The US Navy has a tradition of continuing important historical names in its fleet after one is decommissioned, by bringing them back as a new vessel.
A recent example of this is the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. The 1st USS Enterprise Carrier was CV-6 built before World War II and then which served throughout the war, at times as the only operational carrier in the Pacific, and became the most highly decorated combat ship in US Naval history. It was followed in 1961 by the USS Enterprise, CVN-65, the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier which served ably and constantly for well over 50 years and became the longest serving Aircraft Carrier in US history. Now we all know that CVN-80, the 3rd Ford Class aircraft carrier will be name Enterprise and that history and tradition will continue.
Another name that has served with distinction in the US Navy is that of the USS Texas.
1ST USS TEXAS, First US Battleship, catergorized as a Battleship 2nd Class. 1892-1911
The First USS Texas was the first commissioned modern battleship in the US Navy. She was a pre-dreadnaught class battleship, classified as a Battleship, second class. The USS Texas (Battleship second class) was launched in 1892, commissioned in 1895 and decomissioned in 1911 after only 16 years of active service. This is because within a few years of her commissioning, she was rendered obsolete by more modern European designs that the US immediately began to replicate. She displaced 6,300 tons and her main armament was two 12" guns and six 6" guns.
Nevertheless, in 1898 she fought in the Spanish American War and took part in the most major engagement of that war at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba where the Spanish fleet was soundly defeated. On 3 July, 1898, the USS Texas was steaming off Santiago de Cuba when the Spanish Fleet attempted to escape past the blockading American Fleet. Texas immediately took four of the approaching enemy ships under fire. While the battleship's main battery took on the armored cruisers Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon, her secondary battery joined Iowa, Gloucester, and Indiana in attacking two torpedo-boat destroyers.
The two Spanish destroyers fell out of the action quickly and beached themselves, damaged heavily. One by one, the larger enemy warships also succumbed to the combined fire of the American Fleet. Each, in turn, sheered off toward shore and beached themselves. In this manner the vessels of the US Navy Flying Squadron defeated the Spanish Fleet. USS Texas was lightly damaged during the battle by a single 6 in (152 mm) high explosive shell that hit her on the starboard side above the main deck, immediately forward of the ash hoist. Fragments from the shell badly damaged the ash hoist and destroyed the doors of both air shafts and the adjacent bulkheads. Splinters riddled much of the adjacent structure as well.
After the war Texas continued it duties. Training, coastal patrols, and regular maintenance were her mainstay. For several years she served as the flagship for the U.S. East Coast Squadron until 1905.
Shortly before decomissioning, she was renamed the USS San Marcus to make way for the new battleship Texas then being built. After her decomissioning in 1911, she was sunk in March 1911 in a SINKEX by gunfire from the battleship USS New Hampshire
2ND USS TEXAS, BB-35 Served in WW I & WW II. Now a Museum Ship. 1912-1948
The second USS Texas was a New York Class battleship. She displaced 27,000 tons initially, but was later refitted and finally displaced 33,000 tons. Her main armament ultimately consisted of ten 14" guns and six 5" guns. She was launched in March 1912, commissioned in 1914, served in World War I and World War II, and ultimately decommissioned in 1948. She was turned over to the State of Texas on 21 April, 1948, the anniversary of the decisive 1836 Battle of San Jacinto that ended the War for Texas Independence and led to the creation of the Republic of Texas, which joined the US as a state in 1845. The State of Texas has maintained her as a Museum and Memorial ever since, first with the Battleship Texas Commission, and then with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife.
The USS Texas, BB-35 was distinguished with many "firsts" as a US Battleship. These include all of the following:
- The first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-finders.
- The first US battleship to launch an aircraft.
- The first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns.
- The first US ship to receive production radar in the US Navy.
- The first US battleship to be established as a permanent Museum.
She is the last surviving dreadnaught battleship in the world, and she is one of only six vessels preserved to have fought in both World War I and World War II.
Her notable World War I combat experince included conducting convoy escort duties in the North Sea and Atlantic and forays in support of the 2nd, 4th, and 6th English English Battleship Squadron to keep the German navy blockaded. In April of 1918 she stood out to sea in one support mission as the German battleships sortied towards Norway but were intercepted. On April 25 the USS Texas caught sight of the retiring units, who were retreating back to Jade Bay, but at too extreme a range to engage. She conducted such duties through the end of the war.
In World War II she was very involved in all of the following actions:
- Convoy duties in the North Atlantic and down to the Panama Canal throughout 1942.
- Operation Torch off of the coast of North Africa in support of invasion of North Africa in October 1942.
- Convoy Escort duties through much of 1943.
- Operation Overloard for the D-Day invasion of 1944, including support of Omaha Beach and the silencing of guns at Point Du Hoc. She was also very involved in the battle of Cherbourg, where she dueled German shore batteries for several hours, was hit by one 240mm shell and had 65 near misses, but succeeded (with other vessels) in supressing and silencing those German emplacements.
- Operation Dragoon and gun fire support for the landings in Southern France in 1944.
- Operation Detachment and gun fire support for the Iwo Jima landings in the Pacific in 1945.
- Operation Iceberg and gunfire support for the invasion of Okinawa in the Pacific in 1945 where she shot down one Kamikazi and had three assists during her gunfire support missions. She was never hit by any of the attacking aircraft.
She has been berthed near the San Jacinto Battlefield Park in south Texas since the late 1940s. The Battleship Texas Commission proved unable to generate the funds to properly maintain her and she steadily deteriorated with many leaks in the hull, deteriorating and rotting woodplanking, and many other issues, including rainwater leaks. The commission attempted to fix the planking problems by taking out all of the wood planking and replacing it with concrete. This helped for 3 years, but then the concrete began to crack and the leaks into the interior spaces from rain water started again.
In 1983 the Texas State Legisllature transferred control to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. The Department immediately hired a Naval Architect to study the issues and make recomendations. The firm recommended dry dock repairs as soon as possible that would take two years. It took 5 years of fund raising by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and other conerned charitable organizations to raise the $15 million necessary to conduct the dry dock refit. In December 1988 the USS Texas was drydocked. 15% of her steel was replaced (375,000 lbs of it). Her concrete deck was removed and a new wood plank deck installed. Her entire hull and upper structural surfaces were sand blasted and re-painted. A fourteen month refit during this time sought to restore her to her 1945, end of war condition externally. As a part of this, among many other things, ten 40mm anti-aircraft guns and their mounts were appropriated and mounted. In September 1990 she was returend to her berthing in the San Jacinto Battlefield Park.
The USS Texas, BB-35 Museum ship after her dry dock and refit in 1988-1990
Since that time the Park and Wildlife Department in Texas has been busily going about, each year, restoring more and more of her interior spaces to her 1945 condition. Much of the ship has been resotred. However, a recommendation has been made for the vessel to be dry berthed. The corrosive Houston Ship Channel water is bad for the hull without regular dry dock visits which cannot be afforded. New severe leaks developed in 2010 and by 2012 were repaired, but only by floating the vessel higher to be able to get at most of the leaks. An analysis of her structure has concluded that she is strong enough for dry berthing. The cost will be 25 million dollars. The State Legislature put it to a vote of the Texas people who aprroved a 25 million dollar bond across the state to accomplish this task. Another four million was raised by charitable organoization to ensure enough funds were available for any contengency. In 2013 the environmental impact study was almost complete and the work of building the dry birth dock and placing her in it is set to start sometime in 2014 or 2015.
3RD USS TEXAS, CGN-39 Nuclear powered Guided Missile Cruiser throughout the Cold War, 1975-1993
The third USS Texas was a modern, nuclear powered, Virginia Class guided missile, anti-aircraft cruiser. Her class was designed specifically to be able to escort nuclear powered aircraft carriers and keep up with them both in terms of speed and endurance. She was launched in August of 1975 and commissioned in 1977. She displaced 11,000 tons and her main armament consisted of two twin arm Mk-26 launchers for her standard and extended range standard anti-aircraft missiles, which she carried 68 missiles. She also carrier two armored box launchers for a total of eight Tomohawk ship launched cruise missiles, eiht anti-ship Harpoon missiles, two 5", 54 caliber guns, and two triple mount, Mk-46 torpedo launchers.
She could land and fuel anti-submarine helicopters but she had no hangar to house them.
The USS Texas, CGN-39, served in Operation Eagle Claw, the naval support operation during the iranian hostage crisis in 1979. She saw her first combat in the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident, facing down the Libyan regime at that time who sought to challenge the US Navy. USS Texas provided anti-air coverage for the USS NImitz during this incident in which ytwo US F-14 Tomcat aircraft shot down two Lybian SU-22 aircraft.
In 1986, the USS Texas, CGN-39,round the world cruise on nuclear power with the USS Carl Vinosn battle group. During this voyage she visited every inhabited continet on the planet except South America, and she sailed every oveaan of the world except the Arctic Ocean.
In 1991, USS Texas, CGN-39, again called to serve in operation Desert Storm where she acted as the anti-air war commander for the USS NImitz battlegroup. She also assisted as the control ship for mine hunting vessels off the coast of Kuwait in that conflict.
In 1992, before her decommissioning, she conducted anti-narcotic operations with the US Coast Guard off the coast of South America.
She was decommissioned in May 1993 and stood in the reserve fleet at Bremerton unti entering the Nuclear Ship Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Shipyard in 1999.
4TH USS TEXAS, SSN-775 Nuclear powered attack submarine. 2006-Current
The fourth (and current) USS Texas is a modern, nuclear powered, , the newest class of attack submarines in the US Navy inventory and the most capable and modern attack submarines in the world. Her class was designed specifically to meet and exceed underwater warfare challenges throughout the 21st century in both the blue (deep) water and the litoral (shallow) waters of the world. Her main armaments consist of twelve VLS missile cells capable of launching twelve Tomohawk crusie missiles, particularly the new Block IV weapons. She is also armed with 4 533mm torpedo tubes capable of launching missiles, torpedoes (including the Advanced Capability (ADCAP) Mk-48 torpedo), and mines, as well as underwater, unmanned remote controlled vehicles. She can carry a combination of 26 of those weapons.
The USS Texas displaces 7,900 tons. Texas was commissioned in Galveston, Texas, and joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in September of 2006.
Three years later, in September 2009, USS Texas, SSN-775, left the Groton Submarine Base in Connecticut and sailed to Pearl Harbor to change her basing to the Pacific fleet. She conducted this voyage via the North Pole, which she surfaced near during the course of that trip. The sub departed Pearl Harbor for her first three-month operational patrol on from Pearl Herbor on 19 May 2010.
Since that time she has been conducting classified missions on behalf of the US Navy and the government of the United States.
Emblazoned on her hull is the shape of the state of Texas, denoting the outstanding patriotism and leadership the citizens of Texas have contributed to the American nation. Located within the state outline is a symbol of the atom, representing the warfighting capability and endurance afforded Texas by nuclear power.
USS Texas, SSN-775, is backed by the traditional badge of the Texas Rangers. This identifies the singularity of purpose between the men and women who enforce Texas law and the sailors. The four white stars represent the four American warships to bear the name of the state of Texas. Her slogan, "Don't Mess with Texas" is a well known state slogan and a warning for those who attempt to prevent Texas from carrying out her mission. The battle scarred Lone Star flag flying behind Texas on her crest, represents the gallant heroism of those who fought and died at the Alamo to ensure the future of Texas, and it also represents the perseverance with which Texas and her crew will endure through all missions that are put before her
A recent example of this is the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. The 1st USS Enterprise Carrier was CV-6 built before World War II and then which served throughout the war, at times as the only operational carrier in the Pacific, and became the most highly decorated combat ship in US Naval history. It was followed in 1961 by the USS Enterprise, CVN-65, the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier which served ably and constantly for well over 50 years and became the longest serving Aircraft Carrier in US history. Now we all know that CVN-80, the 3rd Ford Class aircraft carrier will be name Enterprise and that history and tradition will continue.
Another name that has served with distinction in the US Navy is that of the USS Texas.
1ST USS TEXAS, First US Battleship, catergorized as a Battleship 2nd Class. 1892-1911
The First USS Texas was the first commissioned modern battleship in the US Navy. She was a pre-dreadnaught class battleship, classified as a Battleship, second class. The USS Texas (Battleship second class) was launched in 1892, commissioned in 1895 and decomissioned in 1911 after only 16 years of active service. This is because within a few years of her commissioning, she was rendered obsolete by more modern European designs that the US immediately began to replicate. She displaced 6,300 tons and her main armament was two 12" guns and six 6" guns.
Nevertheless, in 1898 she fought in the Spanish American War and took part in the most major engagement of that war at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba where the Spanish fleet was soundly defeated. On 3 July, 1898, the USS Texas was steaming off Santiago de Cuba when the Spanish Fleet attempted to escape past the blockading American Fleet. Texas immediately took four of the approaching enemy ships under fire. While the battleship's main battery took on the armored cruisers Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon, her secondary battery joined Iowa, Gloucester, and Indiana in attacking two torpedo-boat destroyers.
The two Spanish destroyers fell out of the action quickly and beached themselves, damaged heavily. One by one, the larger enemy warships also succumbed to the combined fire of the American Fleet. Each, in turn, sheered off toward shore and beached themselves. In this manner the vessels of the US Navy Flying Squadron defeated the Spanish Fleet. USS Texas was lightly damaged during the battle by a single 6 in (152 mm) high explosive shell that hit her on the starboard side above the main deck, immediately forward of the ash hoist. Fragments from the shell badly damaged the ash hoist and destroyed the doors of both air shafts and the adjacent bulkheads. Splinters riddled much of the adjacent structure as well.
After the war Texas continued it duties. Training, coastal patrols, and regular maintenance were her mainstay. For several years she served as the flagship for the U.S. East Coast Squadron until 1905.
Shortly before decomissioning, she was renamed the USS San Marcus to make way for the new battleship Texas then being built. After her decomissioning in 1911, she was sunk in March 1911 in a SINKEX by gunfire from the battleship USS New Hampshire
2ND USS TEXAS, BB-35 Served in WW I & WW II. Now a Museum Ship. 1912-1948
The second USS Texas was a New York Class battleship. She displaced 27,000 tons initially, but was later refitted and finally displaced 33,000 tons. Her main armament ultimately consisted of ten 14" guns and six 5" guns. She was launched in March 1912, commissioned in 1914, served in World War I and World War II, and ultimately decommissioned in 1948. She was turned over to the State of Texas on 21 April, 1948, the anniversary of the decisive 1836 Battle of San Jacinto that ended the War for Texas Independence and led to the creation of the Republic of Texas, which joined the US as a state in 1845. The State of Texas has maintained her as a Museum and Memorial ever since, first with the Battleship Texas Commission, and then with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife.
The USS Texas, BB-35 was distinguished with many "firsts" as a US Battleship. These include all of the following:
- The first US ship to control gunfire with directors and range-finders.
- The first US battleship to launch an aircraft.
- The first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns.
- The first US ship to receive production radar in the US Navy.
- The first US battleship to be established as a permanent Museum.
She is the last surviving dreadnaught battleship in the world, and she is one of only six vessels preserved to have fought in both World War I and World War II.
Her notable World War I combat experince included conducting convoy escort duties in the North Sea and Atlantic and forays in support of the 2nd, 4th, and 6th English English Battleship Squadron to keep the German navy blockaded. In April of 1918 she stood out to sea in one support mission as the German battleships sortied towards Norway but were intercepted. On April 25 the USS Texas caught sight of the retiring units, who were retreating back to Jade Bay, but at too extreme a range to engage. She conducted such duties through the end of the war.
In World War II she was very involved in all of the following actions:
- Convoy duties in the North Atlantic and down to the Panama Canal throughout 1942.
- Operation Torch off of the coast of North Africa in support of invasion of North Africa in October 1942.
- Convoy Escort duties through much of 1943.
- Operation Overloard for the D-Day invasion of 1944, including support of Omaha Beach and the silencing of guns at Point Du Hoc. She was also very involved in the battle of Cherbourg, where she dueled German shore batteries for several hours, was hit by one 240mm shell and had 65 near misses, but succeeded (with other vessels) in supressing and silencing those German emplacements.
- Operation Dragoon and gun fire support for the landings in Southern France in 1944.
- Operation Detachment and gun fire support for the Iwo Jima landings in the Pacific in 1945.
- Operation Iceberg and gunfire support for the invasion of Okinawa in the Pacific in 1945 where she shot down one Kamikazi and had three assists during her gunfire support missions. She was never hit by any of the attacking aircraft.
She has been berthed near the San Jacinto Battlefield Park in south Texas since the late 1940s. The Battleship Texas Commission proved unable to generate the funds to properly maintain her and she steadily deteriorated with many leaks in the hull, deteriorating and rotting woodplanking, and many other issues, including rainwater leaks. The commission attempted to fix the planking problems by taking out all of the wood planking and replacing it with concrete. This helped for 3 years, but then the concrete began to crack and the leaks into the interior spaces from rain water started again.
In 1983 the Texas State Legisllature transferred control to the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife. The Department immediately hired a Naval Architect to study the issues and make recomendations. The firm recommended dry dock repairs as soon as possible that would take two years. It took 5 years of fund raising by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and other conerned charitable organizations to raise the $15 million necessary to conduct the dry dock refit. In December 1988 the USS Texas was drydocked. 15% of her steel was replaced (375,000 lbs of it). Her concrete deck was removed and a new wood plank deck installed. Her entire hull and upper structural surfaces were sand blasted and re-painted. A fourteen month refit during this time sought to restore her to her 1945, end of war condition externally. As a part of this, among many other things, ten 40mm anti-aircraft guns and their mounts were appropriated and mounted. In September 1990 she was returend to her berthing in the San Jacinto Battlefield Park.
The USS Texas, BB-35 Museum ship after her dry dock and refit in 1988-1990
Since that time the Park and Wildlife Department in Texas has been busily going about, each year, restoring more and more of her interior spaces to her 1945 condition. Much of the ship has been resotred. However, a recommendation has been made for the vessel to be dry berthed. The corrosive Houston Ship Channel water is bad for the hull without regular dry dock visits which cannot be afforded. New severe leaks developed in 2010 and by 2012 were repaired, but only by floating the vessel higher to be able to get at most of the leaks. An analysis of her structure has concluded that she is strong enough for dry berthing. The cost will be 25 million dollars. The State Legislature put it to a vote of the Texas people who aprroved a 25 million dollar bond across the state to accomplish this task. Another four million was raised by charitable organoization to ensure enough funds were available for any contengency. In 2013 the environmental impact study was almost complete and the work of building the dry birth dock and placing her in it is set to start sometime in 2014 or 2015.
3RD USS TEXAS, CGN-39 Nuclear powered Guided Missile Cruiser throughout the Cold War, 1975-1993
The third USS Texas was a modern, nuclear powered, Virginia Class guided missile, anti-aircraft cruiser. Her class was designed specifically to be able to escort nuclear powered aircraft carriers and keep up with them both in terms of speed and endurance. She was launched in August of 1975 and commissioned in 1977. She displaced 11,000 tons and her main armament consisted of two twin arm Mk-26 launchers for her standard and extended range standard anti-aircraft missiles, which she carried 68 missiles. She also carrier two armored box launchers for a total of eight Tomohawk ship launched cruise missiles, eiht anti-ship Harpoon missiles, two 5", 54 caliber guns, and two triple mount, Mk-46 torpedo launchers.
She could land and fuel anti-submarine helicopters but she had no hangar to house them.
The USS Texas, CGN-39, served in Operation Eagle Claw, the naval support operation during the iranian hostage crisis in 1979. She saw her first combat in the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident, facing down the Libyan regime at that time who sought to challenge the US Navy. USS Texas provided anti-air coverage for the USS NImitz during this incident in which ytwo US F-14 Tomcat aircraft shot down two Lybian SU-22 aircraft.
In 1986, the USS Texas, CGN-39,round the world cruise on nuclear power with the USS Carl Vinosn battle group. During this voyage she visited every inhabited continet on the planet except South America, and she sailed every oveaan of the world except the Arctic Ocean.
In 1991, USS Texas, CGN-39, again called to serve in operation Desert Storm where she acted as the anti-air war commander for the USS NImitz battlegroup. She also assisted as the control ship for mine hunting vessels off the coast of Kuwait in that conflict.
In 1992, before her decommissioning, she conducted anti-narcotic operations with the US Coast Guard off the coast of South America.
She was decommissioned in May 1993 and stood in the reserve fleet at Bremerton unti entering the Nuclear Ship Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Shipyard in 1999.
4TH USS TEXAS, SSN-775 Nuclear powered attack submarine. 2006-Current
The fourth (and current) USS Texas is a modern, nuclear powered, , the newest class of attack submarines in the US Navy inventory and the most capable and modern attack submarines in the world. Her class was designed specifically to meet and exceed underwater warfare challenges throughout the 21st century in both the blue (deep) water and the litoral (shallow) waters of the world. Her main armaments consist of twelve VLS missile cells capable of launching twelve Tomohawk crusie missiles, particularly the new Block IV weapons. She is also armed with 4 533mm torpedo tubes capable of launching missiles, torpedoes (including the Advanced Capability (ADCAP) Mk-48 torpedo), and mines, as well as underwater, unmanned remote controlled vehicles. She can carry a combination of 26 of those weapons.
The USS Texas displaces 7,900 tons. Texas was commissioned in Galveston, Texas, and joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in September of 2006.
Three years later, in September 2009, USS Texas, SSN-775, left the Groton Submarine Base in Connecticut and sailed to Pearl Harbor to change her basing to the Pacific fleet. She conducted this voyage via the North Pole, which she surfaced near during the course of that trip. The sub departed Pearl Harbor for her first three-month operational patrol on from Pearl Herbor on 19 May 2010.
Since that time she has been conducting classified missions on behalf of the US Navy and the government of the United States.
Emblazoned on her hull is the shape of the state of Texas, denoting the outstanding patriotism and leadership the citizens of Texas have contributed to the American nation. Located within the state outline is a symbol of the atom, representing the warfighting capability and endurance afforded Texas by nuclear power.
USS Texas, SSN-775, is backed by the traditional badge of the Texas Rangers. This identifies the singularity of purpose between the men and women who enforce Texas law and the sailors. The four white stars represent the four American warships to bear the name of the state of Texas. Her slogan, "Don't Mess with Texas" is a well known state slogan and a warning for those who attempt to prevent Texas from carrying out her mission. The battle scarred Lone Star flag flying behind Texas on her crest, represents the gallant heroism of those who fought and died at the Alamo to ensure the future of Texas, and it also represents the perseverance with which Texas and her crew will endure through all missions that are put before her
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