Her wars are over. She has won the right to rest peacefully in Texas waters. Captain Charles Baker, final captain of the USS Texas.
A Ship Built for Power
The USS Texas entered naval folklore on June 15, 1944. But she had a long career before that day.
The USS Texas was commissioned in March of 1914. She had 10 fourteen-inch guns, the biggest of any ship afloat at the time. She could fire a 1400-pound shell up to 12 miles.
Her first deployment was to Veracruz, where she was ordered to support the US action to protect US citizens caught up in the Mexican Revolution. After that, she sailed to Galveston where she received a collection of ceremonial silver pieces from her namesake, the 1895 battleship Texas. She was presented with her own set of silver. She did not return to Texas waters until her retirement after WWII.
Between the Wars
The USS Texas patrolled the North Sea during the First World War, but saw almost no action. In 1919, she made history again. Using a ramp constructed off one of her turrets, she was the first American battleship to launch an aircraft.
A treaty signed in 1922 severely limited the number of new battleships worldwide, so the USS Texas saw multiple modernizations during the years between the two world wars. She was the first ship to incorporate machine guns on deck to protect against air attack. And in 1939, she and her sister ship, the USS New York, were equipped with experimental air search radar.
Called to Action
When WWII started in 1939, the USS Texas was called to action despite the United States remaining uninvolved at the time. She was a part of the neutrality patrol, escorting merchant ships across the Atlantic. She stayed on escort duty until 1942, when she took part in the invasion of North Africa.
In the spring of 1944, the USS Texas was sent to England to prepare for a major offensive—D-Day. (If you are wondering, yes, she would have been under the command of the British admiral, Bertram Ramsay, who I talk about here.)
D-Day and the Decision That Made History
On June 6, 1944, just before 6 am, the Texas began her bombardment in support of the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc. She fired 255 fourteen-inch shells in 34 minutes, pounding the German positions before the Rangers climbed the hundred-foot cliffs—under machine gun fire. Then she turned her guns to supporting the main landing at Omaha Beach. The next day, the Texas learned that the Rangers were in trouble and sent two landing craft of ammo, food, water, and medical supplies. The craft returned with 35 wounded Rangers and 27 prisoners of war.
But I started this blog with a particular date, June 15, 1944. By that day, the Texas had fallen back to load more ammunition, then returned to Normandy. She was ordered to support the advancing Allied troops. The only problem? The Allies had pushed the Germans back far enough that the Texas guns couldn’t reach. She sailed closer to the beach, finally within 3000 yards. Still couldn’t reach.
Now the next decision has been dramatized into a truly Texas moment of inspiration, something like, “Wait a minute. My shots will go farther if I…”
If I what, you might ask?
If I tilt my ship.
And how can I tilt my ship?
I know. I flood the tanks on one side.
In fact, the USS Texas did flood her tanks on one side, did create a two-degree list, and did get her shells into the action.
But it wasn’t a momentary inspiration. It had actually been done before by the British in WWI.
So instead of a last-minute, I-wonder-if-this-will-work idea, it was a ship captain thinking, “I’ve been waiting for just the right moment to put this obscure tactic into play.”
Her Final Battles
The USS Texas went on to serve in the south of France, and then in the Pacific. At Iwo Jima, she saw the stars and stripes raised over Mount Suribachi. But Okinawa would prove her greatest test.
At Okinawa, the USS Texas set a record for the longest time a crew remained at battle stations—50 days. Unlike some of the other captains, Captain Baker decided that his men would remain at their stations for the entire battle, sleeping when they could and living on K-rations. The men weren’t happy with his decision until they saw a nearby ship hit by a kamikaze while they were still scrambling to stations.
Her Wars Are Over
In 1948, the USS Texas docked at Galveston and became a museum ship. As she sailed into port, her captain said what may be the most fitting send-off a warship has ever received.
“Her wars are over. She has won the right to rest peacefully in Texas waters.”
In Texas, of course.
