The Texas Navy Has A Battleship!

A 110-year-old National Landmark offers visitors history you can see, hear, and touch.  If you have never been to a floating naval museum, one of the most famous warships ever to serve in any nation’s navy awaits visitors to her decks.  Texas is the last remaining ship capital ship to have served in both World Wars and being one of eight remaining capital warships.  Texas has the distinctions for only remaining pre-World War One dreadnought-style battleship, the first U.S. battleship to become a permanent museum ship, and the first battleship declared to be a US National Historic Landmark.

The USS Texas has a long history of naval firsts. Texas is notable for her sizable number of firsts: the first US Navy vessel to be permanently assigned a contingent of US Marines, the first US battleship to have anti-aircraft guns added to her armament, the first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers (analog forerunners of today’s computers), and one of the first to receive the CXAM-1 version of CXAM production radar in the US Navy.  On March 10, 1919, Lieutenant Edward McDonnell became the first man to fly an aircraft off an American battleship from a ramp on Texas’ number 3 turret.

When the USS Texas was launched in Virginia on May 18, 1912.  After completing sea trials, was commissioned in 1914, given the designation BB-35, and considered the most powerful warships afloat with her ten 14″/45 guns in five twin turrets that could fire 1,400-pound shells at a range of 13 miles. Soon, Texas was dispatched to Mexican waters, where she joined the Special Service Squadron in response to the detaining of an American boat crew by Mexican federal troops at Tampico, known as the “Vera Cruz Incident.”  When America entered World War I, Texas was assigned blockade and convoy duty in the North Sea, escorting allied vessels and patrolling with the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet.

The United States formally entered World War II in December 1941; the USS Texas was modernized and updated as a deadly and effective weapons platform. Initially, it was an escort to critical war convoys across the Atlantic. In October 1942, the battleship Texas was sent to North Africa to provide long-range fire support for the Allied landings. Soon, her guns would be trained on the German defenses during Operation Overlord, the invasion of the beaches at Normandy. During D-Day, the naval rifles of Texas bombarded German defenses on Omaha Beach. After the invasion, wounded Allied troops were taken aboard and treated on the ship while en route to hospitals in England.

Later, in 1944, after a stop in Long Beach, California, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Texas was ready to arrive to punish the Imperial Japanese forces before the American invasion of Okinawa. For six days, the battleship Texas bombarded the island as the Marines prepared for an invasion. During the invasion, the Texas remained on station, blasting away at Japanese targets and evading kamikaze suicide attacks.

When the war ended on August 15, 1945, Texas was assigned by the War Shipping Administration to Operation Magic Carpet, the mission of returning American troops home from war. After several trips across the South Pacific to San Pedro, California. Texas continued this mission through December 1945, when she sailed for Norfolk, Virginia, to prepare for deactivation. After thirty-one years of continuous service, it was apparent that it was time to retire this aging veteran ship. Taken to Baltimore, Maryland, the battleship entered reserve status on June 18, 1946.

In 1947, the Texas Legislature established the Battleship Texas Commission with the goal of preserving the ship as a museum. USS Texas was formally decommissioned from the U. S. Navy on April 21, 1948. Upon raising the required funds, the Commission had Texas towed and moored in the Houston Ship Channel near the San Jacinto Monument, where the battleship Texas was ceremonially commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy. Currently, the USS Texas Museum is in drydock, undergoing needed repairs and preservation. With a yearly average of 80,000 people visiting the ship and bringing one of the most popular attractions in the state, the Battleship Texas museum was not attracting enough visitors to support its upkeep and make it self-sustaining. In addition to the work underway patching and repairing its historic weaponry and large superstructure, a new permanent home is in the process of being chosen. When the USS Texas arrives at her new berth and home, it will continue to serve as a national landmark and a great Texas historical treasure.