USS Texas Update 1/7/24

[Sedalia Dave]

Looking much better

 

 

1/7/24 – BATTLESHIP TEXAS UPDATE

[Sedalia Dave]

The USS Texas (BB-35) Was Intentionally Flooded During D-Day

[Sedalia Dave]

What a difference 25 years made.

 

How she looked in 1918

 

 

How she looked in 1943

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Those older battleships...and most other navy ships of the day...were very elegant.. The Texas is a grand old lady and I'm glad to see her being taken care of.

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

The last dreadnought. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I’m trying to see where her gun turrets are. In 1918, it looks like 3 turrets forward. Was one removed? There were 5 originally.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

32 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

I’m trying to see where her gun turrets are. In 1918, it looks like 3 turrets forward. Was one removed? There were 5 originally.

The 1918 photo shows a stern view of the ship, the 1943 image is from the bow. There were originally 5 turrets, but the one amidships was removed. 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

2 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

I’m trying to see where her gun turrets are. In 1918, it looks like 3 turrets forward. Was one removed? There were 5 originally.

Whoops, did a little more research and discovered Texas retained all 5 turrets. I had her confused with Nevada. 
 

I have books showing her configuration during ww2, but her amidships turret is often obscured by her catapult and scout planes that sat atop. 

[Sedalia Dave]

In the 1943 picture the third turret is actually forward of the aft mast.

 

Here is a side view that better shows the current location of all 5 turrets.

 

[Sedalia Dave]

Here is both configuration in the same photo. I doubt there is a whole lot of clearance between the aft tripod mast legs and the muzzles of turret 3.

 

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

Sweet

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

From one my books. Note how the midship turret is almost invisible at this angle in the photo 

 

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

On 2/6/2024 at 8:11 PM, Sedalia Dave said:

The USS Texas (BB-35) Was Intentionally Flooded During D-Day

Great article. I did not know she saw that much service in WWII.

JHC

 

[Chantry]

17 hours ago, Capt. James H. Callahan said:

Great article. I did not know she saw that much service in WWII.

JHC

 

 

The WWI battleships saw a lot of action, much of it in shore bombardment and a fleet action: 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf#Battle_of_Surigao_Strait_(25_October_1944)

 

It's an irony that the last battleship vs battleship action was fought by battleships built during WWI

 

The WWII fast battleships spent much of the war as anti-aircraft escorts for the fleet carriers.  The only fast battleships to fight a surface action against another battleship was the USS Washington and USS South Dakota:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal#Second_Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal,_14–15_November

 

While the fast battleships did shell Japan near the end of the war, they were less successful than their much older cousins due to lack of experience.

 

The USS Texas, her sister USS New York and the USS Arkansas were the oldest American battleships to see combat service during WWII.  All three were originally built to burn coal and were the last coal burning battleships built by the US.  They all saw a lot of action bombarding enemy targets in the Atlantic and Pacific in support of amphibious landings.

 

 

On edit: I always forget the USS Massachusetts against the partly completed and stationary French battleship Jean Bart

 

 

[Chantry]

Some more on USS Texas's war record  in WWII:

 

"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."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Texas_(BB-35)

 

I remember reading about the destroyers coming in so close to land.  I didn't realize that the USS Texas had closed to 3000 yards, which is a VERY short range for a battleship to use her main guns.  

 

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

On 2/8/2024 at 8:43 AM, Chantry said:

 

The WWI battleships saw a lot of action, much of it in shore bombardment and a fleet action: 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf#Battle_of_Surigao_Strait_(25_October_1944)

 

It's an irony that the last battleship vs battleship action was fought by battleships built during WWI

 

The WWII fast battleships spent much of the war as anti-aircraft escorts for the fleet carriers.  The only fast battleships to fight a surface action against another battleship was the USS Washington and USS South Dakota:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal#Second_Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal,_14–15_November

 

While the fast battleships did shell Japan near the end of the war, they were less successful than their much older cousins due to lack of experience.

 

The USS Texas, her sister USS New York and the USS Arkansas were the oldest American battleships to see combat service during WWII.  All three were originally built to burn coal and were the last coal burning battleships built by the US.  They all saw a lot of action bombarding enemy targets in the Atlantic and Pacific in support of amphibious landings.

 

 

On edit: I always forget the USS Massachusetts against the partly completed and stationary French battleship Jean Bart

 

 

Good info. Thanks!

JHC

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

 

[watab kid]

i know the battleships were named for states but i dont know which came first and were participants in which wars for the most part , i know where the main went down , i know of the iowa class and i know the iowa was a formidable force in its day , 

 

i enjoy all of these posts , was the texas rebuilt to change its configuration or was a different ship commissioned with the same name ? 

 

thats a big change by the drawings shown  

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Texas was launched in 1912. Changes after that were to modernize her.  There were nearly thirty battleships built between Texas and the Iowas.

 

just scan through 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battleships_of_the_United_States_Navy

for an idea of how many and what designs.