the nine-plus hour transit, the ship's draft increased by 18 to 20 in (460 to 510 mm) in the stern.

Texas entered the yard's floating drydock at approximately 22:30 on 13 December, at high tide with only 6 in (150 mm) to spare between her hull and the blocks she would sit on.[76] 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 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 a new pinewood deck would be installed in Green's Bayou.[77][78][79] In total, more than 375,000 lb (170,000 kg) of steel (amounting to about 15% of the ship's hull) were replaced and more than 40,000 rivets were seal-welded on the underwater hull.[76][80]

On 24 February 1990, tugboats moved Texas from dry dock to Brown & Root's offshore fabrication facility on Green's Bayou for further repairs, and installation of the four mooring attachments on the starboard side of the vessel. Special diamond bit cutting blades had to be used to cut the 4" thick hull steel which was made in Germany and hardened in carbonized beds to reach over 425 HB hardness values according to original blueprints. It was here that the wood deck was also installed and four of the ten mounts of quad 40 mm guns were installed.[77][81] On 26 July, the ship was returned to her berth at San Jacinto where the final six mounts of 40 mm guns were installed.[81][82] Repairs complete, the ship officially reopened to the public on 8 September 1990.[20] Since returning to her slip at San Jacinto, members of the ship's staff and volunteers have worked to restore the interior spaces.[73]

Dry berth project

 
Battleship Texas

In 2004, after many years of working with many of the stakeholders at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site evaluating a wide range of alternative plans to address the ship's problems, TPWD adopted a Master Plan that called for placing Texas into a permanent dry berth. 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.[83][84]

One of the provisions of the bond legislation was 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 would provide a total of $29 million to accomplish the goal.[83]

BTF contracted a maritime engineering firm which determined that the ship's keel and main supporting internal structure would be sufficiently strong to support the ship in a dry berth, while another maritime engineering firm was also contracted to study the full range of dry berth alternatives. With these and other studies complete, TPWD presented a progress report to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) in late July 2008.[83]

In March 2009 the LBB released the funds for the dry berthing project to commence.[85] After a lengthy selection process and fee negotiations, TPWD signed a contract with AECOM, on 26 October 2010, to design and develop the plans for Texas's dry-berth. The contract called for AECOM to have its preliminary design completed by spring 2011, with the bidding process for the construction of the dry berth and temporary mooring of Texas to begin in mid-2014, and construction completed by summer 2017.[86] However, by February 2019, funds had not yet been secured to commence construction, with efforts instead dedicated to repairs to the ship.[87]

On 28 May 2019, it was reported that Texas would be undergoing $35 million worth of repairs and then be moved further up the Texas coast, largely due to a decline in visitors at its current location. Later that year, Texas was closed to the public so necessary preparations could be made for the upcoming restoration process.[88]

Leaks

In June 2010, a leak on the starboard side of the ship caused Texas to sink two to three feet in her mooring. The leak was precipitated by a burned 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 US gal (400,000 l; 87,000 imp gal) of water had to be pumped from the ship.[89]

On 9 June 2012 (almost two years to the day later), about 30 new leaks, between 1 in (25 mm) holes and 2 sq ft (0.19 m2) gaps, were discovered, ultimately necessitating a three-week closure of the ship to visitors; removal of water and repair of these leaks was complicated by the presence of residual oil in Texas's fuel bunkers.[90][failed verification][91] In less than a month, the leaks were fixed.[92]

On 12 June 2017, a 6-by-8-inch (15 by 20 cm) hole about 15 feet (4.6 m) below the waterline caused the ship to list (tilt) six degrees to starboard. After emergency repairs, crews pumped out about 2,000 US gallons (7,600 L) of water per minute out of the ship for more than 15 hours.[93]

2022 dry dock period

 
Starboard side of Texas with her torpedo blisters removed uncovering her original hull, December 2022

On 31 August 2022, Texas was towed out of her berth to a floating dry dock at Gulf Copper Dry Dock & Rig Repair in Galveston, Texas for repairs.[14] The journey took four tugboats pulling the ship 40 miles (64 kilometres) through the Houston Ship Channel and ended at around 4 pm.[94]

Once repairs are complete, the Battleship Texas Foundation intends to berth the ship at a different city; Baytown, Galveston, and Beaumont have all expressed interest in hosting her.[14]

 
Bow view of Texas from the drydock in Galveston, Texas, December 2022

Commemoration

Texas was the first and oldest of the eight US battleships that became permanent floating museums; the other battleships honored in this way are Massachusetts, Alabama, North Carolina, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Iowa.[95][A 9] Texas is also one of the oldest surviving modern naval ships, having turned 100 years old on 12 March 2014.[96]

Radio commemorations occur on Texas yearly during Museum Ship Weekend and Pearl Harbor Day. Amateur radio operators from the Battleship Texas Amateur Radio operate on those two occasions under the Federal Communications Commission callsign NA5DV, similar to the original callsign NADV.[97][98]

The Texas Legislature designated the battleship Texas as the official "State Ship of Texas" in 1995.[99]

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 Texas earned five battle stars, one for each of the major campaigns she participated in, among other awards.[citation needed]

  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    

Media

 
Texas seen at sunrise at the end of 2007; the obelisk in the background is the San Jacinto Monument

Texas has appeared in several films prior to and since her retirement. Her cinema debut, though brief, was in the final scene of the 1937 film Boy of the Streets starring Jackie Cooper and Maureen O'Conner.[100] The 1966 Steve McQueen film The Sand Pebbles shot some scenes aboard the ship, but these were removed from the final cut of the movie and subsequently lost.[citation needed]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ CXAM was the first nonexperimental, nonprototype radar system developed by the US Navy. It was produced in small numbers for the US Navy and installed aboard certain capital warships, including battleships, heavy cruisers, and aircraft carriers. An upgraded version (CXAM-1) was later installed aboard other US Navy vessels, including a few ships that carried the original version.
  2. ^ The first steel battleship to become a permanent museum ship was Mikasa; the first US battleship to become a museum ship was Oregon. 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 and scrapped. As a result, Texas is the first permanent US battleship museum ship.
  3. ^ See List of U.S. National Historic Landmark ships, shipwrecks, and shipyards for documentation that Texas is the first declared National Historic Landmark.
  4. ^ The other six surviving vessels that hold the distinction of serving in both World Wars are the Medea, which served both the French Navy and Royal Navy, the British monitor HMS M33, the British light cruiser HMS Caroline, the Greek armored cruiser Georgios Averof, the Drazki, a Bulgarian torpedo boat and the former HMCS Acadia, a Canadian hydrographic research ship and auxiliary patrol vessel.
  5. ^ HMS Benbow was the first battleship to fit anti-aircraft guns, in 1914.
  6. ^ This was most likely a facility in the New York area for offloading ammunition prior to a repair period, probably associated with the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot in New Jersey.
  7. ^ Anti-ship missiles such as the Fritz X were among the first instances of short-range guided missiles during the Second World War. The Luftwaffe used them to some effect against Allied shipping, and sank or damaged some large warships successfully before the Allies devised countermeasures, principally radio jamming.
  8. ^ As for the other battleships, Arkansas took the eastern side of Omaha, Nevada took Utah, Ramillies took Sword, Warspite also took Sword but later moved to Gold, and Rodney took Juno. The final battleship was Nelson; however, she did not partake in initial bombardment, as she was held 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.[52]
  9. ^ Iowa opened to the public 7 July 2012 in Los Angeles, California.

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  92. ^ Miller, Doug (2 July 2012). . KHOU. Archived from the original on 6 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  93. ^ Staff, Click2Houston.com (12 June 2017). "Emergency repairs made after leak nearly sinks Battleship Texas". KPRC. from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  94. ^ Lozano, Juan A. (31 August 2022). "Leaky battleship in Texas completes trip for $35M repairs". AP NEWS. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  95. ^ Westwood 1975, p. 23.
  96. ^ Turner, Allan (12 March 2014). "Pomp, emotion greet old sailors as Battleship Texas turns 100". Houston Chronicle. from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  97. ^ "Vanity License – NA5DV – Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station". Universal Licensing System. Federal Communications Commission. 29 February 2012. from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  98. ^ "About Us". Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station. from the original on 10 October 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  99. ^ Hatch, Rosie (Ed.) (2022). Texas Almanac 2022-2023. Austin, Texas: Texas State Historical Association. p. 23. ISBN 9781625110664.
  100. ^ "Boy Of The Streets" 1937

Bibliography

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
USS Texas (category)
  • Battleship Texas Foundation, created to assist ongoing preservation and educational efforts aboard this historic ship.
  • , hosted by the Historical Naval Ships Association (HNSA) Digital Collections
  • Maritimequest USS Texas BB-35 photo gallery
  • hosted by The Portal to Texas History.
  • USS Texas Hard Hat Tour 8 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine: Photos and information from a tour of closed-to-the-public areas of the ship.
  • USS Texas (Battleship Number 35, later BB-35), 1914–1948
  • NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archives
    • Photo gallery of USS Texas at NavSource Naval History 1911–1915, 1916–1919, 1920–1926, 1927–1941, 1942–1949, 1950–present
    • "Battleship Texas (BB-35), Special Feature, 6 July 2002". NavSource Naval History. Contains high resolution images taken on the 90th anniversary of the launch of Texas.
  • USS Texas (BB-35) at Historic Naval Ships Association
  • ASME National Engineering Historic Landmark Page
  • All 6 BB35 World War II reports concerning combat activity
  • Extensive BB35 information based on a large variety and quantity of BB35 primary sources, which are included with the site
  • BB35 3D Model 3D Computer Model of BB35 in her 1945 configuration


February 26, 2023
texas, other, ships, with, same, name, texas, museum, ship, former, united, states, navy, york, class, battleship, launched, 1912, commissioned, march, 1914, york, city, 1919historyunited, statesnametexasnamesakestate, texasordered24, june, 1910buildernewport,. For other ships with the same name see USS Texas USS Texas BB 35 is a museum ship and former United States Navy New York class battleship She was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914 7 8 USS Texas BB 35 off New York City c 1919HistoryUnited StatesNameTexasNamesakeState of TexasOrdered24 June 1910BuilderNewport News ShipbuildingCost 5 830 000 contract bid price excluding the price of armor and armamentLaid down17 April 1911Launched18 May 1912Sponsored byClaudia LyonCommissioned12 March 1914Decommissioned21 April 1948Stricken30 April 1948IdentificationHull symbol BB 35 Code letters NADVNickname s Mighty T aka Old T Honors andawards5 battle starFateMuseum shipStatusUndergoing repairs at dry dock in Galveston TexasGeneral characteristicsClass and typeNew York class battleshipDisplacement27 000 long tons 27 433 t standard 28 367 long tons 28 822 t full load Length573 ft 175 m overall 565 ft 172 m waterline Beam95 ft 2 5 in 29 020 m Draft28 ft 6 in 8 69 m mean 29 ft 7 in 9 02 m max Installed power14 Babcock amp Wilcox coal fired boilers with oil spray 8 with superheating 28 100 shp 20 954 kW design 28 737 shp 21 429 kW trials Propulsion2 vertical triple expansion steam engines 2 screwsSpeed21 kn 39 km h design 21 05 kn 38 98 km h trials Range7 060 nmi 13 075 km 8 125 mi at 10 kn 19 km h Complement1 042 officers and menArmament10 14 in 356 mm 45 caliber guns 21 5 in 127 mm 51 caliber guns 4 3 pounder 47 mm 1 85 in 40 caliber saluting guns 2 1 pounder 37 mm 1 46 in guns 4 21 in 533 mm torpedo tubes submerged ArmorBelt 10 12 in 254 305 mm midships 6 in 152 mm aft 9 in 229 mm lower belt aft Bulkheads 10 in 254 mm and 11 in 279 mm Barbettes 5 12 in 127 305 mm Turrets 14 in 356 mm face 4 in 102 mm top 8 9 in 203 229 mm sides 8 in rear Decks 1 5 3 in 38 76 mm Conning tower 12 in 4 in top General characteristics 1925 1926 refit Displacement27 000 long tons 27 000 t standard torpedo bulges added 32 000 long tons 33 000 t full load torpedo bulges added Beam106 ft 0 in 32 31 m 1 Draft31 ft 6 in 9 60 m max Installed power6 Bureau Express oil fired boilersSpeed19 72 kn 23 mph 37 km h 1 Endurance15 400 nmi 17 722 mi 28 521 km at 10 kn 12 mph 19 km h Armament10 14 in 45 caliber guns 16 5 in 51 caliber guns 8 3 in 76 mm 50 caliber anti aircraft AA guns torpedo tubes removed 2 quad 1 1 in 28 mm 75 caliber AA guns added 1937 Aircraft carried3 floatplanesAviation facilities1 catapult fitted on Turret 3 General characteristics 1942 refit Armament10 14 in 45 caliber guns 6 5 in 51 caliber guns 10 3 in 50 caliber AA guns 14 20 mm 0 79 in Oerlikon cannonGeneral characteristics 1945 Complement1810 officers and men 2 Sensors and processing systems2 SG surface search radars 2 1 SK air search radar 2 2 Mk 3 fire control radar 2 Mk 10 fire control radarArmament10 14 in 45 caliber guns 6 5 in 51 caliber guns 10 3 in 50 caliber gun 10 quad 40 mm Bofors AA guns 44 single 20 mm Oerlikon AA gunsArmorTurrets 1 75 in 44 mm added to turret tops 3 4 Aircraft carried2 OS2U Kingfisher later removedAviation facilities1 x catapult later removedUSS TexasU S National Register of Historic PlacesU S National Historic LandmarkTexas photographed in 2014 in her previous berth at the San Jacinto Battleground near Houston She is wearing Measure 21 camouflage as she did in 1945 LocationGalveston Texas in drydock for repairs Coordinates29 18 53 N 94 47 44 W 29 31472 N 94 79556 W 29 31472 94 79556 Coordinates 29 18 53 N 94 47 44 W 29 31472 N 94 79556 W 29 31472 94 79556NRHP reference No 76002039Significant datesAdded to NRHP8 December 1976 5 Designated NHL8 December 1976 6 Texas served in Mexican waters following the Tampico Incident but saw no action there and made numerous sorties into the North Sea during World War I without engaging the enemy though she did fire in anger for the first time when shooting medium caliber guns at supposed submarines no evidence exists that suggests these were anything more than waves In World War II Texas escorted war convoys across the Atlantic and later shelled the Vichy French in the North African campaign and German held beaches in the Normandy Landings before being transferred to the Pacific Theater late in 1944 to provide naval gunfire support during the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa Texas was decommissioned in 1948 having earned a total of five battle stars for service in World War II At the end of August 2022 she was moved to a dry dock in Galveston Texas to undergo a 35 million dollar repair project As of February 2023 the repair project is underway 9 When completed she will head to a yet unknown location for future tours Texas was also a technological testbed the first US battleship to mount anti aircraft guns the first US warship to control gunfire with directors and range keepers the first US battleship to launch an aircraft 10 11 and one of the first US Navy warships to receive production radar A 1 Texas was the first US battleship to become a permanent museum ship A 2 10 In 1976 she became the first battleship to be declared a US National Historic Landmark 12 A 3 and is the only remaining World War I era dreadnought battleship She is also one of the eight remaining ships and the only remaining capital ship to have served in both World Wars 13 A 4 As of February 2023 she is in dry dock for repairs 14 15 Contents 1 Construction 2 Service history 2 1 World War I 2 2 Inter war period 2 3 World War II 2 3 1 Early operations 2 3 2 Operation Torch 2 3 3 Operation Overlord 2 3 3 1 Rehearsal 2 3 3 2 D Day 2 3 4 Battle of Cherbourg 2 3 5 Operation Dragoon 2 3 6 Operations Detachment and Iceberg 2 3 7 End of the war 3 Museum ship 3 1 Battleship Texas Commission 3 2 Transfer to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 3 3 1988 1990 dry dock period 3 4 Dry berth project 3 5 Leaks 3 6 2022 dry dock period 3 7 Commemoration 4 Awards 5 Media 6 See also 7 Footnotes 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 External linksConstruction EditThe United States Congress authorized the construction of Texas the second Navy ship to be named after that state on 24 June 1910 16 17 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 7 18 19 The contract was signed on 17 December and the plans were delivered to the building yard seven days later 8 16 20 Texas s keel was laid down on 17 April 1911 at Newport News Virginia She was launched on 18 May 1912 sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon daughter of Colonel Cecil Lyon Republican national committeeman from Texas 21 The ship was commissioned on 12 March 1914 with Captain Albert W Grant in command 17 20 22 23 Texas s main battery consisted of ten 14 inch 356 mm 45 caliber Mark 1 guns 24 which could fire 1 400 lb 635 kg armor piercing 25 shells to a range of 13 mi 11 nmi 21 km Her secondary battery consisted of twenty one 5 inch 127 mm 51 caliber guns 26 She also mounted four 21 inch 533 mm torpedo tubes for the Bliss Leavitt Mark 8 torpedo one each on the port side bow and stern and starboard bow and stern The torpedo rooms held 12 torpedoes total plus 12 naval defense mines 24 Texas and her sister New York were the only battleships to store and hoist their 14 inch ammunition in cast iron cups nose down 8 17 27 Service history EditOn 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 equipment 11 During his stay in New York President Woodrow Wilson ordered a number of ships of the Atlantic Fleet to Mexican waters in response to tension created when a detail of Mexican federal troops detained an American gunboat crew at Tampico The problem was quickly resolved locally but Rear Admiral Henry T Mayo sought further redress by demanding an official disavowal of the act by the Huerta regime and a 21 gun salute to the American flag 11 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 Congress and sent orders to Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast instructing him to land a force at Veracruz and to seize the customs house there in retaliation for what is now known as the Tampico Incident That action was carried out on 21 22 April 11 Texas in World War I after July 1916 and before October 1917 The two large steel towers are her lattice masts which were replaced with a tripod version during her modernization overhaul in 1925 1926 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 cruise and post shakedown repair period After a five day stop at Hampton Roads from 14 to 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 Bay Cuba and from there steamed to New York where she entered the Navy Yard on 21 August 11 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 she steamed for Galveston Texas While at Galveston on 7 November Texas Governor Oscar Colquitt presented the ship s silver service to Captain Grant The Young Men s Business League of Waco Texas raised the 10 000 to purchase the silver 20 Texas sailed for Tampico on 14 November and thereafter to Veracruz where she remained for a month 20 The ship left Mexico 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 11 On 25 May Texas along with battleships South Carolina Louisiana and Michigan rescued 230 passengers from the damaged Holland America Line passenger ship Ryndam which had been rammed by Norwegian flagged fruit steamer Joseph J Cuneo 20 28 In gratitude Holland America Line presented Texas with a model of a 17th century warship which is displayed with the wardroom silver as of 2014 In 1916 Texas became the first US battleship to mount anti aircraft guns with the addition of two 3 inch 76 mm 50 caliber guns on platforms atop the boat cranes and the first to control gunfire with directors and rangefinders analog forerunners of today s computers 10 29 30 A 5 World War I Edit 3 50 caliber antiaircraft gun on platform atop a boat crane on Texas installed in 1916 and said to be the first AA gun installation on a US battleship Upon her return to active duty with the fleet Texas resumed a schedule alternating between training operations along the New England coast and off the Virginia Capes and 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 warfare 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 River with the other Atlantic Fleet battleships She remained in the Virginia Capes Hampton Roads vicinity until mid August conducting exercises and training Naval Armed Guard gun crews for service onboard merchant ships 11 One of the gun crews trained aboard Texas was assigned to the merchant vessel Mongolia at the beginning of the war On 19 April the crew of Mongolia sighted a surfaced German U boat 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 31 In August she steamed to New York for repairs arriving at Base 10 A 6 on 19 August and entering the New York Navy Yard soon thereafter She completed repairs on 26 September and got underway for Port Jefferson that same day 11 During the mid watch on 27 September she ran hard aground on Block Island Captain Victor Blue and his navigator confused about shore lights and more concerned about the minefield at the opening of Long Island Sound made the turn at the wrong time and ran the ship aground on the island from the bow all the way aft beyond midships 32 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 extensive repairs precluded her departure with Battleship Division 9 for the British Isles in November 17 The secondary battery was reduced to eighteen 5 inch guns in October 1917 33 Captain Blue a protege of Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels was never court martialed and remained in command of Texas The Navy Department held his navigator entirely responsible for the accident 32 Crewmen of Texas pose for a picture on top of one of the turrets main battery guns 1918 By December she had completed repairs and moved south to conduct military simulations 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 inch guns reducing the total number aboard to 16 33 She departed New York on 30 January 1918 arrived at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland on 11 February and rejoined Battleship Division 9 by then known as the 6th Battle Squadron of Britain s Grand Fleet 11 Texas s service with the Grand Fleet consisted entirely of convoy missions and occasional forays to reinforce the British squadron on blockade duty in the North Sea whenever German heavy units threatened The fleet alternated between bases at Scapa Flow and at the Firth of Forth in Scotland Texas began her mission five days after her arrival at Scapa Flow when she sortied with the entire fleet to reinforce the 4th Battle Squadron 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 Fleet had sortied from Jade Bay 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 bringing the German fleet into engagement with the Grand Fleet was not possible The Germans returned to their base that day and the Grand Fleet including Texas did likewise on the next 11 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 Armistice 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 34 The two fleets rendezvoused about 40 nmi 46 mi 74 km east of the Isle of May and proceeded to the Firth of Forth Afterward the American contingent moved to Portland Harbour England arriving there on 4 December 11 Inter war period Edit On 12 December 1918 Texas put to sea with Battleship Divisions 9 and 6 to meet President Woodrow Wilson embarked in George Washington on his way to the Paris Peace Conference The rendezvous took place around 07 30 the following morning and provided an escort for the President into Brest France where the ships arrived at 12 30 that afternoon 11 On the afternoon of 14 December Texas and the other American battleships departed Brest to return to the United States 35 The warships arrived off Ambrose light station on Christmas Day 1918 and entered New York the next day 11 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 Commander Edward O McDonnell flew a British built Sopwith Camel off the warship at Guantanamo Bay citation needed Later in 1919 Texas s captain Nathan C Twining successfully employed naval aircraft to spot the fall of shells during a main battery exercise 36 The results were that aircraft borne gunfire spotters were significantly more accurate than shipboard spotters In testimony to the Navy General Board Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Whiting attested that the increase in gunfire effectiveness with air spotting was likely to be as great as 200 37 As a result of these first experiments the Navy would add floatplanes to all of the fleet s battleships and newer cruisers 38 In May 1919 Texas served as a plane guard and navigational aid for the successful attempt by Navy Curtiss NC flying boat NC 4 to become the first airplane to cross the Atlantic 10 On 26 July 1919 Texas entered the Pacific Ocean as part of the newly formed Pacific Fleet and she would spend the next five and half years as a part of Pacific Fleet 39 On 17 July the following year she was designated BB 35 under the Navy s newly adopted alpha numeric system of hull classification symbols 11 Naval ships have their own post office and postmaster aboard Postmark from Texas during interwar period Texas left the Pacific on 16 January 1924 40 and returned to the east coast for overhaul and to participate in a training cruise to European waters with Naval Academy Midshipmen embarked 11 While operating in the Atlantic on 25 November 1924 she sank the incomplete battleship Washington in compliance with the Naval Arms Limitation Treaty of 1922 17 and later that fall conducted maneuvers as a unit of the Scouting Fleet On 31 July 1925 41 she entered Norfolk Navy Yard for a major modernization overhaul The overhaul which replaced both cage masts with tripod masts replaced her 14 Babcock amp Wilcox coal fired boilers with 6 Bureau Express oil fired boilers 10 and upgraded her fire control equipment was completed on 23 November 1926 Also her AA armament was increased to eight 3 inch guns and the torpedo tubes were removed Six of the 5 inch guns were relocated to new main deck casemates at this time 11 Texas in the Gatun Locks while transiting the Panama Canal en route to the US east coast 21 June 1937 Following completion of her overhaul Texas was designated the flagship of the United States Fleet and resumed duty along the eastern seaboard She kept at that task until late 1927 when she did a brief tour of duty in the Pacific from late September early December 11 In 1927 Texas set another first with the showing of talking pictures for crew entertainment 10 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 Coolidge to Havana Cuba for the Pan American Conference and then continued on via the Panama Canal and the west coast to maneuvers with the fleet near Hawaii 11 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 Leviathan into New York when that ship carried the returning US delegation to the London Naval Conference In January 1931 she left the yard at New York as flagship of the United States Fleet and headed via the Panama Canal to San Diego California and then on to Los Angeles port of San Pedro which became her home port for the next six years and three months 42 43 There would be a temporary redeployment back to the Atlantic from April to October 1934 44 During this Pacific period she served first as flagship for the entire Fleet and later as flagship for Battleship Division 1 11 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 Battleship Division 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 Force Also in 1937 eight 1 1 inch 28 mm AA guns in two quadruple mounts were added to improve the light AA armament In December 1938 Texas received for testing the first shipborne radar designed and made by a commercial company RCA for the US Navy the 385 MHz CXZ 45 In 1941 Texas was one of fourteen ships to receive the RCA CXAM 1 radar 46 World War II Edit Early operations Edit Soon after war broke out in Europe in September 1939 Texas began operating on the Neutrality Patrol an American attempt to keep the war out of the Western Hemisphere Later as the United States moved toward more active support of the Allied cause the warship began convoying ships carrying Lend Lease materiel to the United Kingdom In February 1941 the US 1st Marine Division was activated aboard Texas On 1 February Admiral Ernest J King hoisted his flag as Commander in Chief of the re formed Atlantic Fleet aboard Texas 11 That same year while on Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic Texas was stalked unsuccessfully by the German submarine U 203 10 On Sunday 7 December 1941 the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor the battleship was at Casco Bay Maine undergoing a rest and relaxation period following three months of watch duty at Naval Station Argentia Newfoundland After 10 days at 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 Iceland until March when she returned home 11 At various times in 1942 the secondary battery was reduced to six 5 inch guns and the light AA battery was increased adding two extra 1 1 inch 75 caliber quad mounts these would be replaced by 10 quad mount 40 mm 1 6 in Bofors in June 1943 and adding fourteen 20 mm 0 79 in Oerlikon cannons increased to 44 by 1944 the attack on Pearl Harbor having demonstrated the need for this 26 For the next six months she continued convoy escort missions to various destinations On one occasion she escorted Guadalcanal bound Marines as far as Panama on another the warship screened service troops to Freetown Sierra Leone on the west coast of Africa More frequently she made voyages to and from the United Kingdom escorting both cargo and troop carrying ships 11 Operation Torch Edit Main article 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 Torch the invasion of North Africa The objective assigned to this group was Port Lyautey in French Morocco The warships arrived off the assault beaches near the village of Mehedia early in the morning of 8 November and began preparations for the invasion Texas transmitted Lt General Dwight D Eisenhower 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 go into action immediately to support them At that point in the war the doctrine of amphibious warfare was still embryonic Many Army officers did not recognize the value of prelanding bombardments Instead the Army insisted upon attempting a landing by surprise Texas entered the battle early in the afternoon when the Army requested her to fire upon a Vichy French Army ammunition dump near Port Lyautey 11 One more gunfire mission was provided on the 10th before the cease fire on 11 November 47 Thus unlike in later operations she expended only 273 rounds of 14 inch shells and six rounds of 5 inch shells During her short stay some of her crewmen went ashore to assist in salvaging some of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor 11 On 16 November Texas departed North Africa for the East Coast of the United States in a task force along with Savannah Sangamon Kennebec four transports and seven destroyers 11 The young news reporter Walter Cronkite was on board Texas starting in Norfolk Virginia through her service off the coast of North Africa and thence back to the US On the return trip Cronkite was flown off Texas in one of her OS2U Kingfisher aircraft when Norfolk was within flying distance He was granted permission to be flown the rest of the distance to Norfolk so that he could outpace a rival correspondent on Massachusetts to return to the US and to issue the first uncensored news reports to be published about Operation Torch 48 Cronkite s experiences aboard Texas launched his career as a war correspondent 10 Operation Overlord Edit Main article 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 Casablanca and Gibraltar as well as frequent visits to ports in the UK 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 estuary in Scotland and began training for the invasion of Normandy 11 Rehearsal Edit Texas off Norfolk Virginia 15 March 1943 During the next twelve days Texas carried out many 14 inch gun firing exercises with British battleships HMS Ramillies and Rodney The firing was done in conjunction with Royal Air Force airplanes as spotters On 29 April Texas Nevada and Arkansas relocated to Belfast Lough Northern Ireland There final preparations were made including the removal of the airplane catapult and the ship s OS2U Kingfisher observation planes The three pilots who flew Texas s Kingfishers during this period were temporarily transferred to a newly formed squadron VOS 7 that was composed of the pilots who flew observation and scouting planes from the cruisers Augusta Quincy and Tuscaloosa and the battleships Arkansas Nevada and Texas VOS 7 received training in defensive fighter tactics aerobatics navigation formation flying and spotting procedures in Royal Air Force Spitfires they flew spotting missions in the Spitfires because of the threat from German fighters The pilots of VOS 7 would fly spotting missions for the US warships off Omaha and Utah Beaches during D Day 49 Also during this time additional radio equipment was added including a device to detect and jam radio guided missiles A 7 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 Beach 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 Hoc and the US 5th Ranger Battalion which had been diverted to Western Omaha to support the troops at Pointe du Hoc 50 The Omaha Beach bombardment force consisted of two sections with Texas and the British light cruiser HMS Glasgow responsible for the western half with Arkansas and the French light cruisers Georges Leygues and Montcalm responsible for the east Also assigned to Omaha Beach were the American destroyers Frankford McCook Carmick Doyle Emmons Baldwin Harding Satterlee Thompson and the British destroyers HMS Tanatside Talybont and Melbreak 50 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 Warspite and Ramillies At 07 10 on 4 June the taskforce had to reverse course due to unacceptable weather in Normandy Later that evening off Lundy Island the taskforce reversed course and headed for and joined the invasion fleet gathering at Area Z clarification needed The invasion fleet then headed south toward Normandy and navigated the German minefield through which minesweepers had cleared channels not a single Omaha Beach vessel was lost 50 D Day Edit Main article Normandy landings Rear admiral Carleton F Bryant left and Captain Charles A Baker Commanding Officer of USS Texas aboard with a German 240mm 9 4 dud shell that hit the ship during the bombardment of Battery Hamburg east of Cherbourg France on 25 June 1944 At 03 00 on 6 June 1944 Texas and the British cruiser Glasgow entered the Omaha Western fire support lane and arrived at her initial firing position 12 000 yards 11 000 m offshore near Pointe du Hoc at 04 41 as part of a combined total US British flotilla of 702 ships including seven battleships and five heavy cruisers 50 51 A 8 53 The initial bombardment commenced at 05 50 against the site of six 15 centimetre 6 in guns atop Pointe du Hoc 11 When Texas ceased firing at the Pointe at 06 24 255 14 inch 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 50 While shells from the main guns were hitting Pointe du Hoc the 5 inch 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 Vierville 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 11 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 armor and artillery 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 3 000 yd 2 700 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 snipers and machine gun nests hidden in a defile just off the beach At the conclusion of that mission the battleship attacked an enemy anti aircraft battery located west of Vierville 50 On 7 June the battleship received word that the Ranger battalion at Pointe Du Hoc was still isolated from the rest of the invasion force with low ammunition and mounting casualties in response Texas obtained and filled two LCVPs 54 with provisions and ammunition for the Rangers 53 131 Upon their return the LCVPs brought thirty five wounded Rangers to Texas for treatment of whom one died on the operating table Along with the Rangers a deceased Coast Guardsman 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 an LST for transfer to England 55 Later in the day her main battery rained shells on the enemy held towns of Formigny 56 and Trevieres 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 Texas s 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 Isigny then on a shore battery and finally on Trevieres once more 11 After that she retired to Plymouth 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 50 57 Battle of Cherbourg Edit Main article Bombardment of Cherbourg A heavy German coast artillery shell falls between Texas in the background and Arkansas while the two battleships were engaging Battery Hamburg during the battle of Cherbourg France 25 June 1944 On the morning of 25 June Texas in company with Arkansas Nevada four cruisers and eleven destroyers closed in on the vital port of Cherbourg to suppress the fortifications and batteries surrounding the town while the US Army s VII Corps attacked the city from the rear While en route to Cherbourg the bombardment plan was changed and Task Group 129 2 TG 129 2 built around Arkansas and Texas was ordered to move 6 mi 9 7 km clarification needed to the east of Cherbourg and engage the guns of Battery Hamburg a large shore battery composed of four 24 cm 9 in guns 58 59 60 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 salvos 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 24 cm 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 fire control officer LTJG Paul Morigi and three others hit the main support column of the navigation bridge and exploded 58 61 62 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 63 Texas s commanding officer Captain Baker escaped unhurt and quickly had the bridge cleared The warship herself continued to deliver her 14 inch shells in two gun salvos 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 59 At 14 47 an unexploded 24 cm shell was reported 64 The shell crashed through the port bow directly below the Wardroom and entered the stateroom of Warrant Officer M A Clark but failed to explode The unexploded shell was later disarmed by a Navy bomb disposal officer in Portsmouth 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 fourteen inch shells at Battery Hamburg until ordered to retire at 15 01 59 60 Operation Dragoon Edit Main article Operation Dragoon After Texas underwent repairs at Plymouth from damage sustained at Cherbourg she drilled in preparation for the invasion of southern France On 16 July she departed Belfast Lough and headed for the Mediterranean After stops at Gibraltar and Oran Algeria the battleship arrived in Taranto Italy on 27 July 65 Departing Taranto on 11 August Texas rendezvoused with three French destroyers off Bizerte Tunisia and set a course for the French Riviera She arrived off Saint Tropez during the night of 14 August and was joined early the next morning by battleship Nevada and cruiser Philadelphia 66 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 guns 66 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 were visible during the firing and for the greater part of the forenoon 67 The heavy opposition that was expected never materialized so the landing forces moved inland rapidly As fire support from Texas s guns was no longer required she departed the southern coast of France on the early morning of 17 August 68 After a stop at Palermo Sicily she left the Mediterranean and headed for New York where she arrived on 14 September 1944 11 Operations Detachment and Iceberg Edit Main article Battle of Iwo Jima Main article Battle of Okinawa 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 Canal for the Pacific She made a stop at Long Beach California and then continued on to Oahu She spent Christmas at Pearl Harbor and then conducted maneuvers in the Hawaiian Islands for about a month at the end of which she steamed to Ulithi Atoll She departed Ulithi on 10 February 1945 stopped in the Mariana Islands for two days of invasion rehearsals and then she set a course for Iwo Jima She arrived off Iwo Jima on 16 February three days before the amphibious landings began She spent just three days pounding the Japanese defenses on Iwo Jima in preparation for the landing of three Marine Corps Divisions 11 After the Marines stormed the beaches on 19 February Texas switched to providing naval gunfire support for them On call fire in response to requests from Marine units continued through 21 February 69 Though the island of Iwo Jima was not declared to be captured until 16 March Texas departed from the Volcano Islands on 7 March 70 and returned to Ulithi Atoll to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa Operation Iceberg She departed from Ulithi with Task Force 54 the gunfire support unit on 21 March and arrived in the Ryukyu Islands on the 26th Texas moved in close to Okinawa and began her prelanding bombardment that same day For the next six days she fired multiple salvos from her main guns to prepare the way for several Army and Marine divisions to make their amphibious landings on 1 April Each evening Texas retired from her bombardment position close to Okinawa but returned the next morning to resume her bombardments 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 kamikaze raids were sent to harass the bombardment group Texas escaped damage during those 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 11 On 14 May she departed Okinawa for the Philippines 71 End of the war Edit On 17 May 71 Texas arrived at Leyte in the Philippines and remained there until after the Japanese capitulation on 15 August She returned to Okinawa toward the end of August and stayed in the Ryukyu Islands until 23 September On that day she set a course for the United States with homeward bound troops embarked as part of 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 11 On 21 January 1946 Texas 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 20 Museum ship Edit Battleship Texas in 2012 Battleship Texas Commission Edit On 17 April 1947 the Battleship Texas Commission was established by the Texas Legislature to care for the ship The 225 000 necessary to pay for towing her from Baltimore to San Jacinto was the Commission s first task 20 On 17 March 1948 Texas began her journey to her new anchorage along the busy Houston Ship Channel near the San Jacinto Monument at San Jacinto State Park arriving on 20 April where she was turned over to the State of Texas the next day to serve as a permanent memorial 17 72 Texas sat just across from the monument at Battleground Park in the waters of the Port of Houston where she was ceremoniously decommissioned on the 21st nine days later on 30 April 1948 her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 11 Texas was the first permanent battleship memorial museum in the US 72 USS Oregon BB 3 was displayed as a floating museum in Portland Oregon from 1925 to 1941 but was scrapped in 1956 When the battleship was presented to the State of Texas she was commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy 72 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 73 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 would be 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 Foundation and the Houston Endowment together contributed 50 000 to the ship to enable the Commission to sandblast and paint the hull 20 By this time newspaper articles reported that Texas was under attack from neglect and insufficient funding 74 Nevertheless Texas was designated a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1975 and a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1976 13 20 6 Transfer to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Edit 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 Department TPWD 73 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 20 As part of this plan serious consideration was given to protecting sensitive fabrics and restoring the interior of the ship 73 After a five year long fund raising campaign 15 million was collected to dry dock the ship and complete necessary repairs 75 1988 1990 dry dock period Edit 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 the 56 mile 49 nmi 90 km trip from her berth to Todd Shipyards 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 inch 100 mm pumps and two 2 inch 51 mm pumps in continuous service to combat the flooding During the nine plus hour transit the ship s draft increased by 18 to 20 in 460 to 510 mm in the stern Texas entered the yard s floating drydock at approximately 22 30 on 13 December at high tide with only 6 in 150 mm to spare between her hull and the blocks she would sit on 76 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 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 a new pinewood deck would be installed in Green s Bayou 77 78 79 In total more than 375 000 lb 170 000 kg of steel amounting to about 15 of the ship s hull were replaced and more than 40 000 rivets were seal welded on the underwater hull 76 80 On 24 February 1990 tugboats moved Texas from dry dock to Brown amp Root s offshore fabrication facility on Green s Bayou for further repairs and installation of the four mooring attachments on the starboard side of the vessel Special diamond bit cutting blades had to be used to cut the 4 thick hull steel which was made in Germany and hardened in carbonized beds to reach over 425 HB hardness values according to original blueprints It was here that the wood deck was also installed and four of the ten mounts of quad 40 mm guns were installed 77 81 On 26 July the ship was returned to her berth at San Jacinto where the final six mounts of 40 mm guns were installed 81 82 Repairs complete the ship officially reopened to the public on 8 September 1990 20 Since returning to her slip at San Jacinto members of the ship s staff and volunteers have worked to restore the interior spaces 73 Dry berth project Edit Battleship Texas In 2004 after many years of working with many of the stakeholders at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site evaluating a wide range of alternative plans to address the ship s problems TPWD adopted a Master Plan that called for placing Texas into a permanent dry berth 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 83 84 One of the provisions of the bond legislation was 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 would provide a total of 29 million to accomplish the goal 83 BTF contracted a maritime engineering firm which determined that the ship s keel and main supporting internal structure would be sufficiently strong to support the ship in a dry berth while another maritime engineering firm was also contracted to study the full range of dry berth alternatives With these and other studies complete TPWD presented a progress report to the Legislative Budget Board LBB in late July 2008 83 In March 2009 the LBB released the funds for the dry berthing project to commence 85 After a lengthy selection process and fee negotiations TPWD signed a contract with AECOM on 26 October 2010 to design and develop the plans for Texas s dry berth The contract called for AECOM to have its preliminary design completed by spring 2011 with the bidding process for the construction of the dry berth and temporary mooring of Texas to begin in mid 2014 and construction completed by summer 2017 86 However by February 2019 funds had not yet been secured to commence construction with efforts instead dedicated to repairs to the ship 87 On 28 May 2019 it was reported that Texas would be undergoing 35 million worth of repairs and then be moved further up the Texas coast largely due to a decline in visitors at its current location Later that year Texas was closed to the public so necessary preparations could be made for the upcoming restoration process 88 Leaks Edit In June 2010 a leak on the starboard side of the ship caused Texas to sink two to three feet in her mooring The leak was precipitated by a burned 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 US gal 400 000 l 87 000 imp gal of water had to be pumped from the ship 89 On 9 June 2012 almost two years to the day later about 30 new leaks between 1 in 25 mm holes and 2 sq ft 0 19 m2 gaps were discovered ultimately necessitating a three week closure of the ship to visitors removal of water and repair of these leaks was complicated by the presence of residual oil in Texas s fuel bunkers 90 failed verification 91 In less than a month the leaks were fixed 92 On 12 June 2017 a 6 by 8 inch 15 by 20 cm hole about 15 feet 4 6 m below the waterline caused the ship to list tilt six degrees to starboard After emergency repairs crews pumped out about 2 000 US gallons 7 600 L of water per minute out of the ship for more than 15 hours 93 2022 dry dock period Edit Starboard side of Texas with her torpedo blisters removed uncovering her original hull December 2022 On 31 August 2022 Texas was towed out of her berth to a floating dry dock at Gulf Copper Dry Dock amp Rig Repair in Galveston Texas for repairs 14 The journey took four tugboats pulling the ship 40 miles 64 kilometres through the Houston Ship Channel and ended at around 4 pm 94 Once repairs are complete the Battleship Texas Foundation intends to berth the ship at a different city Baytown Galveston and Beaumont have all expressed interest in hosting her 14 Bow view of Texas from the drydock in Galveston Texas December 2022 Commemoration Edit Texas was the first and oldest of the eight US battleships that became permanent floating museums the other battleships honored in this way are Massachusetts Alabama North Carolina New Jersey Missouri Wisconsin and Iowa 95 A 9 Texas is also one of the oldest surviving modern naval ships having turned 100 years old on 12 March 2014 96 Radio commemorations occur on Texas yearly during Museum Ship Weekend and Pearl Harbor Day Amateur radio operators from the Battleship Texas Amateur Radio operate on those two occasions under the Federal Communications Commission callsign NA5DV similar to the original callsign NADV 97 98 The Texas Legislature designated the battleship Texas as the official State Ship of Texas in 1995 99 Awards EditTexas earned awards for her service in the Tampico Incident World War I and World War II For her service in World War II Texas earned five battle stars one for each of the major campaigns she participated in among other awards citation needed Mexican Service Medal World War I Victory MedalAmerican Defense Service Medalwith A device American Campaign Medal Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with 2 starsEuropean African MiddleEastern Campaign Medal with 3 stars World War II Victory Medal Navy Occupation Service Medalwith ASIA claspMedia Edit Texas seen at sunrise at the end of 2007 the obelisk in the background is the San Jacinto Monument Texas has appeared in several films prior to and since her retirement Her cinema debut though brief was in the final scene of the 1937 film Boy of the Streets starring Jackie Cooper and Maureen O Conner 100 The 1966 Steve McQueen film The Sand Pebbles shot some scenes aboard the ship but these were removed from the final cut of the movie and subsequently lost citation needed See also EditU S Navy museums and other battleship museums Japanese battleship Mikasa the only surviving pre dreadnought battleshipPortals Battleships World War I World War II TexasFootnotes Edit CXAM was the first nonexperimental nonprototype radar system developed by the US Navy It was produced in small numbers for the US Navy and installed aboard certain capital warships including battleships heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers An upgraded version CXAM 1 was later installed aboard other US Navy vessels including a few ships that carried the original version The first steel battleship to become a permanent museum ship was Mikasa the first US battleship to become a museum ship was Oregon 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 and scrapped As a result Texas is the first permanent US battleship museum ship See List of U S National Historic Landmark ships shipwrecks and shipyards for documentation that Texas is the first declared National Historic Landmark The other six surviving vessels that hold the distinction of serving in both World Wars are the Medea which served both the French Navy and Royal Navy the British monitor HMS M33 the British light cruiser HMS Caroline the Greek armored cruiser Georgios Averof the Drazki a Bulgarian torpedo boat and the former HMCS Acadia a Canadian hydrographic research ship and auxiliary patrol vessel HMS Benbow was the first battleship to fit anti aircraft guns in 1914 This was most likely a facility in the New York area for offloading ammunition prior to a repair period probably associated with the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot in New Jersey Anti ship missiles such as the Fritz X were among the first instances of short range guided missiles during the Second World War The Luftwaffe used them to some effect against Allied shipping and sank or damaged some large warships successfully before the Allies devised countermeasures principally radio jamming As for the other battleships Arkansas took the eastern side of Omaha Nevada took Utah Ramillies took Sword Warspite also took Sword but later moved to Gold and Rodney took Juno The final battleship was Nelson however she did not partake in initial bombardment as she was held 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 52 Iowa opened to the public 7 July 2012 in Los Angeles California References Edit a b Friedman 1986 p 437 a b c BB35 Booklet of General Plans Revised 18 July 1944 PDF Historical Naval Ship Association 1944 Archived PDF from the original on 13 July 2016 Retrieved 25 June 2016 Drawing 31128 USS TEXAS Major Alterations Additional Protection on Turret Tops 28 April 1926 Archived from the original on 10 November 2012 Retrieved 31 January 2011 third party source needed Drawing 31128 USS TEXAS Major Alterations Additional Protection on Turret Tops 28 April 1926 Archived from the original on 10 November 2012 Retrieved 31 January 2011 third party source needed National Register Information System National Register of Historic Places National Park Service 23 January 2007 a b USS Texas National Historic Landmark summary listing National Park Service Archived from the original on 13 November 2009 Retrieved 17 April 2008 a b Friedman 1986 p 420 a b c Gardiner amp Gray 1985 p 115 Battleship Updates 3 November 2022 Retrieved 4 February 2023 a b c d e f g h USS Texas BB 35 Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide Historic Naval Ships Association Archived from the original on 5 September 2006 Retrieved 29 December 2006 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah Texas Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Navy Department Naval History and Heritage Command Retrieved 28 December 2006 National Park Service Maritime National Historic Landmarks Large Vessels U S S Texas Battleship 21 March 2016 Retrieved 4 February 2023 a b Adams George R April 1976 National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination U S S Texas The Battleship Texas National Park Service Retrieved 18 September 2012 and Accompanying photo exterior from 1976 National Park Service Retrieved 18 September 2012 a b c Begley Dug Ferguson John Wayne 31 August 2022 Battleship Texas arrives in Galveston early after perfect launch Houston Chronicle Retrieved 7 September 2022 https battleshiptexas org Official site accessed February 13 2023 a b Friedman 1986 p 93 a b c d e f Wiper amp Flowers 2006 The Latest United States Battleship International Marine Engineering 19 1 1 January 1914 Gregory Henderson February 1914 USS Texas Description and Official Trials Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers 26 1 a b c d e f g h i j k Ferguson 2007 Social Feud Mars Launching of Texas PDF New York Times 11 May 1912 Pater 1968 Powers 1993 p 133 a b Friedman 1986 p 436 Egan Lott amp Sumrall 1976 p 45 a b Breyer 1973 p 205 Egan Lott amp Sumrall 1976 p 44 Ryndam rammed at sea PDF The New York Times 27 May 1915 p 1 Retrieved 17 April 2008 Friedman 1986 p 177 DiGiulian Tony 31 May 2008 United States of America 3 50 7 62 cm Marks 10 17 18 19 20 21 and 22 NavWeaps com Archived from the original on 4 June 2009 Retrieved 24 May 2009 Powers 1993 pp 11 12 a b Jones 1998 p 40 a b Armament Page Log Book Battleship Texas September 1917 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Deck Log Battleship Texas 21 November 1918 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Log Book Battleship Texas 14 December 1918 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Love 1992 p 537 Hone amp Hone 2006 p 81 Hone amp Hone 2006 pp 94 95 Quarterly Cruise Report Battleship Texas 30 September 1919 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Quarterly Cruise Report Battleship Texas period ending 31 March 1924 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Quarterly Cruise Reports Battleship Texas periods ending September 1925 through December 1926 30 September 1925 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Quarterly Employment Report Battleship Texas periods 31 March 1934 through 30 June 1937 San Diego Archived from the original on 17 July 2011 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Quarterly Employment Report Battleship Texas periods 31 March 1934 through 30 June 1937 Los Angeles Archived from the original on 8 October 2011 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Quarterly Employment Report Battleship Texas period 30 June through 31 December 1934 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed How Radar Came Into Being RCA 1947 Archived from the original on 8 October 2011 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Macintyre Donald CAPT RN September 1967 Shipborne Radar Proceedings Action Report Battleship Texas 19 November 1942 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Cronkite 1996 p 89 90 VCS 7 Archived from the original on 26 March 2010 Retrieved 17 September 2012 a b c d e f g Moore Charles Battleship Texas BB 35 Charles Moore Archived from the original on 23 September 2006 Retrieved 29 December 2006 Ryan 1959 p 90 Normandy Landings Operation OVERLORD 6 June 1944 Campaign Summaries of World War 2 naval history net Archived from the original on 28 December 2008 Retrieved 19 September 2012 a b Sterne 2014 p 26 27 Action Report Battleship Texas 23 June 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed USS Texas Action Report for period 3 17 June 1944 Operation Neptune Overlord 28 June 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed Summary of Bombardments Action Report Battleship Texas 26 June 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed War Diary Battleship Texas June 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 third party source needed a b DiGiulian Tony German 24cm 40 9 4 SK L 40 Tony DiGiulian Archived from the original on 2 May 2010 Retrieved 12 January 2009 a b c Morison 2001 p 496 a b McManus 2004 p 496 Harrison 1951 p 519 Kaufmann 2002 p 432 Cherbourg Action Report Battleship Texas 25 June 1944 Enclosure C 25 June 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 18 September 2012 third party source needed Cherbourg Action Report Battleship Texas 25 June 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 18 September 2012 third party source needed War Diary Battleship Texas July 1944 and August 1944 27 July 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 18 September 2012 third party source needed a b Powers 1993 p 31 PPI View of Southern France C I C Combat Information Center PDF Office of the Chief of Naval Operations December 1944 p 35 Archived from the original PDF on 17 December 2010 Retrieved 22 May 2009 War Diary Battleship Texas August 1944 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 18 September 2012 third party source needed Action Report Battleship Texas 12 March 1945 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 18 September 2012 third party source needed Action Report Battleship Texas 12 March 1945 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 18 September 2012 third party source needed a b Action Report Okinawa 21 March 14 May 1945 26 May 1945 Archived from the original on 11 August 2016 Retrieved 26 June 2016 a b c Battleship Texas State Historic Site Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Archived from the original on 1 January 2007 Retrieved 30 December 2006 a b c d Fischer Donald H Spring 2007 The Future of the Battleship Texas Houston History Houston Texas University of Houston Center for Public History 4 2 72 74 OCLC 163568525 Archived from the original on 19 August 2008 Retrieved 11 January 2008 Redding Stan 26 June 1972 The USS Texas is under attack and she can t fight back Houston Chronicle Houston Texas Salyers Abbie Spring 2007 Leaving Texas High and Dry The Preservation of the Battleship Texas Houston History Houston Texas University of Houston Center for Public History 4 2 66 68 OCLC 163568525 Archived from the original on 19 August 2008 Retrieved 11 January 2008 a b Moss Sue Winton June 1993 Historic Structures Report Battleship TEXAS A Report for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Texas Antiquities Permit HS44 Report Austin Texas Preservation Planning and Consulting p 21 Archived from the original on 3 April 2009 Retrieved 28 August 2009 a b Long Steven 28 May 1990 Painted Lady Going Home to Berth Houston Chronicle p D1 Ray Miller narrator 1992 Rebirth of the Texas video of the dry dock period Dec 1988 to July 1990 Houston television station Channel 11 Disessa Bill 27 July 1990 Battleship Texas back at Home Houston Chronicle p A1 Powers 1993 p xii a b Diessa Bill 20 July 1990 USS Texas returning to berth Houston Chronicle Guns awaiting return of restored battleship Houston Post 21 July 1990 p A2 a b c Dry Berth Project Rationale Battleship TEXAS Foundation Archived from the original on 7 April 2010 Retrieved 31 August 2010 Proposition 4 Proposed Projects by Region Proposition4 org Archived from the original on 9 July 2008 Retrieved 19 January 2009 Rep Wayne Smith Rep Ken Legler Announce LBB Approval of Bonds to Dry Berth the Battleship Texas Press release Texas House of Representatives 18 March 2009 Archived from the original on 20 February 2011 Retrieved 16 July 2012 Battleship Texas Dry Berth Design Contract Signed Press release Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 29 October 2010 Archived from the original on 20 February 2011 Retrieved 1 November 2010 Bolton Jennifer 4 February 2019 Get a glimpse of areas of Battleship Texas that have reopened after repairs Houston Chronicle Archived from the original on 28 February 2019 Retrieved 28 February 2019 Battleship Texas leaving San Jacinto Battleground for good over decline in visits Archived from the original on 28 May 2019 Retrieved 29 May 2019 Emergency Pumping Prevents Sinking of Battleship Texas Press release Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 15 June 2010 Archived from the original on 20 February 2011 Retrieved 11 January 2011 Leak Shuts Down Battleship Texas Indefinitely ABC News Retrieved 26 June 2012 Flooding Situation Question amp Answers Battleship Texas Foundation Archived from the original on 19 December 2012 Retrieved 7 November 2012 Miller Doug 2 July 2012 Battleship Texas is Patched KHOU Archived from the original on 6 July 2012 Retrieved 3 July 2012 Staff Click2Houston com 12 June 2017 Emergency repairs made after leak nearly sinks Battleship Texas KPRC Archived from the original on 12 June 2017 Retrieved 12 June 2017 Lozano Juan A 31 August 2022 Leaky battleship in Texas completes trip for 35M repairs AP NEWS Retrieved 7 September 2022 Westwood 1975 p 23 Turner Allan 12 March 2014 Pomp emotion greet old sailors as Battleship Texas turns 100 Houston Chronicle Archived from the original on 26 August 2016 Retrieved 5 July 2016 Vanity License NA5DV Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station Universal Licensing System Federal Communications Commission 29 February 2012 Archived from the original on 3 September 2014 Retrieved 7 November 2012 About Us Battleship Texas Amateur Radio Station Archived from the original on 10 October 2011 Retrieved 7 November 2012 Hatch Rosie Ed 2022 Texas Almanac 2022 2023 Austin Texas Texas State Historical Association p 23 ISBN 9781625110664 Boy Of The Streets 1937Bibliography EditFriedman Norman 1986 U S Battleships An Illustrated Design History Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 0 87021 715 1 OCLC 12214729 Hone Thomas C Hone Trent 2006 Battleline The United States Navy 1919 1939 Annapolis Naval Institute Press ISBN 1 59114 378 0 OCLC 62324475 Johnston Ian McAuley Rob 2002 2000 The Battleships London Channel 4 Books ISBN 0 7522 6188 6 OCLC 59495980 Powers Hugh 1993 Battleship Texas College Station Texas A amp M University Press ISBN 0 89096 519 6 OCLC 49569222 Love Robert W 1992 History of the U S Navy 1775 1941 Harrisburg Pennsylvania Stackpole Books p 537 ISBN 0 8117 1862 X OCLC 659967537 Wiper Steve Flowers Tom 2006 1999 USS Texas BB 35 Warship Pictorial 4 Tucson Arizona Classic Warships Publishing ISBN 0 9654829 3 6 OCLC 42533363 Ferguson John C 2007 Historic Battleship Texas The Last Dreadnought Military History of Texas 4 Abilene Texas State House Press ISBN 978 1 933337 07 4 OCLC 154678508 Pater Alan F 1968 United States Battleships The History of America s Greatest Fighting Fleet Beverly Hills California Monitor Book Company OCLC 439949 Egan Robert S Lott Arnold S Sumrall Robert F 1976 Ship s Data 6 Battleship Texas BB35 Annapolis Maryland Leeward Publications ISBN 0 915268 06 X OCLC 2645562 Breyer Siegfried 1973 Battleships and Battle Cruisers 1905 1970 Garden City New York Doubleday ISBN 0 385 07247 3 OCLC 702840 Gardiner Robert Gray Randal 1985 Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1906 1921 Annapolis Naval Institute Press p 115 ISBN 0 87021 907 3 OCLC 12119866 Jones Jerry W 1998 Battleship Texas Annapolis Naval Institute Press ISBN 1 55750 411 3 OCLC 37935228 Cronkite Walter 1996 A Reporter s Life New York Knopf pp 89 90 ISBN 978 0 394 57879 8 OCLC 34958652 Ryan Cornelius 1959 The Longest Day 6 June 1944 New York Simon amp Schuster p 90 ISBN 0671890913 OCLC 30364485 Sterne Gary 2014 The Cover Up at Omaha Beach D Day the US Rangers and the Untold Story of Maisy Battery Skyhorse Publishing pp 26 27 ISBN 9781629143279 OCLC 879371577 Morison Samuel Eliot 2001 History of United States Naval Operations in World War II The Invasion of France and Germany 1944 1945 Edison New Jersey Castle Books p 496 ISBN 0 7858 1312 8 OCLC 52204536 McManus John C 2004 The Americans at Normandy The Summer of 1944 the American War from the Normandy Beaches to Falaise New York Forge p 496 ISBN 0 7653 1199 2 OCLC 55510683 Harrison Gordon 1951 United States Army in World War II The European Theater of Operations The Cross Channel Attack Washington D C United States Army Center of Military History p 519 ISBN 0 16 001881 1 OCLC 50729081 Kaufmann J E 2002 Fortress Europe European Fortifications of World War II Cambridge Massachusetts Da Capo Press p 432 ISBN 0 306 81174 X OCLC 52821490 Westwood J N 1975 1971 The Battleship Fighting ships of World War II London Sidgwick amp Jackson p 23 ISBN 978 0 283 98287 3 OCLC 2090062 Wright Christopher C 1986 The U S Fleet at the New York World s Fair 1939 Some Photographs from the Collection of the Late William H Davis Warship International XXIII 3 273 285 ISSN 0043 0374 This article incorporates text from the public domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The entry can be found here This article includes information collected from theNaval Vessel Register which as a U S government publication is in the public domain The entry can be found here External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Texas category Battleship Texas Foundation created to assist ongoing preservation and educational efforts aboard this historic ship 1944 General Plan for the U S S Texas BB 35 New York Class hosted by the Historical Naval Ships Association HNSA Digital Collections Maritimequest USS Texas BB 35 photo gallery Texas Navy hosted by The Portal to Texas History USS Texas Hard Hat Tour Archived 8 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine Photos and information from a tour of closed to the public areas of the ship USS Texas Battleship Number 35 later BB 35 1914 1948 NavSource Online Battleship Photo Archives Photo gallery of USS Texas at NavSource Naval History 1911 1915 1916 1919 1920 1926 1927 1941 1942 1949 1950 present Battleship Texas BB 35 Special Feature 6 July 2002 NavSource Naval History Contains high resolution images taken on the 90th anniversary of the launch of Texas USS Texas BB 35 at Historic Naval Ships Association ASME National Engineering Historic Landmark Page BB35 WWII Action Reports All 6 BB35 World War II reports concerning combat activity BB35Library Extensive BB35 information based on a large variety and quantity of BB35 primary sources which are included with the site BB35 3D Model 3D Computer Model of BB35 in her 1945 configuration Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USS Texas BB 35 amp oldid 1140949572, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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