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Texas USS Texas BB35 Arrives in Galveston Texas After Move From La Porte TX Drone Video (1440p) DJI Mavic Drone Video Footage of the Battleship arriving in Galveston for Dry Docking at Gulf Copper The United States Congress authorized the construction of Texas, the second Navy ship to be named after that state, on 24 June 1910.[12][13] Bids for Texas were accepted from 27 September to 1 December with the winning bid of $5,830,000—excluding the price of armor and armament—submitted by Newport News Shipbuilding.[7][14][15] The contract was signed on 17 December and the plans were delivered to the building yard seven days later.[8][12][16] Texas’s keel was laid down on 17 April 1911 at Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 18 May 1912, sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon, daughter of Colonel Cecil Lyon, Republican national committeeman from Texas.[17] The ship was commissioned on 12 March 1914 with Captain Albert W. Grant in command.[13][16][18][19] Texas’s main battery consisted of ten 14-inch (356 mm)/45 caliber Mark 1 guns,[20] which could fire 1,400 lb (635 kg) armor-piercing[21] shells to a range of 13 mi (11 nmi; 21 km). Her secondary battery consisted of twenty-one 5-inch (127 mm)/51-caliber guns.[22] She also mounted four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes for the Bliss-Leavitt Mark 8 torpedo, one each on the port-side bow and stern and starboard bow and stern. The torpedo rooms held 12 torpedoes total, plus 12 naval defense mines.[20] Texas and her sister New York were the only battleships to store and hoist their 14-inch ammunition in cast-iron cups, nose-down.[8][13][23] Service history On 24 March 1914, Texas departed Norfolk Navy Yard and set a course for New York City, making an overnight stop at Tompkinsville, New York, on the night of 26 March. Entering New York Navy Yard on the next day, she spent the next three weeks there undergoing the installation of fire-control equipment.[10] During his stay in New York, President Woodrow Wilson ordered a number of ships of the Atlantic Fleet to Mexican waters in response to tension created when a detail of Mexican federal troops detained an American gunboat crew at Tampico. The problem was quickly resolved locally, but Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo sought further redress by demanding an official disavowal of the act by the Huerta regime and a 21-gun salute to the American flag.[10] President Wilson saw in the incident an opportunity to put pressure on a government he felt was undemocratic. On 20 April, Wilson placed the matter before the United States Congress and sent orders to Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast, instructing him to land a force at Veracruz and to seize the customs house there in retaliation for what is now known as the “Tampico Incident“. That action was carried out on 21–22 April.[10] Texas in World War I (after July 1916 and before October 1917): The two large steel towers are her lattice masts, which were replaced with a tripod version during her modernization overhaul in 1925–1926 Due to the intensity of the situation, Texas put to sea on 13 May and headed directly to operational duty without benefit of the usual shakedown cruise and post-shakedown repair period. After a five-day stop at Hampton Roads from 14 to 19 May, she joined Rear Admiral Fletcher’s force off Veracruz on 26 May. She remained in Mexican waters for just over two months, supporting the American forces ashore. On 8 August, she left Veracruz and set a course for Nipe Bay, Cuba, and from there steamed to New York, where she entered the Navy Yard on 21 August.[10] The battleship remained there until 6 September, when she returned to sea, joined the Atlantic Fleet, and settled into a schedule of normal fleet operations. In October, she returned to the Mexican coast. Later that month, Texas became station ship at Tuxpan, a duty that lasted until 4 November, when she steamed for Galveston, Texas. While at Galveston on 7 November, Texas Governor Oscar Colquitt presented the ship’s silver service to Captain Grant. The Young Men’s Business League of Waco, Texas, raised the $10,000 to purchase the silver.[16] Texas sailed for Tampico on 14 November and thereafter to Veracruz, where she remained for a month.[16] The ship left Mexico on 20 December and set a course for New York. The battleship entered New York Navy Yard on 28 December and remained there undergoing repairs until 16 February 1915.[10] On 25 May, Texas, along with battleships South Carolina, Louisiana, and Michigan, rescued 230 passengers from the damaged Holland America Line passenger ship Ryndam, which had been rammed by Norwegian-flagged fruit steamer Joseph J. Cuneo.[16][24] In gratitude, Holland America Line presented Texas with a model of a 17th-century warship, which is displayed with the wardroom silver as of 2014. In 1916, Texas became the first US battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns For inquiries contact info@
