The Ships of Battlegroup: United States Texas (BB-35)

Displacement	27,000 tons	Belt Armor	12 inches
Overall Length	573 feet	Deck Armor	3.75 inches
Beam	95 feet	Main Turret Armor	12 inches
Speed	21 knots	Main Guns	10 × 14″

Laid down on April 17, 1911, launched on May 18, 1912 and commissioned on March 12, 1914, the ship carried a main armament of ten 14 inch guns mounted two per turret; two centerline superfiring forward, two centerline superfiring aft and a centerline amidships that could fire to both sides. Texas was half of the two-ship New York battleship class and both had coal-fired turbine engines. All American dreadnought battleships were named after states and all were assigned a hull number. The first Texas to be commissioned for active service was also the first battleship built for the United States Navy and played a prominent role in the 1898 Spanish-American War, although never assigned a hull number. The two new battleships of the New York class were designed to be the first American “super dreadnoughts,” mounting the mighty new 14-inch guns, but they were also the last American battleships built without the very effective “all or nothing” protection scheme.

In April 1914, the Texas covered a Marine landing in Vera Cruz, Mexico and later carried out peacetime duties in the Caribbean and Atlantic until the United States entered World War One in April 1917. BB-35 was attached to the British Grand Fleet and based at Scapa Flow in February 1918. Although she served there for the rest of the war, the German High Seas Fleet stayed quiet. Between the world wars, Texas served in the Pacific 1919–1924 and in the Atlantic 1924 - 1939 (serving for several years as the fleet flagship), including a major refit in the mid 1920s that included changing to oil-fired turbines, new tripod masts, increased deck armor, torpedo bulges and adding a propensity to roll badly. With the start of World War Two in September 1939, the old battleship took an active part escorting convoys in the “Neutrality Patrol.”

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the ship continued on convoy duty, when not undergoing overhauls to add new radar and fire control equipment as well as extra anti-aircraft guns. In November 1942, Texas fired her main guns for the first time in anger, providing fire support for the invasion of North Africa. On June 6, 1944, the namesake of the “Lone Star State” participated in Operation Overlord, providing gunfire support at Omaha Beach. Later that month, while supporting an attack on the port of Cherbourg, Texas took two hits from powerful 11.1 inch German shore batteries that killed one sailor and wounded thirteen more. Following repairs, BB-35 supported the landings in southern France. After an overhaul, Texas sailed to the Pacific Ocean for a gunfire support role during the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. With victory secured, the veteran battleship made three “Magic Carpet” runs returning discharged GIs from the Pacific Theater to the “48”.

In early 1946, Texas was mothballed. In early 1948, the ship was presented to the State of Texas and towed there to be re-commissioned and dedicated as a War Memorial and as the flagship of the Texas Navy in ceremonies on San Jacinto Day (April 21) 1948. The ship’s new home overlooks the San Jacinto battlefield, north of Houston. The Battleship Texas Commission was established to maintain the ship.

For contemporary foreign battleships of the same vintage, see: Bretagne, Fuso, Revenge and Yamashiro .

For a further discussion of what happened to the battleships of World War One, see the Introduction to these articles.